Lacy Gibson was a gifted Chicago blues guitarist who over a career that spanned six decades came to be known as a musician’s musician thanks in part to his flashy jazz-influenced guitar skills. He was also revered for his soulful voice. After moving to Chicago from North Carolina in 1949, Gibson immediately immersed himself in the city’s storied blues scene, learning directly from the likes of Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. During the ’60s, he became a popular session player for the local labels, including Chess, where he actually sang on at least one recording by Buddy Guy. Over the course of his career, Gibson recorded or performed with the likes of Sun Ra (his brother-in-law), Jimmy Reed, Son Seals, and Otis Rush. He released three of his own albums between 1971 and 1996, and continued to be a mainstay on local stages until his ill health kept him away in recent years. Lacy Gibson died of a heart attack on April 11, 2011. He was 74.
Singer Jesse Fortune was a Chicago blues mainstay since the 1950s. Known as “Fortune Tellin’ Man,” had a minor hit with “Too Many Cooks” in 1962. Discovered byWillie Dixon, Fortune went on to record with such luminaries as Buddy Guy and Big Walter Horton. While performing on a Chicago club stage on August 31, 2009, Jesse Fortune collapsed and later died at an area hospital. Cause of death was coronary atherosclerosis. He was 79 years old.
Koko Taylor (Born Cora Walton)
September 23, 1928 – June 3, 2009
Known as the Queen Of The Blues, Koko Taylor wowed audiences with her powerful voice for almost 50 years. Born on a sharecropper’s farm in Tennessee, Taylor moved to Chicago with her husband in the early ’50s. She began singing around town and was soon discovered by no less than Willie Dixon. Dixon’s approval helped her land more gigs and a recording contract with the legendary Chess Records. Her first single was the Dixon penned “Wang Dang Doodle” which hit #4 on the R&B charts and went on to sell over one million copies. Taylor continued to record critically acclaimed blues albums for the next 3 decades including more than a dozen for blues label giant, Alligator Records. Among her countless awards, Taylor has been nominated for several Grammys (winning one for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1995), and won a record-setting 25 WC Handy Blues Awards. Taylor continued to perform as many as 70 shows a year until her final years. Koko Taylor died two weeks after a gastrointestinal surgery. She was 80 years old.
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Jakson Spires was the founding drummer for Southern rock’s Blackfoot. Formed in 1970, the band had a handful of hit albums during the late ’70s and early ’80s. Blackfoot went from being the house band at a Gainesville, Florida topless bar in 1970 to opening for the Who in 1979. Spires either wrote or co-wrote almost every song in the band’s catalog, including hits, “Highway Song” and “Fly Away.” As a session player, he recorded with the likes of Phil Lynott and Willie Dixon. Jackson Spires died of a brain aneurysm on March 16, 2005.
Willie Dixon is best remembered as one of the few main architects of the Chicago blues sound. As a singer, bassist and prolific songwriter, Dixon was one of themost influential figures of the era. He was also considered one of the key bridges between blues and rock ‘n roll. Dixon wrote such blues staples as “Little Red Rooster,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” and “I Ain’t Superstitious” and has been covered by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Cream, the Faces, Bob Dylan, Queen, the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones. In later years, Dixon worked to secure royalties and copyrights for blues artists who had been exploited int the past. He suffered from diabetes for many years and succumbed to heart failure at the age of 76.