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Every blues fan knows about the three Kings of the Blues, Albert, BB & Freddie, but we're going to add two more: Saunders King and Earl King. In Part 2 we explore the music and life of Earl King of New Orleans. Earl was a singer, guitarist, songwriter, record producer and mentor to dozens of young New Orleans musicians. He may be best known for his two part record, Come On, also known as Let the Good Times Roll , recorded by Jimi Hendrix and many more.  His first hit was another New Orleans standard, Those Lonely, Lonely Nights, and he's said to have written the classic Big Chief, a tribute to his mother, a well-known Mardi Gras figure. 

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Every blues fan knows about the three Kings of the Blues, Albert, BB & Freddie, but we're going to add two more: Saunders King and Earl King. Part 1 takes a look at the music and life of Saunders King who was in fact, the first blues artist to solo on electric guitar, preceding T-Bone Walker by two months. Saunders was a fine guitarist in the Charlie Christian mold, and also a marvelous vocalist, able to sing blues, pop and ballads with equal facility. He was also the father-in-law of guitarist/bandleader Carlos Santana. Get the whole story here on Blues You Should Know. 

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We kick off season three with a special program about blues from my home-town, Cleveland, Ohio. We start by explaining why Cleveland has never the blues center that Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, or Mississippi were, then move on to feature some great musicians either born in Cleveland or who lived a significant portion of their lives here.  Cow Cow Davenport, Montana Taylor, Bullmoose Jackson, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Wallace Coleman, Travis Haddix, Kristine Jackson, and, of course, Mr. Stress. Check 'em out of this episode of Blues You Should Know, always free and available on your favorite podcast platform.

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While Louis Jordan was clearly the most successful recording artist of the jump-blues era of the late '40s-early '50s, there were also quite a few great performers of that era including Tiny Bradshaw, Wynonie Harris, Roy Brown, Roy Milton, and our featured artists for this episode: Joe and Jimmy Liggins. The Los Angeles based Liggins Bros., who led separate bands, had several popular hit records and recorded some great, light-hearted blues records. There's is not the deeply Southern-influenced blues of a Howlin' Wolf or John Lee Hooker; it's more of festive, dance-oriented blues, but it's still great music and a lot of fun. 

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According to legend, a young Bob Wills once rode 50 miles on horseback to hear Bessie Smith sing. Throughout his long career, Wills mined the blues for some of his best and most popular numbers. His band, Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys, were by no means strictly a blues band, but the blues was always present in his music. In this episode we take a look at his blues sources and how he interpreted and transformed them to suit his purposes and his audiences. 

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Blues You Should Know Podcast presents our final  (yes, I mean it this time) program on the music of King Records, Ohio's great eclectic record label. There was just too much great music, and too many great artists left over, so we offer one more program we're calling King Records 7.1. Hear blues from Champion Jack Dupree, & Baby Boy Warren, jazz from Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Do-Wop from Linda Hays & the Platters & Otis Williams, rockabilly from Charlie Feathers & Hardrock Gunter, and more! Plus, some final words on the legacy of King Records and some great stories about King's founder and president Syd Nathan. Seven parts just couldn't contain all the great music that came out of King Records so here is part 7.1 

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Here in Part 7 we go over the life of King Records founder and president Syd Nathan. We also spotlight some great King artists we haven't been able to fit into the programs so far. These include some of King's biggest selling artists like Earl Bostic, Five Royales,  Mainer's Mountaineers, Roland Kirk, Bill Doggett and more. Oh, and despite what you hear me say at the beginning of the episode, we're not done with King yet!

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Part 6 of our series on King Records is devoted to one artist-James Brown. We cover the recordings he made for King from his debut single, Please, Please, Please through his recordings with Bootsy & Catfish Collins. Brown was King's biggest star and certainly his most socially significant artist. Learn about the origin of the "Cape Routine" and much more. 

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There were indeed Kings at King Records. Two of the best known were Albert and Freddy King, but there were more! Kings of King on Blues You Should Know. 

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King records released a great deal of Bluegrass music without a large roster of Bluegrass performers. The artists they did have, though, were the top-o-the heap. Reno & Smiley, Bobby Osborne and Jimmy Martin, Napier & Moore, and of course, Ralph & Carter, the Stanley Brothers. There were no "one and done" Bluegrass artists on King. All three of their major Bluegrass acts, the Stanleys, Reno & Smiley, and Napier & Moore recorded regularly and extensively, and their substantial output marks an artistic high point for this classic American genre. 

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