We are trying to prove that the blues lives on forever and anybody in this place can sing the blues. — Ruth Brown
The Blues Foundation has announced the date and nominees for the 2006 Blues Music Awards (formerly the W.C. Handy Awards). They will be held Thursday, May 11, 2006, at the Memphis Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis, Tennessee.
The Blues Music Awards are the equivalent of the Grammys in the Blues community, important since the Grammys rarely give much attention to the Blues genre during their show. Unlike the Grammys, most of the nominees actually attend and perform at Blues Music Awards.
The nominees for 2006:
Acoustic Album of the Year
A Ship Called Love — Eric Bibb
Birthright — James Blood Ulmer
Down In The Delta — Paul Oscher
In Your Arms Again — John Hammond
Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul — Maria Muldaur
Acoustic Artist of the Year
Eric Bibb
Rory Block
Corey Harris
Doug MacLeod
Paul Oscher
Album of the Year
Think of Me — Little Milton
Anything Can Happen — Magic Slim & the Teardrops
That Represent Man — The Mannish Boys
Sadie Mae — Nick Moss & the Flip-Tops
About Them Shoes — Hubert Sumlin
B.B. King Entertainer of the Year
Marcia Ball
Buddy Guy
Little Milton
Magic Slim
Bobby Rush
Band of the Year
Fabulous Thunderbirds
Holmes Brothers
Magic Slim and the Teardrops
Little Charlie & the Nightcats
Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers
Best New Artist Debut
Duwayne Burnside — Under Pressure
Billy Gibson — The Billy Gibson Band
Zac Harmon — The Blues According to Zacariah
Mitch Kashmar — Nickels and Dimes
Eddie Turner — Rise
Comeback Album of the Year
Better To Have It — Bobby Purify
Black Coffee — Al Kooper
Club Caravan — Big George Brock
Flash Forward — The Siegel-Schwall Band
Soul Sanctuary — Hollywood Blue Flames
Contemporary Blues Album of the Year
Fever For The Bayou — Tab Benoit
Gettin' My Groove Back — Elvin Bishop
Live! Down The Road — Marcia Ball
Soul Shaker — Tommy Castro
The Soul Truth — Shemekia Copeland
Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year
Marcia Ball
Shemekia Copeland
Debbie Davies
Janiva Magness
Susan Tedeschi
Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year
Tab Benoit
Tommy Castro
Sonny Landreth
Kim Wilson
Alvin Youngblood Hart
Historical Album of the Year
The Great Johnny Adams Blues Album — Johnny Adams (Rounder Records)
Hoochie Coochie Man: Complete Chess Recordings, Volume 2, 1952-1958 — Muddy Waters (Chess/Hip-O Select)
Stompin' At Mother Blues — J.B. Hutto ( Delmark Records)
Strictly Live in '85...Plus! — James Harman (Pacific Blues)
The Essential Taj Mahal — Taj Mahal, (Legacy Recordings)
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - DJRadiohead
Wow... so many things to throw in on this.
1 - One GLARING omission in all of this. Otis Rush's All Your Love I Miss Loving: Live at Wise Fools Pub Chicago 1976 should have been nominated for something. Probably would have been a good choice for Best Historical Album. It was one of my Top 10 Albums (regardless of genre) last year.
2 - Speaking of Best Historical, I didn't see that Muddy Waters release. I love me some Muddy Waters. I am going to have to look that one up.
3 - Speaking of albums I want to check out, I need to get my hands on the Hubert Sumlin disc. Probably ought to check out Little Milton's too. So sad he is gone.
Great to see this covered, Joan.
2 - Mark Saleski
totally agree on the Ronnie Earl nomination. i'd vote twice. three times if they'd let me.
3 - DJRadiohead
I have never heard Ronnie Earl's playing. Saleski, Joan: any suggested starting points?
4 - Joanie
As much as I love Al Kooper (I recently saw him in concert - EXCELLENT!), I don't think Black Coffee really fits, nor does it stand a chance.
I'd love to see a new live recording of Honeyboy Edwards, but I don't think that will happen. Maybe someday Michael Frank will release some of the recordings of Honey's stories (which are totally fascinating).
Have no fear, more blues on the way!
5 - Joanie
For Ronnie Earl, start with Blues Guitar Virtuoso Live in Europe. You'll love it!
