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Artist
Roosevelt Sykes
12+ albums
bluespianomale vocalists20sRhythm n blues
about
Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906, Elmar, Arkansas – July 17, 1983, New Orleans, Louisiana) was an American blues musician, also known as "The Honeydripper". He was a successful and prolific cigar-chomping blues piano player, whose rollicking thundering boogie-woogie was highly influential. Sykes had a long career spanning the pre-war and postwar eras. His pounding piano boogies and risqué lyrics characterize his contributions to the blues. He was responsible for influential blues songs such as "44 Blues", "Driving Wheel", and "Night Time Is the Right Time". He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in 2011. Born in Elmar, Arkansas, Sykes grew up near Helena but at age 15, went on the road playing piano with a barrelhouse style of blues. Like many bluesmen of his time, he travelled around playing to all-male audiences in sawmill, turpentine and levee camps along the Mississippi River, gathering a repertoire of raw, sexually explicit material. His wanderings eventually brought him to St. Louis, Missouri, where he met St. Louis Jimmy Oden. In 1929 he was spotted by a talent scout and sent to New York to record for Okeh Records. His first release was "'44' Blues" which became a blues standard and his trademark. He quickly began recording for multiple labels under various names including 'Easy Papa Johnson', 'Dobby Bragg' and 'Willie Kelly'. After he and Oden moved to Chicago he found his first period of fame when he signed with De
top songs
albums
Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 1 (1929-1930)
Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 10 (1951-1957)
Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 7 (1941-1944)
Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 5 (1937-1939)
The Honeydripper
The Return Of Roosevelt Sykes
Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 3 (1931-1933)
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'44' Blues (The Blues Collection Vol.46)
The Blues Effect - Roosevelt Sykes
Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 8 (1945-1947)
The Honeydripper's Duke's Mixture
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'44' Blues