I worked with a youth group of the church community when I was about 18 years old and started to promote concerts with the teenagers in my group. We rented the local town hall and booked blues artists. That kept the teenagers busy and off the street at least during the time of our projects. I left the farm with a new career plan after I promoted a concert of Luther Allison and personally got to meet him.
I started promoting more of his shows in other towns and ended up as his German booking agent during my time at university. My time at university ended when I made my side business, (as Luther’s promoter) that was financing my stay at university, a full time job. The label was a later baby down the road…
What about music? Was your family musical or did you just develop an interest in it on your own? Did you ever want to be a musician?
I am not a frustrated musician, sorry. I used to play the piano as a teenager a bit and have an idea about notes and scales. But I was always rather undisciplined and never really practiced. My family were simple country people with little sense of art.
The only radio in the house was broken. The first music I heard was Johan Sebastian Bach chorals in church. I first heard the blues at age 14 when I saw the movie Chicago Blues. Those old blues guys (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson, etc) fitted my social consciousness – they were underdogs that made it through their music.
The fact that they seemed so real and authentic left a huge impression on me. I guess that planted the seed… the first blues concert I ever attended (and the first blues man I ever promoted a show of) was Louisiana Red, who lived (and still does) in Germany.
Do you remember the first time you heard the Blues? Was it love at first "listen" or was it an acquired taste?
See above. I bought a turntable at age 14 and started buying albums of the featured artists in a Chicago blues film I saw. I also listened to stuff like Janis Joplin, The Animals, and other artists of the 60’s era whose intensity could meet the intensity of those blues guys.
Article comments
1 - Luther Allison, Jr.
That's a nice article. Thanks. There are a few corrections that need to be made and REPRINTED: 1st; Rocky is not my mother. My father is/still/was married to my mother, Fannie M Allison. She still lives/resides in Peoria, Ill. I wish that that these corrections are made and stop slandering our name and acknowledge and respect my Mom. Or acknowledge the fact that Rocky and my dad were, "kickin' it", maybe? Bernard and I are tired of being asked how is your mom (Rocky)? Our response is not nice.
2 - Richard Marcus
Luther Jr.
Yikes that's not cool is it. The best I can do for you, as this was an interview with Thomas Ruf, and he was the one who made those refrences, is to forward what you told me to him in Germany, and to my contact with Ruf Records in North America.
I have to say I agree with both you and your brother's opinion, I wouldn't have wanted anyone thinking any of my Dad's girlfriends or even my stepmom were my mom. I would have been pissed too.
I'll make sure the people at Ruf records are corrected so at least they won't make the same comments in the future. Also your comment is printed underneath this interview and I will see about getting it posted in the other places the interview has been published. Cool?
Once again I agree with what you're saying, and I'd be upset too. So I hope I can make sure that some people will stop saying it.
cheers
Richard Marcus
p.s If you want to contact me directly, email the site's publisher - you can find the contact information on the front page - and he can email your address and I'll get back to you.