Page 44 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2022

young up-and-coming blues artists from the South, including
Muddy Waters.
As a young man, he hoboed around with Yank Rachell and
John Estes working and gigging at picnics, parties, juke joints,
taverns and the streets throughout Tennessee and Arkansas
for much of the 1920s into the 1930s. He also worked with
Sunnyland Slim in the local clubs of Memphis.
Williamson settled in Chicago in 1934, backing up many
blues groups in the local Chicago clubs and performing
on Maxwell Street for tips. From the mid-1930s to the mid-
‘40s, he recorded with Bluebird Records, working with Lester
Melrose. Throughout the ‘40s, he often worked with Big Bill
Broonzy and Muddy Waters in various prominent blues clubs
throughout Chicago. He influenced a plethora of young up-
and-coming harmonica players including Junior Wells, Billy
Boy Arnold, Sonny Terry, Little Walter, Snooky Pryor, and a
harp player named Aleck “Rice” Miller, who often confused
people since he went by the name Sonny Boy Williamson
II. His best-known songs are “Good Morning Little School
Girl,” “Shake the Boogie,” “Early in The Morning,” “Sloppy
Drunk” and Robert Johnson’s “Stop Breaking Down.” He died
in 1948, at just 34 years old, from injuries sustained while
being robbed walking home after a gig.
All of these artists that laid the foundation for that Chicago
blues sound have a common denominator:

Chicago blues dynasty: Wayne Baker Brooks (left) and Ronnie Baker Brooks (right)
play with their dad, legendary bluesman Lonnie Brooks (center).
Photo by Ÿ Marilyn Stringer
To me, Lester Melrose is arguably the “Founder of Chicago
Blues” – or, at very least, an important contributor to the genre.
The men and women that he scouted, signed and produced
were great musicians who paved the way not only for the
generation of Muddy, Little Walter, Buddy and Junior, but
also for my generation, family and friends in our current times
today. Their legacy continues as we push forward Chicago
blues as a vital component in American music.
Widely considered the "Founder of Chicago Blues," record producer and label
scout Lester Melrose. Artwork by Bob Odhiambo
Wayne Baker Brooks, born and raised in the city of Chicago, IL,
is considered one of today’s top blues and blues-rock guitarists.
Lester Melrose was a record producer who produced His signature style combines powerful vocals with liquid fire
hundreds of blues records mostly for Bluebird Records (an RCA guitar playing that honors his rich blues heritage, yet effortlessly
Victor subsidiary), but also Vocalion, Columbia, Okeh and more. expands the boundaries of the genre.
He was among the first producers to put out Chicago blues For more, visit: WayneBakerBrooks.com,
records – he made a huge contribution to the rise of Chicago Twitter.com/waynebrooks, Instagram.com/waynebakerbrooks
blues well before Muddy, Etta, Howlin’, Little Walter, Chuck, Bo and Facebook.com/waynebakerbrooksmusic
and the Chess brothers. Melrose is a very important piece to
the puzzle of Chicago blues catapulting careers of musicians Photo Sources
who we now consider legends – Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Boy 1. James J. Kriegsmann, Public Domain, via Wikimedia
Williamson, Tampa Red and Memphis Minnie, but also Joe Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
“King” Oliver, Roosevelt Sykes, Lonnie Johnson, Big Joe Williams, File:Big_Bill_Broonzy_(1951_publicity_photo).jpg)
Bukka White, Washboard Sam, Champion Jack Dupree, Jazz 2. Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo
Gillum, Arthur Crudup, Victoria Spivey and Leroy Carr. 3. Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

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