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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Luther Allison|image = LutherAllison1996.jpg|caption = Allison performing at the 1996 Riverwalk Blues Festival|image_size =|background = solo_singer|birth_name =|birth_date = Birth date|mf=yes|1939|08|17|mf=y|birth_place = Widener, Arkansas , United States |death_date = Death date and age|mf=yes|1997|08|12|1939|08|17|death_place = Madison, Wisconsin , United States|genre = Blues |occupation = Musician|instrument = Vocals, guitar|years_active = 19571997|associated_acts = Howlin' Wolf , James Cotton |label = Delmark Records , Motown Records , Ruf Records , Alligator Records |website = http://www.luther-allison.com/ Luther-Allison.com|Notable instruments = Gibson Les Paul Luther Allison (August 17, 1939 August 12, 1997)cite web|author=Doc Rock |url= http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1996.html |title=Dead Rock Stars website |publisher=Thedeadrockstarsclub.com |date= |accessdate=2011-12-06 was an United States|American blues guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas and moved with his family, at age twelve, to Chicago in 1951. He taught himself guitar and began listening to blues extensively. Three years later he began hanging outside blues nightclubs with the hopes of being invited to perform. He played with Howlin' Wolf 's band and backed James Cotton .
Career
His big break came in 1957 when Howlin' Wolf invited Allison to the stage. Freddie King took Allison under his wing and after King got his big record deal, Allison took over King's house band gig on Chicago's west side. He worked the club circuit throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s and recorded his first single in 1965. Allison was signed to the Delmark Records label in 1967 and released his debut album Love Me Mama the following year. A well-received set at the 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival resulted in his being asked to perform there each of the next three years. He also toured nationwide and, in 1972, was signed to Motown Records , the first and one of the few blues artists to do so. By the mid 1970s he began touring Europe and moved to France in 1977.cite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher=Carlton Books Limited | location= Dubai | page= 88 | isbn= 1-85868-255-X Allison was known for his powerful concert performances, lengthy soulful guitar solos and crowd walking with his Gibson Les Paul . Allison lived briefly during this period in Peoria Illinois, where he signed briefly with Rumble Records in Peoria Illinois which resulted in two Live Recordings "Gonna Be a Live One in Here Tonight" produced by Bill Knight and Power Wire Blues produced by George Faber and Jeffrey P. Hess. Allison played the "Bar circuit" in the USA during this period, spending 8 months per year in Europe at high profile venues, including Montreaux Jazz Festival. In 1992, he played as a duo with legendary French rock'n'roll star Johnny Hallyday for 18 shows in Paris, also playing during the intermission.
Allison's manager, and European agent, Thomas Ruf founded the label Ruf Records in 1994. Signing with Ruf Records, Allison launched a comeback in association with Alligator Records . Alligator founder, Bruce Iglauer , convinced Allison to return to the United States. The album ''Soul Fixin' Man was recorded and released in 1994, and Allison toured the U.S. and Canada. Allison won four Blues Music Award|W.C. Handy Awards in 1994. With the James Solberg Band backing him, non-stop touring and the release of Blue Streak (featuring song "Cherry Red Wine"), Allison continued to earn more Handys and gain wider recognition. Allison scored a host of Living Blues Awards and was featured on the cover pages of major blues publications.
He appeared at the 1995 San Francisco Blues Festival .
Allison covered " You Can't Always Get What You Want " for the 1997 The Rolling Stones|Rolling Stones ' tribute album, Paint it Blue: Songs of the Rolling Stones .
In the middle of his summer of 1997 tour, Allison checked into a hospital for dizziness and loss of coordination. It was discovered that he had a tumor on his lung that had Metastasis|metastasized to his brain.cite news | title = Cancer strikes blues guitarist | url = http://news.google.com/newspapers? id=fLsMAAAAIBAJ& sjid=rV4DAAAAIBAJ& pg=4167,1864144& dq=luther+allison | agency = Reuters | work = St. Petersburg Times | date = July 17, 1997 | page = 2B | accessdate = June 24, 2009 Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot In and out of a coma, Allison died on August 12, 1997, five days before his 58th birthday, in Madison, Wisconsin .Allmusic|class=artist|id=p260/biography|pure_url=yes Allmusic biography His album Reckless had just been released. His son Bernard Allison , at one time a member of his band, is now a solo recording artist.
He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2000, the Chicago Sun-Times called him "The Bruce Springsteen of the blues". http://209.85.135.104/search? q=cache:jbdWKEXXcL4J:findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20000604/ai_n13858293+%22bruce+springsteen+of+the+blues%22& hl=en& ct=clnk& cd=6& gl=uk Chicago Sun-Times
Allison is buried at Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery in Homewood, Illinois .
Discography
Studio and live albums
Year
Title
Label
Number
Notes
1969
1972
1974
1976
1977
1979
1979
1979
1979
1980
1984
1984
1985
1987
1991
1992
1992
1994
1995
1996
1996
1997
1999
1999
2002
2007
2009
cite web| url = http://www.luther-allison.com/index.html? discs.html | title = Discographie | work =Luther-Allison.com | publisher = Petra Toppat | accessdate =December 29, 2009
cite web| url = http://www.rufrecords.de/catalogue/21_luther-allison-records.html | title =Luther Allison all records | work = Ruf Records | publisher = | accessdate =December 29, 2009
cite web| url = http://jazzlabels.klacto.net/bingow.html | title =Bingow/Paris Album Records Checklist | author =G. Heinlein | authorlink = | coauthors =Görgen Antonsson and François Ziegler | date = | month = October | year = 2003 | work=jazzlabels | publisher = | accessdate =December 29, 2009
Persondata | NAME = Allison, Luther | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American blues guitarist | DATE OF BIRTH = August 17, 1939 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Widener, Arkansas , United States | DATE OF DEATH = August 12, 1997 | PLACE OF DEATH = Madison, Wisconsin , United States
DEFAULTSORT:Allison, Luther Category:1939 births Category:1997 deaths Category:People from St. Francis County, Arkansas Category:Chicago blues musicians Category:African American guitarists Category:American blues guitarists Category:Electric blues musicians Category:Blues musicians from Arkansas Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Cancer deaths in Wisconsin Category:People from Madison, Wisconsin
