Little Sonny Jones born 15 April 1931

Johnny "Little Sonny" Jones (April 15, 1931 – December 17, 1989) was an American New Orleans blues singer and songwriter. Over his lengthy career, he worked with various blues musicians, notably Fats Domino. 

Jones was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He started singing professionally in the late 1940s. He befriended Fats Domino and, while they were working together at the Hideaway Club in the Ninth Ward, was given his nickname by Domino. Domino hit it big, but Jones' vinyl fortunes weren't as lucky: a 1953 single on Specialty ("Do You Really Love Me"/"Is Everything Allright?") preceded a four-song session for Imperial the next year under Dave Bartholomew's direction (songs included "I Got Fooled" and "Winehead Baby"). All three 45s failed to find a commercial market, but Fats kept him employed as a warm-up act until 1961. 

                                   

Jones was employed as the vocalist by a New Orleans–based band led by the brothers David and Melvin Lastie, until the late 1960s. He also had regular employment at a sugar factory. After seven years back home singing with the Lastie band, Jones retired until he returned to the recording studio in 1975 and issued the album New Orleans R&B Gems, initially on the Netherlands-based Black Magic label. 

The set accurately re-created the Crescent City R&B sound of the '50s, thanks to Little Sonny Jones' rich singing and the efforts of veterans Dave "Fat Man" Williams on piano and vocals, saxophonists Clarence Ford and David Lastie, guitarist Justin Adams, bassist Frank Fields, and drummer Robert French. It was reissued in 1995 by Black Top Records. 

Jones came out to play the annual Jazz & Heritage Festival until his death of heart failure in New Orleans on December 17, 1989 at the age of 58. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic)

Donnie Bowser born 14 April 1937

Donnie Bowser (April 14, 1937 - February 22, 2002) was a Hillbilly, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Country singer and songwriter who remains a little-known if unique figure in the annals of rockabilly, best remembered for his 1957 hit "Stone Heart." 

Born Donald L. Bowshier in Madison Mills, Ohio, he never strayed far from his home turf. At the age of three, he was crippled by polio and spent the remainder of his life in a wheelchair. His father, Odes, was a fiddle player, his grandfather, Clifford, played the banjo, and Donnie began playing and singing when he was twelve. A year or so later, he formed the Jr. Melody Boys and by 14 was sharing the stage with the Sons of the Pioneers at the Ohio State Fair.

The JR Melody Boys did the usual personal appearances in the local venues; their popularity and name came to the attention of the King Record label and earned them a recording contract in 1953, when Donnie was about 16 years old. They went to Cincinnati, Ohio to do their first two recordings with King that were released on the Skip record label that King owned. The vocals were credited to a fellow by the name of Slim Redman. Donnie also played with Hank Williams, and with backing band the Radio Ranch Boys headlined local radio station WJEL's Saturday night broadcast schedule. 

April of 1953, the group went back to the King studios and cut another four tunes. One tune, "Bullfrog Boogie" was credited to Earl Slone and the Melody Boys, but the others  gave the credits to Donnie Bowshier. That same year hea cut his King label debut, "Tight Shoe Boogie," in mid-1953 -- despite strong regional airplay, the record sold poorly. In 1954, he shared billing with Slim Redman on the Wilmington, Ohio-based Skip Records. In 1957, Donnie converted to rock 'n' roll, and signed with another Wilmington label, Colonel Sam Salyer's Dess Records. Others on the label included Bowshier's sometime bandmate, Gene Sisco, and Herbie Smith. There was a second record for Dess before Pat Nelson acquired Bowshier for Sage. It was around this time that Donnie changed his surname to Bowser after the singer finally tired of broadcasters mangling the pronunciation of his surname. 

                                   

As Donnie Bowser, he re-recorded two songs on the Dess labels, Stone Heart/I Love You Baby, in April 1958. Sage & Sand took over the publishing on one side and Nelson's partner and/or good buddy Murray Nash acquired the publishing on the other. The songs were reissued on Fraternity (another label closely associated with Nelson) in June, and re-reissued that August on Marty Robbins' eponymous label, and then re-re-reissued on Era in 1960. "I recorded it on Sage and it was so successful that they took me to Nashville and recorded it on another label," Bowshier said at the time, although his account makes more sense if you substitute 'Dess' for 'Sage.' He returned to Sage later that year to record Got The Best Of Me. 

