Events
What Does Juneteenth Mean Today?
Editor’s note: I wanted to share this piece contributed by C.C. Rider on Juneteenth 2015, acknowledging its relevance today.
June 19, 2020 No Comments
News
BluesMobile Says Farewell
“This series, alas, has gone as far as it can go. Our final broadcast will be July 30, 2017.”
July 7, 2017 No Comments
News
C.C. Rider the Venerator: Etta James
Jamesetta Hawkins was born to a Los Angeles prostitute, brought up by an abusive preacher, tossed around foster homes. And was just a teenager in 1954 when she scored her first chart-topping hit. It all moved pretty fast after that…
January 25, 2017 No Comments
News
C.C. Rider the Venerator: Hubert Sumlin
Remember this name: Hubert Sumlin. You’ve heard his incredible guitar sound. All that started when Hubert was just eight years old, and he broke the one string on his brother’s homemade guitar…
November 16, 2016 No Comments
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C.C. Rider the Venerator: Sonny Terry
Sonny Terry never thought about a music career. He did well in school, and liked farming. Wanted to grow up, continue his education and have his own farm. But by 18, two separate accidents left him completely blind. All that was left for him job-wise was music…
October 24, 2016 No Comments
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C.C. Rider the Venerator: Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry took country, combined it with blues, and made a whole new genre. You might have heard of it. Rock n’ Roll…
October 18, 2016 No Comments
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C.C. Rider the Venerator: Koko Taylor
She was born Cora Walton, but she loved chocolate so much she changed her name to Koko. Growing up outside of Memphis, she and her husband “Pops” Taylor set off for the North to look for a new life. And boy did Koko and Pops Taylor find it…
September 28, 2016 No Comments
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C.C. Rider the Venerator: Ray Charles
Ray Charles shook up the nation when he took sacred music and made it sexy. There’s one track he wrote that’s the real kicker. Changed everything. See, it’s a little bit o’ gospel, a little bit of rhumba, a little bit of r&b. It’s also a whole lotta sexy…
September 23, 2016 No Comments
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C.C. Rider the Venerator: David Bromberg
As a college student in the 1960’s, a young guitarist named David Bromberg found himself smack dab in the middle of the folk blues revival. And ended up living a life all the rest of us blues fans could only dream of…
September 19, 2016 No Comments
News
C.C. Rider the Venerator: Charles Brown
Unlike your stereotypical blues man, Texas-born Tony Russell Brown, called Charles, was highly educated. He graduated from college with a degree in Chemistry. Taught science and worked as an electrician and an engineer. A scientist through and through—he was also a classically trained pianist…
September 13, 2016 No Comments