T-Bone Walker

About me:

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux Walker was born in Linden, Tex. on May 28, 1910. He was the son of Rance and Movelia Walker . In his youth his mother divorced and moved to Dallas . She played guitar and knew Blind Lemon Jefferson and Leadbelly . The young T-bone was influenced by Blind Lemon Jefferson's style . As a young man, T-Bone married Vida Lee , they had 3 children. Around 1925 he joined Dr. Breeding's Big B Tonic medicine show and toured with Ida Cox. He cut his first record, Wichita Falls Blues and Trinity River Blues as Oak Cliff T-Bone (Dallas Tex. 5 december 1929). T-Bone toured with Cab Calloway's band and several other bands in Texas, Count Biloski , Milt Larkins , etc... He also appeared with Ma Rainey, in her 1934 Fort Worth performances. In 1935 Walker moved to Los Angeles and was soon well known by black audiences in a few nightclubs, his performances combined playing Guitar and tap dancing , and at that time he was the first blues guitarist to play the electric guitar. From 1940 to 1945 he toured with Les Hite's Cotton Club orchestra . In 1940 he recorded T-Bone Blues with Hite in NYC. T-Bone Walker's technique combined the country blues tradition with more polished contemporary swing . In the mid '40s he signed a contract with the Black and White label, and recorded some important titles of his long recording career . In the 1950s he recorded for Imperial and Atlantic Records. In 1955 he underwent an operation for chronic ulcers. In the early 1960s he joined Count Basie's orchestra . His Polydor album entitled Good Feelin' won the 1970 Grammy for ethnic-traditional recording.