During the 1950s and 1960s, Donnie shared the stage spotlight with many of the stars of that era including Ernest Tubb, Mel Tillis, Hank Williams, Jr., Bill Anderson, Jim Ed Brown, Bobby Bare, Johnny Paycheck, Minnie Pearl, Connie Smith, Ray Price, Faron Young and on the list goes on. He was still contracted to Sage & Sand's publishing company when he recorded “Tomorrow” for Bamboo in '61. Many more records followed on many more labels, including one on Stop Records produced by Pat Nelson. In 1965, he did his first album for the Top Tenn label and was recorded at the Megacity Recording Studio based in Dayton, Ohio. 

Again, he seemed to disappear from the recording arena for a long spell until fans heard him again in 1972 on the Stop record label. This time, his career saw him doing appearances on the famed WSM Grand Ole Opry in Nashville as well as the Cowtown Jamboree in Fort Worth in 1970. In fact, he hosted that Cowtown Jamboree show for a time. He sang Country Music at the Mega City Sound Company in Dayton, Ohio. He continued to record for various other labels during this time. In 1989 perseverance finally brought its reward when a single for Ridgewood “Falling For You” cracked the country charts, peaking at #90 for one week. 

A follow-up album included fellow Ohioan, Bobby Bare. He called his show 'Country On Wheels', acknowledging that he couldn't leave his wheelchair. Once he was singing Y'All Come on stage when he leaned back too far and tipped over his wheelchair, but he continued singing from the floor. He remained a popular live attraction, even appearing on the Grand Ole Opry. Bowser retired in 1989 following a heart attack. When another heart attack ended his life on March 1, 2002, he left his wife of 34 years and ten children. In 2023 he was inducted to the Ohio Country Music Hall Of Fame. 

(Edited from Bear Family notes, AllMusic , Hillbilly Music & Rocky 52)

Buddy Meredith born 13 April 1926

Buddy Meredith (April 13, 1926 – January 15, 2016) was an American country music singer. 

Born William G. Meredith in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, he was the son of the late William and Agnes (Todd) Meredith (Goen). After graduating high school in 1944, Buddy enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the South Pacific during World War II.  After the war, Buddy returned to Pennsylvania where he met Lois Brown – they were married on September 10, 1949.  A year later the couple moved to Rapid City, SD where Buddy pursued his dream of a career in country music. 

                                    

Beginning in the 1950’s, Buddy formed and played in numerous bands that performed all over the Midwest.  Buddy was instrumental in bringing the music of dozens of Nashville stars to the Black Hills area, and is warmly remembered for playing dances throughout the local 5 state area.  Along with Polly Johnson they presented the Buddy & Polly Show on KOTA radio in the 50’s. He then had a weekly gig on local Rapid City KOTA-TV's  Hoedown Jamboree, where he appeared with his band The Dakota Cowboys (Bob Haley, Stringbean Svenson and Lowell Sterling),and several women singers including Dalene Desersa every Sunday night during the late 1950's and early 1960's. Flop Top Beer was their signature song. 

Polly Johnson & Buddy Meredith

During his career he was invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry several times when visiting Nashville. Meredith broke into the Billboard country charts in 1962 with ‘I May Fall Again’ and recorded several singles for Starday and Rice Records. During 1963 whilst Meredith was working as a DJ at KRSD and touring with his group the Country Men in Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming, he recorded his first LP with Starday Records titled “Sing Me A Heart Song.” Most, if not all of the songs on his Stop LP (1971) first came out as singles on Rice Records and other indies, as well as at least one single for the Stop label ("Accidental Touch") that came out around the same time as this LP. Buddy Meredith also seems to have re-recorded and re-released several of his songs, carrying the same tunes to different labels, or repeatedly floating them as singles with different B-sides, etc. 

In his later days, Buddy joined the Circle B Cowboys and played nightly dinner shows for nearly 20 years.  In 2006, the governor presented Buddy with the Rushmore Honors Award for his contribution to the arts and cultural life of the Rapid City community. Though he lived and worked in various places, he’s remembered primarily as a South Dakota musician and was inducted into the state’s Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008. 

He passed away in Rapid City, South Dakota on January 15, 2016, two months short of his 90th birthday and was buried  at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis, with full military honors.

(Scarce information edited from Discofantic @ Discogs, Marmoset Music, Billboard & My Ranching Life)

Asie Payton born 12 April 1937

Asie Reed Payton (April 12, 1937 – May 19, 1997) was an American blues musician, who lived most of his life in Holly Ridge, in the Mississippi Delta. Born in Washington County, Mississippi, he sang and played the guitar, but made his living as a farmer. 

