Basie and The Blues
Count Basie in Birmingham (photo by Jim Simpson) A lot of stone blues fans out there are probably unaware of just how blues-rooted the great Count Basie Orchestra was. That…
Whatever Happened To Billy The Kid?
For a man known for taking every opportunity to cuss out his fellow musicians and anyone else who would pay heed – for the merest hint of profanity, an off-colour…
Back To That Same Old Place
The Crown on Station Street, Birmingham, home of the original Henry’s Blueshouse in the late 60s and where it all began. Not long before the pub rang its final last…
Bob The Bear
Bob ‘The Bear’ Hite was the leader and the singer with the massively successful Canned Heat. Formed in Los Angeles in 1965, they always worked at promoting The Blues and,…
Chico’s High-Rise Blues
It’s hard to think of a more appropriate place for a blues musician to be born than on a steamboat in Shreveport, Louisiana. That’s where Napoleon Chism, known to the…
Muddy’s Men
Photo: Muddy Waters at Birmingham Town Hall, 1964. Copyright Jim Simpson. In honour of Muddy Waters’ birthday on 4th April, Jim Simpson pays tribute to the great man and many…
Sounds of The Sixties
Way back in the mists of time, 1969 to be precise, Big Bear were representing a number of bands that we, and a whole bunch of folk hereabouts, believed to…
Looking Back At Early Henry’s
Taking advantage of the forced lull in our life, thanks to Covid, we are endeavouring to put the Big Bear archives into some semblance of order – and finding it…
Those Mississippi Hill Country Blues
Whereas Mississippi Delta Blues is a well-known and recognisable form of the music, there is a lesser-known style that might well have slipped under the radar of some folks. It…
The Lone Cat
In the early 1960s I was working days as a photographer at Birmingham College of Advanced Technology, now known as Aston University. I somehow found myself running the students’ weekly…