Luther Allison

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Luther Allison
Allison performing at the 1996 Riverwalk Blues Festival
Background information
Born	August 17, 1939(1939-08-17) Widener, Arkansas United States
Died	August 12, 1997 (aged 57) Madison, Wisconsin United States
Genres	Blues
Occupations	Musician, Actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1957 - 1997
Labels	Delmark Records, Motown Records, Ruf Records, Alligator Records
Associated acts	Howlin' Wolf, James Cotton
Website	Luther-Allison.com

Luther Allison (August 17, 1939 – August 12, 1997^[1]) was an American blues guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas and moved with his family, at age twelve, to Chicago, Illinois in 1951.^[2] He had taught himself guitar while in Chicago and began listening to blues extensively. Three years later he began hanging outside blues nightclubs with the hopes of being invited to perform. He played with Howlin' Wolf's band and backed up James Cotton.

Contents 1 Career 2 Discography 2.1 Studio and live albums 2.2 Compilations 2.3 Video 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Career

His big break came in 1957 when Muddy Waters invited Allison to the stage. He worked the club circuit throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s and recorded his first single in 1965. Allison was signed to the Delmark Records label in 1967 and released his debut album Love Me Mama the following year. A well-received set at the 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival resulted in his being asked to perform there each of the next three years.^[2] He also toured nationwide and, in 1972, was signed to Motown Records, the first and one of the few blues artists to do so.^[3] By the mid 1970s he began touring Europe, and moved to France in 1977.^[3] He would not return to the United States for another fifteen years. Allison was known for his lengthy concert performances, lengthy guitar solos and crowd walking with his Gibson Les Paul.

Allison's manager, and European agent, Thomas Ruf founded the label Ruf Records in 1994. Since signing with Ruf Records, Allison then launched a comeback in association with Alligator Records. Alligator founder, Bruce Iglauer, convinced Allison to return to the United States. The album Soul Fixin' Man was recorded and released in 1994, and Allison toured the U.S. and Canada. Allison won four W.C. Handy Awards in 1994. With the James Solberg Band backing him, non-stop touring and the release of Blue Streak (featuring song "Cherry Red Wine"), Allison continued to earn more Handys and gain wider recognition. Allison scored a host of Living Blues Awards and was featured on the cover pages of major blues publications.

He appeared at the 1995 San Francisco Blues Festival.

Allison covered "You Can't Always Get What You Want" for the 1997 Rolling Stones' tribute album, Paint it Blue: Songs of the Rolling Stones.

In the middle of his summer of 1997 tour, Allison checked into a hospital for dizziness and loss of coordination. It was discovered that he had a tumor on his lung that had metastasized to his brain.^[4] In and out of a coma, Allison died on August 12, 1997, five days before his 58th birthday, in Madison, Wisconsin.^[2] His album Reckless had just been released. His son Bernard Allison, at one time a member of his band, is now a solo recording artist.

He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2000, the Chicago Sun-Times called him "The Bruce Springsteen of the blues".^[5]

Allison is buried at Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery in Homewood, Illinois.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio and live albums

Year	Title	Label	Number	Notes
1969	Love Me Mama	Delmark	625
1972	Bad News Is Coming	Motown/Gordy	964
1974	Luther's Blues	Motown/Gordy	967
1976	Night Life	Motown/Gordy	974
1977	Love Me Papa	Black & Blue	33.524	reissued as Estudio Eldorado 524 (Brazil) and Evidence CD 26015 (U.S.)
1979	Gonna Be a Live One in Here Tonight!	Rumble	1001	recorded live in Peoria, Illinois on April 18-19, 1979. reissued as Red Lightnin' 0036, South Side Safari
1979	Power Wire Blues	Rumble	1004	part 2 of the Peoria concert. reissued 1985 as Charly 1105
1979	Live in Paris	Paris Album/Buda	2-28501	recorded in Paris, La Chapelle Des Lombards, 1979. Also issued as Ruf 1354, Free Bird 209/FLY06, Pläne 88295, Platinum 161354
1979	Live	Blue Silver	3001/3321	part 2 of the 1979 Paris concert. also on Blue Sky/Buda
1980	Time	Paris Album/Buda	2-28505
1984	Lets Have a Natural Ball	JSP	1077
1984	Life is a Bitch	Encore!/Melodie	131	Blind Pig 2287 (1987) in the U.S., retitled Serious
1985	Here I Come	Encore!/Melodie	133
1987	Rich Man	Ruf	8001	also RFR 1005, Charly CRB 1227
1991	More from Berlin	East West	LACD 1991-2	live, 1989
1994	Soul Fixin' Man	Alligator	4820	Ruf 1021 in Europe, retitled Bad Love
1995	Blue Streak	Alligator	4834	Ruf 7712 in Europe
1996	Live ’89: Let's Try It Again	Ruf	1028	recorded in Berlin, May 1989
1996	Live in Montreux - Where Have You Been?	Ruf	1008	recorded 1976-1994
1997	Reckless	Alligator	4849	Ruf 1012 in Europe
1999	Live in Chicago	Alligator	4869	Ruf 1042 in Europe, recorded 1995-97, 2-disc set
1994	Hand Me Down My Moonshine	Inak/Ruf	1047	acoustic
2002	Pay It Forward	Ruf	1060	recorded 1984-1994
1999	Standing at the Crossroad	Black & Blue	421.1	recorded 1977 in Paris. also Night & Day 210, Blues Reference
2007	Underground	Ruf	1132	recorded c. 1968
2009	Songs from the Road	Ruf	1157	CD+DVD recorded in Montreal, 1997

^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]}

[edit] Compilations

Year	Title	Label	Number	Notes
1995	Sweet Home Chicago	Charly	BM-37
1996	The Motown Years, 1972-1976	Motown/Universal

[edit] Video

Year	Title	Label	Number	Notes
1998	Live In Paradise	Ruf	VHS	recorded on La Reunion Island, April 1997. also DVD (2001)
2009	Songs from the Road	Ruf	1157	CD+DVD recorded in Montreal, 1997

[edit] See also

• List of blues musicians
• List of Electric blues musicians
• List of Chicago blues musicians
• List of guitarists by genre
• List of notable brain tumor patients

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Luther Allison at Find a Grave
• Luther-Allison.com
• Fansite mini-biography