Living in a shotgun shack and working his fields took most of Payton's time, but he also wrote and performed blues originals. Whenever the fields were dry enough for tractor tires, he was working in them. When they were too wet, Asie was impossible to find. He lived in Holly Ridge almost all of his life and, like his father before him, spent Saturday nights playing in one of the two small grocery stores that qualify Holly Ridge for a name on the map– a place, instead of just a county-road intersection. 

Many people  had been trying to get Payton to record for 20 years, but despite living below the poverty level and desperately needing the easy money of a gig, he could not be lured away from Washington County for more than a couple of hours. Fat Possum Records honcho Matthew Johnson, undeterred by previous failures and utterly enamored of Payton’s quavering vocals and deep rhythmic groove, kept on trying and finally persuaded Payton to lay down some demo tracks in preparation for the recording of his first real studio album. 

                                   

Fat Possum succeeded in recording Asie twice: once at Junior Kimbrough’s club, and once at Jimmy’s Auto Care, Fat Possum’s old studio. Before the album sessions, but after those key demos had been recorded, Asie Payton died of a heart attack while on his tractor on May 19, 1997 in the same fields he'd worked most of his sixty years. Rather than let this vital musical discovery go to waste, Johnson and his compatriots assembled those demos, added some heavier rhythm (provided both by the legendary Sam Carr and by well-crafted looping), and released Worried, an acclaimed collection of the best of those demos two years after Payton’s death.

However Payton did appear and perform in the documentary film, You See Me Laughin': The Last of the Hill Country Bluesmen. There is also a track by Payton on the Big Bad Love soundtrack. Payton's song, "I Love You" from the album, Worried, was used in the closing credits of the 2002 film, The Badge. Several artists from Fat Possum were featured in the soundtrack, but it was not released. 

Luckily for us, Mr. Payton left more great music behind. It’s collected on Just Do Me Right, his second (and almost certainly final) album from 2002. Comprised of the same hard-driving, trance-inducing blues and boogie as his first record, Just Do Me Right is by no means a mishmash of cuts not good enough to be on the “real” record. Rather, these songs are just as interesting, just as powerful, just as good as those that were sent out the first time. 

Payton and his wife Mary are interred at Holly Ridge Cemetery, where Charlie Patton is also buried. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, The Badger Herald, Fat Possom Records & AllMusic). 

 

Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson born 11 April 1932

Luther “Guitar Jr.” Johnson (April 11, 1939 – December 25, 2022) was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is not to be confused with Luther "Georgia Boy" Johnson, Luther "Houserocker" Johnson, or Lonnie "Guitar Junior" Brooks. 

Born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, Luther Johnson Jr. grew up surrounded by music, both gospel and blues, but it was the latter that really fascinated him when he moved to Chicago in the mid-1950s. He soon made a name for himself on the local scene, and joined the orchestras of drummer Ray Scott and Tall Milton Shelton. When Milton retired from music in 1962 to become a preacher, Luther switched to lead guitar and took over the group. The people on Independence Boulevard named him Guitar Junior. 

He then crossed paths with Magic Sam, who became his main influence and with whom he played. Even if he did not record at the time, he was, alongside Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Magic Sam, one of those who popularized the West Side Sound in Chicago clubs that would make a strong impression, a few years later, on some British teenagers. He released his first personal single in 1972 for the Big Beat label. 

His career accelerated dramatically when he caught the attention of the big boss of the Chicago blues. He joined Muddy Waters' band in December 1973, a few months after Bob Margolin was recruited. The arrival of Jerry Portnoy shortly thereafter finalized the composition of Muddy's second major orchestra – after the one that included Little Walter, Otis Spann and Jimmy Rogers – which lasted in this configuration until June 1980.

Luther made his recording debut with the orchestra on Muddy Waters' album "Unk In Funk", recorded a few weeks after his arrival, but was absent from the following records, his place being taken by Johnny Winter on the first Blue Sky records. He had to wait until 1981 and the last album of Muddy's career, "King Bee", to appear again at his side in the studio. On stage, however, the situation is different, and Johnson occupies a major place in the band's sound, and he performs several songs as a soloist and singer during the concerts, often at the opening of the second set, where he is responsible for welcoming the return to the stage the star of the evening. 

