Bobby "Blue" Bland

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer

Category: Performer

Inducted: 1992

Inducted by: B.B. King

Nominated: 1986   1987   1988   1989   1991   1992

First Eligible: 1986 Ceremony


Inducted into Rock Hall Revisited in 2002 (ranked #24 in the Influences - Rock Era category) .

R.S. Top 500 Albums (?)RankVersion
Two Steps from the Blues2172012

Essential Albums (?)WikipediaYouTube
Two Steps From The Blues (1961)
Here's the Man! (1962)

Essential Songs (?)WikipediaYouTube
Farther Up the Road (1957)
I'll Take Care of You (1959)
Turn On Your Love Light (1961)
I Pity the Fool (1961)
Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City (1974)

Bobby "Blue" Bland @ Wikipedia



Comments

12 comments so far (post your own)

Peaceful journeys and thank you.

Posted by DarinRG on Sunday, 06/23/2013 @ 22:25pm


http://ourrockandrollhalloffame71305.yuku.com/topic/2000

BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND (1930-2013)

In my personal opinion, the GREATEST BLUES SINGER OF ALL TIME.

When I was growing up in my Cleveland neighborhood, back in the late '50's-early 60's, the one blues singer everyone played, in jukeboxes, on the radio, on the stereo phonographs at home, was BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND.
He was the singer that everyone who loved the blues wanted to hear.

His voice was like a force of nature. like the Rock of Gibraltar. The one that the other blues singers wanted to copy . But...they just couldn't. He was just TOO POWERFUL .

Think of Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops. Marvin Junior of The Dells . Eddie Levert of The O'Jays. James Brown of The Famous Flames.
All were singers known for PURE POWER. In the Blues field, their equivalent was BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND. The "LION of THE BLUES".

He took Blues to a whole 'nother level. During that era, there was simply NO ONE ELSE quite like him.

If B.B. KING was "Old School", Bobby Bland was the powerful "New Wave". His music was different. It's tone was different. His style was more manly. More gutsy. more defiant.Bigger. Badder. Bolder. Tougher. He took no prisoners.

Bobby changed the face of The Blues.

While other blues singers, in their music, complained "My woman done left me", Bobby Bland's style was "SO WHAT ?" "I PITY THE FOOL" that falls in love with you. (now you know where Mr.T got that from) . While B.B. sang "The Thrill Is Gone", Bobby wailed : "I wouldn't treat a DOG the way you treated me". And, "When you got a heartache, "THERE AIN'T NOTHING YOU CAN DO!!!". And , when I leave THIS TIME , let it be understood, that "THIS TIME...I'M GONE FOR GOOD !!!"

No self pity for HIM.

And people noticed.

They noticed that a new star was on the horizon. And The Blues would never be the same again.

R.I.P. Bobby.

Posted by Bill G. on Monday, 06/24/2013 @ 23:53pm


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRH5lbbACSs

*****BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND*****

BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND "Lion of The Blues" January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013) #4 [-]


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The Late DON CORNELIUS , host of "Soul Train", said in an interview with Bobby, that he was an artist that was "rarely seen on television". And that was true.

While B.B.King was a "media darling". doing commercials, appearing on mainstream T.V. shows , and the like , Bobby didn't get nearly the media exposure.

He had the long string of hits, to be sure, but America seemed uncomfortable with him. They would rather see other artists cover his songs on T.V. than to have him on to sing the ORIGINAL VERSIONS of his tunes.

Case in point. The Ed Sullivan Show:


They would rather have The Righteous Brothers on his show , singing Bobby's "Turn On Your Lovelight" , than have Bobby on to sing his OWN song.

And certain radio stations ,who would rather play Kenny Rogers' cover of Bland's "Share Your Love With Me" , than play Bobby's original version .

But, everybody knew who was the "Real Deal".

And ,numerous artists, of different musical genres,have all covered the songs of Bobby "Blue" Bland:

such as ARETHA FRANKLIN, VAN MORRISION, ANN PEEBLES, STEVIE WONDER, IKE & TINA TURNER, THE BLUES BROTHERS, THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS, THE GRATEFUL DEAD, BOB SEGER, BOZ SCAGGS, THE BAND, ERIC CLAPTON,THE PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND,MICK HUCKNALL (of SIMPLY RED), RANDY CRAWFORD, GIL SCOTT-HERON, LONNIE MACK,JOHNNIE TAYLOR, MAVIS STAPLES,GREG ALLMAN,WHITESNAKE, LITTLE MILTON, TRAFFIC, KENNY ROGERS, THE FANTASTIC FOUR, PAUL WELLER and numerous others .

BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND "Lion of The Blues" January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013) #9 [-]


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If you were to make a list of the number of artists that have been inducted into the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME , you will have a very special list.

If , using the process of elimination, you remove all of the artists that have NOT also been inducted into the BLUES HALL OF FAME, you will, of course, have a much smaller list.

If, then from this small list , you then remove all of the artists that have NOT ALSO been the recipents of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award you will then have a very rarified,very special list.

In that small list will be BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND.







Posted by Bill G. on Tuesday, 06/25/2013 @ 00:01am


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/arts/music/bobby-blue-bland-soul-and-blues-balladeer-dies-at-83.html?src=mv&_r=1&

*****BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND (1930-2013)*****

From THE NEW YORK TIMES dated 6/24/2013:

Bobby (Blue) Bland, Soul and Blues Balladeer, Dies at 83

Bobby (Blue) Bland, left, with B.B. King, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Bobby (Blue) Bland, the debonair balladeer whose sophisticated, emotionally fraught performances helped modernize the blues, died on Sunday in Memphis. He was 83.