6 - Mark Saleski
yep, Blues Guitar Virtuoso is great. i'm also partial to "I Like It When It Rains", which shows yo u how Earl can go from roadhouse style to jazz, sort of.
7 - DJRadiohead
I will make a note of both releases and I am also quite certain I am going to have to track down that Muddy "Complete Chess Masters." Muddy Waters just might be the gold standard. I'm listening to his Chess Box right now.
8 - Joanie
I have some rare recordings of a few artists that I feel so privileged to own. One of my friends has a home filled with rare early recordings - I go over there to make my wish list and give him the puppy dog eyes in hopes that he'll take pity on me and make copies for me. Yes, copies. Cuz much of this stuff just isn't available ANYWHERE anymore.
If either of you ever get to San Diego, I'll introduce you to this guy and his fantastic collection. You'd be absolutely astounded by what you see.
9 - Mark Saleski
roadtrip!!!
10 - DJRadiohead
Dude, I am so there. I have been pilfering the eBay tracking down old, out of print Otis Rush music. It's a damn shame so many of his albums are out of print but I did see where a re-issue label got ahold of the rights to re-release Mourning in the Morning. It's not a perfect record but it was recorded just over the way in Muscle Shoals and Duane Allman played some second guitar on it. There are a couple of poor song choices but there is some great stuff on there. His version of BB King's "Gambler's Blues" is just fantastic (and so are some of the live versions of it).
SD, here we come!
11 - Mark Saleski
plus, if we were in san diego, we could drive up to encinitas to check out Lou's Records...then up to Amoeba records...there goes our future retirement money.
i would no longer have TheWife and you would have the wife to whom you are no longer married.
12 - Joanie
Lou is totally awesome! Nice guy and great historian!
You can still have the wives. You simply bring them along and point them in the direction of the beach, the malls, and even better...once in Solana Beach/Encinitas, they can hit the design center and boutique district.
And I could hand them passes for the Zoo and Wild Animal Park.
Everyone would win on a trip like that!
13 - Mark Saleski
lou's has a killer "new music" second. all of the weird, skronky stuff that i like. plus, they had a bunch of Jandek cds.
i still haven't made it up to Amoeba. from what i've seen in pictures, i might have to sell my plane ticket and walk home.
14 - Joanie
Amoeba's cool. Went there after taping a show a few years ago. It's funky and fun.
But I like the old mom and pop stores better.
15 - Mark Saleski
oh, i agree. though...i did see one photo of the vinyl mecca at the san fran store....ouch.
i suppose i shouldn't be greedy. i mean, lou's has more than enough vinyl for a single trip to the left coast.
16 - Joanie
Greed is okay in moderation. I mean, you should be allowed a few moments every once in a while, right?
Plus, you get all this sun and sea and great GREAT weather. And you'd get to meet me. That's the important part. Me. It's all about me. Oh, and the music. Tons of great music! I do the gig calendar for the local blues society so I know where all the good stuff is happening.
17 - Mark Saleski
yea, the problem is if you've ever seen the picture of my cd rack, i've had more than a 'few' moments.
18 - Joanie
I used to have a really nice collection until it was stolen.
Grrr. And man, I'd kill for a car stereo again. I have to listen to my car sputtering and dying a slow death instead of groovin' to the soulful sounds of my favorites.
19 - DJRadiohead
Same here, Saleski. A few too many moments in the judgment of the Wife to Whom I am Married.
Joanie, that's terrible. I have had a few discs stolen from my car and also a car stereo. Sons of bitches.
20 - Mark Saleski
i emailed a pic of my 'rack of doom' to joanie....just to prove my, uh...well, whatever you want to call it.
21 - DJRadiohead
Rack of doom. Brings a totally different mental image. Nevermind.
22 - Mark Saleski
careful now, this is a family blog.
ok...maybe it's not.
23 - DJRadiohead
This is totally not a family blog. Consider the participants. This is Big Boy (and Big Girl) blog.
Just because there are children roaming around BC (Anthony Grande comes to mind and speaking of which I guess he got grounded or something because I haven't seen hide nor hair of him lately and no this is not a lamentation of that but rather a really long runon sentence in the furtherance of defending turning this into a filth discussion).
24 - Mark Saleski
cool.
can i have my man card back? or do i have to wait until after american idol is over?
25 - DJRadiohead
I guess we'll let you be a man for the purpose of this conversation.