This poster of T-Bone is the sixth in our series honoring great blues musicians - some famous, some obscure.
The poster is printed on heavyweight presentation paper using dye based inks - approximate live image area is 14" x 20"
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About T-Bone -
Aaron
Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was a
critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and
multi-instrumentalist who was one of the most influential pioneers and
innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first
musician recorded playing blues with the electric guitar.
T-Bone
Walker was born in Linden, Texas, of African American and Cherokee
descent. Walker's parents, Movelia Jimerson and Rance Walker, were
both musicians. His stepfather, Marco Washington, taught him to play the
guitar, ukulele, banjo, violin, mandolin, and piano.
Early
in the 1920s, the teenage Walker learned his craft amongst the
street-strolling string bands of Dallas. His mother and stepfather,
(member of the Dallas String Band) were musicians, and family friend
Blind Lemon Jefferson sometimes joined the family for dinner. Walker
had left school at age 10, and by 15, he was a professional performer on
the blues circuit, with famed performer Charlie Christian as his
mentor. Initially, he was Jefferson's protégé and would guide him around
town for his gigs.[4] In 1929, Walker made his recording debut with a
single for Columbia Records, "Wichita Falls Blues"/"Trinity River
Blues," billed as Oak Cliff T-Bone. Oak Cliff was the community he lived
in at the time and T-Bone a corruption of his middle name. Pianist
Douglas Fernell was his musical partner for the record. Walker married
Vida Lee in 1935 and the couple had three children. By the age of 26 he
was working the clubs in Los Angeles' Central Avenue; sometimes as the
featured singer and guitarist with Les Hite's orchestra.
By
1942, with his second album release, Walker's new-found musical
maturity and ability had advanced to the point that Rolling Stone
claimed that he "shocked everyone" with his newly developed distinctive
song upon the release of his first single "Mean Old World", on the
Capitol Records label. Much of his output was recorded from 1946–1948
on Black & White Records, including his most famous song, 1947's
"Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)”. Other notable
songs he recorded during this period were "Bobby Sox Blues" (a #3
R&B hit in 1946), and "West Side Baby" (#8 on the R&B singles
charts in 1948).
Throughout his career Walker worked with
top notch musicians, including trumpeter Teddy Buckner, pianist Lloyd
Glenn, Billy Hadnott (bass), and tenor saxophonist Jack McVea.
Following
his work with Black & White, he recorded from 1950-54 for Imperial
Records (backed by Dave Bartholomew). Walker's only record in the next
five years was T-Bone Blues, recorded over three widely separated
sessions in 1955, 1956 and 1959, and finally released by Atlantic
Records in 1960.
By the early 1960s, Walker's career had
slowed down, in spite of a hyped appearance at the American Folk Blues
Festival in 1962 with Memphis Slim and prolific writer and musician,
Willie Dixon, among others. Several critically acclaimed albums
followed, such as I Want a Little Girl (recorded for Delmark Records in
1968). Walker recorded in his last years, from 1968–1975, for Robin
Hemingway's Jitney Jane Songs music publishing company, and he won a
Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording in 1971 for
Good Feelin', while signed by Polydor Records, produced by Hemingway,
followed by another album produced by Hemmingway; Walker's Fly Walker
Airlines which was released in 1973.
In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked him at #47 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Walker was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Chuck
Berry named Walker and Louis Jordan as his main influences. B.B. King
cites hearing Walker's "Stormy Monday" record as his inspiration for
getting an electric guitar. Walker was admired by Jimi Hendrix who
imitated Walker's trick of playing the guitar with his teeth. "Stormy
Monday" was a favorite live number for The Allman Brothers Band.