Louisiana Red

Louisiana Red was an extraordinary person. He was a huge man with a deliberate, slow manner. He was also a brilliant songwriter who used his own tragedies to create a vivid, visceral Blues. His slide-guitar technique was reminiscent of the Delta. However, he also played harp and fingerstyle electric guitars. He often moved to tears by his passionate vocal delivery. He was a performer who performed nearly continuously for over fifty years, and he played with many legendary musicians. It’s surprising that he wasn’t more well-known. Red has released fifty albums and made countless guest recordings alongside his admirers. Red was awarded a Grammy and received a slew of awards over the course of his final years. Born in Alabama in 1932, Iverson was only a few days old when his mother died. His father was lynched at nine years old by the Ku Klux Klan. His grandmother bought him a guitar at a hock shop. He would also learn Blues harp and sing streetcorner for change. After moving around his family’s homes, he eventually settled in Chicago, where he recorded for Checker in 1949. He was an armed service veteran for most of his 50s, but by the end the decade, he was a member of John Lee Hooker’s Detroit band as Louisiana Red. In 1963, his first solo album, “Lowdown Back Porch Blues”, was released. It was a success and prompted a second album in the same year. Red sang some Blues standards and wrote Blues songs that were inspired by his life. His soulful voice and slide-guitar technique spoke to the Delta’s origins of Blues. Red was at his best when he performed alone, allowing him to use his eccentric timing and utter freedom. Red was almost invisible during the Sixties Blues Boom, which is odd, as he may have been too young to be considered a true country Bluesman if he was compared with Skip James, Son House, and others. Red did not record again until 1970 and released five albums during that decade. “Sweet Blood Call” in 1975 was a fine album. It featured a hard-edged title song and a sad song about Red’s young wife’s death. The 1976 sessions that he recorded with Lefty Dizz, later titled “Walked All Night Long”, were exceptional in their emotional intensity. Although the Blues were in one of America’s slowest periods, it was difficult for them to make an impact. However, Red was well-received when he travelled to Europe. He moved to Hamburg, Germany in 1980 and lived there the rest of his adult life. Red was very productive during this period, particularly in Europe. He toured continuously and produced twelve albums in six years. In 1983, he won a WC Handy Award and recorded in the States many times. He did not neglect his homeland but he earned a living on the Festival circuit and club circuits as his painfully personal Blues gained new fans. Red also made an impact in Europe when he recorded a 1994 album entitled Blues Meets Rembetika with Vamvakaris, a Greek bouzouki player. Red released ten albums in his final decade. This included ‘Different Shade of Red,’ which he recorded with Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and their Woodstock studio. Red has played with many Blues legends throughout his career, which spanned from the beginning days of Chess Studios to today. Red won two Blues Music Awards in 2010, for Album and Artist, and he continued to tour when he died in 2012. from www.allaboutbluesmusic.com

Leave a Comment