                         Here's Luther's Blues from above LP

                                    

While he appears on the official 1979 "Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live, there are many records of sometimes questionable legality documenting his playing at the time and his place within the overall sound of a band that Waters himself considered to be the best it had had since the 1950s. With his colleagues, Luther appeared in the 1980 film of the Blues Brothers, accompanying John Lee Hooker on an explosive Boom Boom. He also participated with them on the Nighthawks' album "Jack & Kings", whom he would meet regularly thereafter. 

His presence in Muddy Waters' orchestra brought him increased visibility, which allowed him to record under his own name from the mid-1970s for the French labels MCM and Black & Blue. Later he started his own band, the Magic Rockers. However, it was with J.B. Hutto's musicians, the New Hawks, that he appeared, alongside Hutto, Koko Taylor, Sugar Blue, Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Hammond at the Montreux Festival in 1982. In the meantime, he released his first album with the Magic Rockers on Rooster Blues Records under the title "Doin' The Sugar Too". Now based in Boston, he toured regularly – he was part of the 1982 tour, alongside J.B. Hutto and Robert Lockwood Jr. – but had to wait until 1990 to release a new album under his own name, "I Want To Groove With You", on Bullseye Blues, followed by "It's Good To Me" in 1992 and "Country Sugar Papa" in 1994 then by a reissue of "Doin' The Sugar Too". 

He then signed with Telarc, where he released three CDs until 2001 including "Got To Find A Way" which earned him another Grammy nomination. In the meantime, in the mid-1990s, he reunited with his former colleagues for a Muddy Waters Tribute Band that toured regularly and recorded an anecdotal album in 1996 for Telarc. He also toured regularly under his own name. He settled in Antrim, New Hampshire, in the 1990s, and recorded a live album which was released in 1999, "Live At The Rynborn". 

In the 2000s, he focused on stage performances, mainly around his base in Boston, although he moved to Florida in 2017. Absent from the studios for two decades, he created a surprise when "Won't Be Back No More" appeared in 2020, followed in 2021 by "Once In A Blue Moon", recorded at the Hideaway Cafe in St Petersburg, but the critical reception was mixed, to say the least. Now in his eighties, he was still performing regularly, sharing the stage with Curtis Salgado for a short tour in early 2022 before health problems forced him to interrupt his activities. He died on  22 December that year. 

(Edited from Soul Bag & Alligator Records)

 

George Freeman born 10 April 1927

George Freeman (April 10, 1927 – April 1, 2025) was an American jazz guitarist and recording artist. He is known for his sophisticated technique, collaborations with high-profile performers, and as having been a notable presence in the jazz scene of Chicago, Illinois. 

Freeman was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were amateur musicians—his father a trombonist and his mother a guitarist and singer. His father, George Sr., was a Chicago police officer who regularly befriended musicians at the South Side clubs on his beat, most notably the Grand Terrace Ballroom. As a result, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Fats Waller, and other foundational jazz musicians frequently visited the Freeman home. 

Freeman's siblings went on to become professional musicians. Bruz played drums, and Von the tenor saxophone. Freeman himself would come to play the guitar, inspired by his visits as a teenager to the Rhumboogie Cafe in the early 1940s. There, he saw T-Bone Walker play, and the crowd's ecstatic response to Walker motivated him to learn the guitar. He further refined his skills while attending DuSable High School, whose students included Von, Gene Ammons, Johnny Griffin, Red Holloway, Clifford Jordan, John Gilmore, Wilbur Ware, Dinah Washington, Sonny Cohn, Richard Davis, and other musicians. 

During his teenage years, Freeman was invited to play with The Dukes of Swing, a band led by Eugene Wright. Shortly after, wanting more opportunities to solo, Freeman started his own band, performing mainly at the ballroom of the Pershing Hotel at 64th and Cottage Grove. By 1946 Freeman was fronting Chicago's first modern-jazz bebop band, a band that included alto saxophonist Henry Pryor, tenor saxophonist Alec Johnson, and trumpeter Robert Gay. Freeman-led bands also backed visiting musicians such as Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. During the engagement with Young, the saxophonist called for his recently-recorded song D.B. Blues. In response, Freeman surprised Young by playing his solo note-for-note, a custom Freeman had previously cultivated with his Chicago audience. 

