Andre Williams (born Zephire Andre Williams in Bessemer, Alabama, on November 1, 1936) is an American R&B and punk blues musician who started his career in the 1950s at Fortune Records in Detroit. Some sources believe that Williams is the long-lost brother of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, a blues musician whose song "I Put A Spell On You" landed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll charts.
The Blues Brothers are an American rhythm and blues band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd a.k.a. Elwood J. Blues and John Belushi a.k.a. Jake E. Blues as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live. Belushi and Aykroyd, respectively in character as lead vocalist "Joliet" Jake Blues and harpist/vocalist Elwood Blues, fronted the band, which was composed of well-known and respected musicians. The band made its debut as the musical guest on the April 22, 1978, episode of Saturday Night Live.
Millie Jackson is an African-American R&B/Soul singer-songwriter and actress whose music has also explores Disco, Hip-Hop, Pop, Rock and even Country. Her powerful vocal performances are also distinguished by long, humorous, and explicit spoken sections in her music; her work from the 1970s and 1980s, is often cited as an influence on female rappers. She is the mother of Contemporary R&B singer, Keisha Jackson.
Tammi Terrell (born Thomasina Montgomery) (April 29, 1945 to March 16, 1970) was an American Motown singer in the 1960s, best known for her duets with Marvin Gaye. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she entered the music business at the age of 13, regularly performing live. In 1961 she was signed to the fledgling Scepter Records (later Wand Records), recording under the name "Tammy Montgomery". After coming to the attention of James Brown she recorded one single apiece for Brown's own Try Me record label and, in 1964, Checker Records.
Wynter Gordon (born Diana Gordon; August 25, 1985) is an American singer and songwriter. Wynter was born in New York and was brought up in a poverty stricken neighborhood in Queens. As the middle child of seven living in a two bedroom house with an abusive and largely absent father, her childhood was difficult. Wynter discovered her talent for singing and dance at an early age. As a teenager, she was accepted to the famous LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. There, she was nurtured in a welcoming and nonjudgmental environment.
Bob Marley & the Wailers was a reggae band created in 1974 by Bob Marley, after Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the precursor band, The Wailers. Bob Marley & The Wailers formed in Kingston, Jamaica and consisted of Bob Marley himself as guitarist, song writer and lead singer, Wailers Band as the backing band and the I Threes as backup vocalists. The band included the brothers Carlton Barrett and Aston "family Man" Barrett on drums and bass respectively, Junior Marvin and Al Anderson on lead guitar, Tyrone Downie and Earl "Wire" Lindo on keyboards, and Alvin "Seeco" Patterson on percussion.
Billy Brooks is a trumpet player and composer, born August 16, 1926 in Mobile, Alabama. Brooks played with Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra and released LP Windows of The Mind on Crossover Records in 1974.
Irma Thomas (b. February 18, 1941, Ponchatoula, Louisiana) whose only national chart hit in a 50 year career is 1963's "Wish Someone Would Care", is an enduring, Grammy winning, soul, gospel, rhythm and blues singer from New Orleans. Known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans", she is a contemporary of Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but did not tour as relentlessly, and industry support and major commercial success eluded her for decades.
Canned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie band that formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson (1943 – 1970) and Bob Hite (1943 – 1981), who took the name from Tommy Johnson's 1928 Canned Heat Blues, a song about an alcoholic who has desperately turned to drinking Sterno, generically called "canned heat".