The cause was complications from an ongoing illness, The Associated Press reported, quoting his son Rodd.
Though he possessed gifts on a par with his most consummate peers, Mr. Bland never achieved the popular acclaim enjoyed by contemporaries like Ray Charles and B. B. King. His restrained vocals, punctuated by the occasional squalling shout, nevertheless made him a mainstay on the rhythm-and-blues charts and club circuit for decades.

Exhibiting a delicacy of phrasing and command of dynamics akin to those of the most urbane pop and jazz crooners, his intimate pleading left its mark on everyone from the soul singers Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett to rock groups like the Allman Brothers and the Band. The rapper Jay-Z sampled Mr. Bland’s 1974 single “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” on his 2001 album, “The Blueprint.”

Mr. Bland’s signature mix of blues, jazz, pop, gospel and country music was a good decade in the making. His first recordings, made in the early 1950s, found him working in the lean, unvarnished style of Mr. King, even to the point of employing falsetto vocal leaps patterned after Mr. King’s. Mr. Bland’s mid-50s singles were more accomplished; hits like “It’s My Life, Baby” and “Farther Up the Road” are now regarded as hard-blues classics, but they still featured the driving rhythms and stinging electric guitar favored by Mr. King and others. It wasn’t until 1958’s “Little Boy Blue,” a record inspired by the homiletic delivery of the Rev. C. L. Franklin, that Mr. Bland arrived at his trademark vocal technique.

“That’s where I got my squall from,” Mr. Bland said, referring to the sermons of Mr. Franklin — “Aretha’s daddy,” as he called him — in a 1979 interview with the author Peter Guralnick. “After I had that I lost the high falsetto. I had to get some other kind of gimmick, you know, to be identified with.”

The corresponding softness in Mr. Bland’s voice, a refinement matched by the elegant formal wear in which he appeared onstage, came from listening to records by pop crooners like Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett and Perry Como.

Just as crucial to the evolution of Mr. Bland’s sound was his affiliation with the trumpet player and arranger Joe Scott, for years the director of artists and repertory for Duke Records in Houston. Given to writing brass-rich arrangements that built dramatically to a climax, Mr. Scott, who died in 1979, supplied Mr. Bland with intricate musical backdrops that set his supple baritone in vivid emotional relief. The two men accounted for more than 30 Top 20 rhythm-and-blues singles for Duke from 1958 to 1968, including the No. 1 hits “I Pity the Fool” and “That’s the Way Love Is.” Steeped in feelings of vulnerability and regret, many of these performances were particularly enthralling to the female portion of Mr. Bland’s audience.

Though only four of his singles from these years — “Turn On Your Love Light,” “Call on Me,” “That’s the Way Love Is” and “Ain’t Nothing You Can Do” — crossed over to the pop Top 40, Mr. Bland’s recordings resonated with the era’s blues-leaning rock acts. The Grateful Dead made “Love Light” a staple of their live shows. The Band recorded his 1964 single “Share Your Love With Me” for their 1973 album, “Moondog Matinee.” Van Morrison included a version of “Ain’t Nothing You Can Do” on his 1974 live set, “It’s Too Late to Stop Now.”

Mr. Bland himself broke through to pop audiences in the mid-70s with “His California Album” and its more middle-of-the-road follow-up, “Dreamer.” But his greatest success always came in the rhythm-and-blues market, where he placed a total of 63 singles on the charts from 1957 to 1985. He signed with the Mississippi-based Malaco label in 1985 and made a series of well-received albums that appealed largely to fans of traditional blues and soul music.

Mr. Bland was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 1997.

Posted by Bill G. on Tuesday, 06/25/2013 @ 00:07am


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StdN_CiCNS4

****BOBBY BLAND (1930-2013)****

"The Real Deal"

Posted by Bill G. on Tuesday, 06/25/2013 @ 00:10am


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CZMEctxtwE

*****BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND" 1930-2013*****

"AIN'T NOTHING YOU CAN DO" (1964)

Posted by Bill G. on Tuesday, 06/25/2013 @ 00:14am


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecxwazC9hMw

*****BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND" 1930-2013*****

"THIS TIME I'M GONE FOR GOOD"

A hit from his legendary 1973 "CALIFORNIA ALBUM"

Posted by Bill G. on Tuesday, 06/25/2013 @ 00:17am


Good stuff, Bill.

Posted by DarinRG on Tuesday, 06/25/2013 @ 01:23am


Nice post and links, Bill.

"In my personal opinion, the GREATEST BLUES SINGER OF ALL TIME." - Bill G. While I personally would give that title to Howlin' Wolf, he certainly was one of the very best.

Posted by Dezmond on Tuesday, 06/25/2013 @ 05:15am


"Nice post and links, Bill.

"In my personal opinion, the GREATEST BLUES SINGER OF ALL TIME." - Bill G. While I personally would give that title to Howlin' Wolf, he certainly was one of the very best."
Posted by Dezmond.

Well, Dez, everybody's entitled to their opinion , and I certainly respect yours.

But, as for me and my money, it was Bobby Bland.

Posted by Bill G. on Thursday, 06/27/2013 @ 15:30pm


http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2013/06/24/195201538/BLAND-OBIT

National Public Radio's tribute to "The Man"...Bobby Bland .

Posted by Bill G. on Thursday, 06/27/2013 @ 15:32pm


http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Bobby%20Bland.html

****BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND (1930-2013)****

THE "SOULWALKING UK" Websire on the life and career of Bobby "Blue" Bland .

Posted by Bill G. on Thursday, 06/27/2013 @ 15:35pm


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Future Rock Legends is your home for Bobby "Blue" Bland and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, including year of eligibility, number of nominations, induction chances, essential songs and albums, and an open discussion of their career.


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