Joe Morris

Freeman made his first recordings with the Joe Morris Orchestra in late 1947, first on the Manor label, and then on the fledgling Atlantic label. The band's sound was a blend of R&B and jazz, which contrasted with Freeman's more eccentric, bebop-inspired style of playing. His extended solo feature on Boogie Woogie Joe, recorded in late 1947, has been described by one rock music writer as "...the first scintillating guitar workout in rock history." 

                                    

Freeman soon quit the band and returned to Chicago, often performing with his brothers at the Pershing Hotel. Highlights of this period were collaborations with Charlie Parker – twice in Chicago and once in Detroit – between 1950 and 1953. During these performances, Parker developed a close musical and personal rapport with the Freemans. George remained in Chicago throughout the 1950s, but by 1959 he decided to tour again. He traveled the country with tenor saxophonist Sil Austin and vocalist Jackie Wilson, then with organist Wild Bill Davis, and finally with organist Richard "Groove" Holmes. Freeman spent most of the 1960s touring with Holmes. Freeman also was featured on Holmes' first record, Groove, alongside tenor saxophone player Ben Webster. 

In 1969, tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons performed with old colleagues and high school classmates, including Freeman. After their performances, Ammons asked Freeman to join him on the front line of a band he was forming. Freeman accepted and would remain a featured member of the Ammons band, with a few interruptions, until Ammons' death from bone cancer in 1974. The 1970s also yielded Freeman's first album as leader, Birth Sign, and several other recordings—including Franticdiagnosis from 1972, New Improved Funk from 1973, and Man & Woman from 1974.  

Freeman's output slowed in the '80s, though he did work with Johnny Griffin, appearing on 1983's Bush Dance, and 1985's Fly, Mister, Fly, which also featured the Joe Morris Orchestra. Following a period of obscurity, he was brought back into the spotlight after singer Joanie Pallatto and pianist Bradley Parker-Sparrow signed him to their Southport/Orchard label, issuing Rebellion in 1995 and George Burns in 1999. 

At Long Last George, was released by Savant Records in 2001, followed by 2015's All in the Family with nephew Chico Freeman, and 2017's 90 Going on Amazing. In 2019, he issued George the Bomb! with a special guest, veteran Chicago harmonica player Billy Branch. In 2023, at age 96, he released Good Life on HighNote. It was recorded the previous year with drummers Lewis Nash and Carl Allen, bassist Christian McBride, and organist/multi-instrumentalist Joey DeFrancesco in one of his final sessions. George Freeman died on April 1, 2025, just nine days short of his 98th birthday.

(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)

 

Woodrow Adams born 9 April 1917

Woodrow Wilson Adams (April 9, 1917 – August 9, 1988) was an American Delta blues guitarist and harmonica player. He made a late entry into the recording industry, producing three singles. His most accomplished song was "How Long", which offered an insight into his lifestyle. His works were later collected on a compilation album. 

Adams was born in Tchula, Mississippi, the son of plantation workers. From an early age, he was taught the rudiments of playing the harmonica and the guitar. Though he is mainly remembered for his music, he did not begin his recording career until the age of 35, when he was making a living as a tractor driver. On May 24, 1952, Adams, backed by the supporting group the 3 B's, recorded "Pretty Baby Blues" at Sun Studios, in Memphis. One member of the group was Fiddlin' Joe Martin, who would appear on all of Adams's recordings and performed live with him throughout his career. The resulting single, released by Checker Records, is now very rare; only one copy is known to still exist. 

                                    

In 1955, Adams returned to the studio, this time with the Boogie Blues Blasters, to record "Wine Head Woman" for his second single. It represented his transition from blues to a more commercial R&B style. Adams released one more single, "Something on My Mind", in 1961, as a solo effort before returning to his work on a plantation. None of his recordings had much commercial success. The musician David Evans recorded a session with Adams's former backing band in 1967. 

Fiddlin' Joe Martin & Woodrow Adams 1971

Adams's material has been circulated among a wider audience over the years and has received renewed interest. In 1974, two of his previously unissued tracks, "Pony Blues" and "How Long" (arguably his best-known song), were compiled on the album High Water Blues. The song was inspired by Adams's life on a plantation and emulates the instrumental and melodic style of Howlin' Wolf, who taught Adams how to play harmonica, and Wolf's 1954 song, "Baby How Long". 

Adams died in Tunica County, Mississippi, in 1988. After all of his past work was steadily released, the compilation album This Is the Blues, Volume 4, containing all of his recorded songs, was issued in 2015.   (Edited from Wikipedia)