Lurrie Bell
Encyclopedia
Lurrie Bell is an American
blues
guitarist and singer. His father was renowned blues harmonica player, Carey Bell
.
scene including Eddy Clearwater
, Big Walter Horton
and Eddie Taylor
.
In the mid 1970s, he went on to join Koko Taylor
's Blues Machine and he toured with the band for four years. He made his recording debut in 1977 appearing on his father's album Heartaches and Pain and also on Eddie C. Campbell
's King of the Jungle. It was around that time that he formed The Sons of Blues with musicians including Billy Branch
on harmonica. Three tracks of the band's recordings were featured in the Alligator Records
compilation
Living Chicago Blues Vol. 3 released in 1978. In 1989 he released his first solo effort, Everybody Wants To Win, on JSP Records
.
Though Bell's career appeared to be headed in the right direction, drawing attention of the blues fans around the world as a young prodigy of the blues, he battled emotional problems and drug abuse
for many years, which kept him away from performing on regular basis.
He began a comeback in 1995 with the well-received album Mercurial Son, his first of several from the Delmark
label
. A series of albums followed thereafter, and he started to perform more frequently in the Chicago club and blues festival circuits.
Bell is featured on Gettin' Up – Live at Buddy Guy's Legends, Rosa's and Lurrie's Home, a 2007 CD and DVD release from Delmark, where he plays with his father Carey. Soon after this release, Carey died and this became his last recorded effort.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
guitarist and singer. His father was renowned blues harmonica player, Carey Bell
Carey Bell
Carey Bell was an American blues musician, who played the harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Bell played harmonica and bass for other blues musicians during the late 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s before embarking on a solo career...
.
Career
Bell started playing guitar at the age of six, and in his teens he polished his skills playing with the legends of Chicago bluesChicago blues
The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
scene including Eddy Clearwater
Eddy Clearwater
Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater is the stage name of Edward Harrington ,) an American Chicago blues musician. Blues Revue said Eddy plays “joyous rave-ups…he testifies with stunning soul fervor and powerful guitar. One of the blues’ finest songwriters.” -Early life:He was born in Macon, Mississippi,...
, Big Walter Horton
Big Walter Horton
Walter Horton, better known as Big Walter Horton or Walter "Shakey" Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming and essentially shy man, Horton is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the history of blues...
and Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.-Biography:Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, United States, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing at venues around Leland, Mississippi, where he taught his friend Jimmy Reed to...
.
In the mid 1970s, he went on to join Koko Taylor
Koko Taylor
Koko Taylor sometimes spelled KoKo Taylor was an American Chicago blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was known primarily for her rough, powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings....
's Blues Machine and he toured with the band for four years. He made his recording debut in 1977 appearing on his father's album Heartaches and Pain and also on Eddie C. Campbell
Eddie C. Campbell
Eddie C. Campbell is an American blues guitarist and singer, active in the Chicago blues scene.-Biography:...
's King of the Jungle. It was around that time that he formed The Sons of Blues with musicians including Billy Branch
Billy Branch
Billy Branch is an American blues harmonica player and singer of Chicago blues and harmonica blues.-Career:...
on harmonica. Three tracks of the band's recordings were featured in the Alligator Records
Alligator Records
Alligator Records is a Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971.Iglauer started the label with his own savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record...
compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Living Chicago Blues Vol. 3 released in 1978. In 1989 he released his first solo effort, Everybody Wants To Win, on JSP Records
JSP Records
JSP Records is a British record label, founded in 1978 by John Stedman , releasing recordings by blues musicians such as Professor Longhair, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Witherspoon, Louisiana Red and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson. The label is based in London, England.JSP now predominantly releases remastered CDs...
.
Though Bell's career appeared to be headed in the right direction, drawing attention of the blues fans around the world as a young prodigy of the blues, he battled emotional problems and drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
for many years, which kept him away from performing on regular basis.
He began a comeback in 1995 with the well-received album Mercurial Son, his first of several from the Delmark
Delmark Records
Delmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. A series of albums followed thereafter, and he started to perform more frequently in the Chicago club and blues festival circuits.
Bell is featured on Gettin' Up – Live at Buddy Guy's Legends, Rosa's and Lurrie's Home, a 2007 CD and DVD release from Delmark, where he plays with his father Carey. Soon after this release, Carey died and this became his last recorded effort.
Discography
Solo
- 1989 Everybody Wants To Win (JSP)
- 1995 Mercurial Son (Delmark)
- 1997 700 Blues (Delmark)
- 1997 Young Man's Blues (JSP)
- 1998 Kiss Of Sweet Blues (Delmark)
- 1998 The Blues Caravan Live At Pit Inn 1982 (P-Vine)
- 1999 Blues Had A Baby (Delmark)
- 2001 Cutting Heads (Vypyr)
- 2007 Let's Talk About Love (Aria B.G.)
With Carey Bell
- 1977 Heartaches and Pain (Delmark)
- 1982 Going on Main Street (L+R)
- 1984 Son of a Gun (Rooster Blues)
- 1986 Straight Shoot (Blues South West)
- 1990 Dynasty (JSP)
- 1994 Harpmaster (JSP)
- 1995 Deep Down (Alligator)
- 1997 Father&Son The Blues Collection (BLU GNC 072)
- 2004 Second Nature (Alligator) (recorded in 1991)
- 2007 Gettin' Up, Live at Buddy Guy's Legends, Rosa's and Lurrie's Home (Delmark)
Collaboration with other artists
- 1981 American Folk Blues Festival '81 (L+R)
- 1982 The Sons of Blues Live '82 (L+R)
- 1982 Chicago's Young Blues Generation (L+R) with Billy Branch
- 1998 Chicago's Hottest Guitars: Chicago Blues Session, Vol. 25 (Wolf) with Phil Guy
- 2009 Live at Chan's: Combo Platter No. 2 (With Nick MossNick MossNick Moss is an American Chicago and electric blues musician. He has released eight albums to date, all on his own Blue Bella Records label. He has played alongside or with Buddy Scott, Jimmy Dawkins, Jimmy Rogers and The Legendary Blues Band; as well as more latterly fronting his own group, Nick...
& The Flip Tops)