Big Maybelle › Similar Artists

Ruth Brown - 100% match to Big Maybelle

12 January 1928, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA, d. 17 November 2006, Henderson, Nevada, USA. Brown started her musical career singing gospel at an early age in the church choir led by her father. In 1948 she was singing with a band led by her husband Jimmy in Washington, DC, when Willis Conover (from the radio show Voice Of America) recommended her to Ahmet Ertegun of the newly Read more

LaVern Baker - 99% match to Big Maybelle

Delores Williams, 11 November 1929, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 10 March 1997, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. Baker was a pioneering voice in the fusion of R&B and rock ‘n’ roll in the 50s. In 1947 she was discovered in a Chicago nightclub by band leader Fletcher Henderson. Although still in her teens, the singer won a recording contract with the influ Read more

Big Mama Thornton - 96% match to Big Maybelle

11 December 1926, Montgomery, Alabama, USA, d. 25 July 1984, Los Angeles, California, USA. Willie Mae Thornton was the daughter of a minister and learned drums and harmonica as a child. By the early 40s she was singing and dancing in Sammy Green’s Hot Harlem Revue throughout the southern states. Basing herself in Texas, she made her first records as Big Mama Thornton fo Read more

Koko Taylor - 67% match to Big Maybelle

Cora Walton, 28 September 1935, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Taylor is one of the few major figures that post-war Chicago blues has produced. Her soulfully rasping voice has ensured her popularity in the Windy City, and latterly further afield, for over 30 years, since she recorded her first single for the local USA label. Signed by the leading black music independent label Ches Read more

Chuck Willis - 65% match to Big Maybelle

Wynonie Harris - 64% match to Big Maybelle

24 August 1915, Omaha, Nebraska, USA, d. 14 June 1969, Los Angeles, California, USA. This stylish, flamboyant blues shouter enjoyed several R&B hit singles in the immediate post-war period. As a youth Harris played drums in and around his home town before moving to Los Angeles in the early 40s. There he played, danced, sang and worked in several non-musical capacities in Read more

Jimmy McCracklin - 59% match to Big Maybelle

James David Walker, 13 August 1921, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. A former professional boxer, McCracklin began his singing career in 1945 when he recorded some demos with J. D. Nicholson on piano. Four years later he formed his own band, the Blues Blasters, in San Francisco and recorded for Modern Records. These recordings from 1948-1950 are magnificent slices of pure R&B, Read more

Percy Mayfield - 57% match to Big Maybelle

12 August 1920, Minden, Louisiana, USA, d. 11 August 1984, Los Angeles, California, USA. A gifted performer, with a rich soulful voice, the Los Angeles-based Mayfield’s first success came in 1950 with ‘Please Send Me Someone To Love’ on the Specialty Records label. A massive US R&B hit, it reportedly sold well in excess of one million copies and became an Read more

Sugar Pie DeSanto - 57% match to Big Maybelle

Umpeylia Marsema Balinton, 16 October 1935, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Raised in San Francisco, DeSanto was discovered at a talent show by Johnny Otis, who later dubbed her ‘Little Miss Sugar Pie’. She recorded for Federal and Aladdin Records before ‘I Want To Know’ (1960) on Veltone reached the R&B charts. Signed to Checker Records in 1961, her first r Read more

Little Esther - 54% match to Big Maybelle

Little Willie John - 50% match to Big Maybelle

Big Joe Turner - 49% match to Big Maybelle

Joseph Vernon Turner, 18 May 1911, Kansas City, Missouri, USA, d. 24 November 1985, Los Angeles, California, USA. ‘Big’ Joe Turner (aka Big Vernon) began singing in local clubs in his early teens upon the death of his father, and at the age of 15 teamed up with pianist Pete Johnson. Their professional relationship lasted on-and-off for over 40 years. During the lat Read more

Charles Brown - 48% match to Big Maybelle

13 September 1922, Texas City, Texas, USA, d. 21 January 1999, Oakland, California, USA. Brown’s mother died only six months after he was born and he was raised by his grandparents. Despite learning piano and church organ at the insistence of his grandparents while a child, Brown became a teacher of chemistry. In 1943, living in Los Angeles, he realized that he could ea Read more

Pee Wee Crayton - 47% match to Big Maybelle

Connie Curtis Crayton, 18 December 1914, Liberty Hill, Texas, USA, d. 25 June 1985, Los Angeles, California, USA. After learning to play ukulele and banjo as a child, Crayton took up the guitar in his mid-twenties. He was inspired by Charlie Christian and T-Bone Walker, the latter of whom taught Crayton the basics of electric guitar playing. His tutelage was completed at the Read more

Esther Phillips - 46% match to Big Maybelle

Esther Mae Jones, 23 December 1935, Galveston, Texas, USA, d. 7 August 1984, Carson, California, USA. This distinctive vocalist was discovered by band leader Johnny Otis. She joined his revue in 1949 where, performing as Little Esther, the teenage singer recorded two number 1 R&B singles, ‘Double Crossing Blues’ and ‘Mistrustin’ Blues’. She then Read more