Lightnin' Hopkins › Similar Artists

Elmore James - 100% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

Elmore Brooks, 27 January 1918, Richland, Mississippi, USA, d. 23 May 1963, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Although his recording career spanned 10 years, Elmore James is chiefly recalled for his debut release, 1951’s ‘Dust My Broom’. This impassioned, exciting performance, based on a virulent composition by country blues singer Robert Johnson, was marked by the arti Read more

Mississippi Fred McDowell - 82% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

12 January 1904, Rossville, Tennessee, USA, d. 3 July 1972, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. A self-taught guitarist, McDowell garnered his early reputation in the Memphis area with appearances at private parties, picnics and dances. He later moved to Como, Mississippi, and was employed as a farmer until discovered by field researcher Alan Lomax in 1959. Sessions for Atlantic Record Read more

John Lee Hooker - 71% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

22 August 1917, Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA, d. 21 June 2001, Los Altos, California, USA. Dates vary between 1917 to 1920, but owing to the age of Hooker’s mother when he was born, 1917 is the most likely. He was born into a large family, of between 10 and 12 siblings, who all worked on the fields of a large tenanted agricultural farm. Hooker’s first musical exper Read more

Memphis Slim - 71% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

T-Bone Walker - 70% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

Aaron Thibeaux Walker, 28 May 1910, Linden, Texas, USA, d. 16 March 1975, Los Angeles, California, USA. Walker, whose T-Bone acronym is a corruption of his middle name, was raised in Dallas where his parents operated an ‘open house’ to all the touring blues musicians. During his childhood, Walker was brought into contact with artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Read more

Sonny Boy Williamson - 69% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

Aleck/Alex Miller, 5 December 1899, Glendora, Mississippi, USA, d. 25 May 1965, Helena, Arkansas, USA. Being a man who would never compromise a good story by affording undue attention to veracity, and mischievous to boot, Sonny Boy’s own various accounts of his life were never to be trusted and led to much confusion. This artist was also known as Alex Ford (after his mo Read more

Little Walter - 68% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

Big Bill Broonzy - 66% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

William Lee Conley Broonzy, 26 June 1893 (some sources give 1898), Scott, Mississippi, USA, d. 14 August 1958, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Broonzy worked as a field hand, and it was behind the mule that he first developed his unmistakable, hollering voice, with its remarkable range and flexibility. As a child he made himself a violin, and learned to play under the guidance of an Read more

Jimmy Reed - 62% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

Mathis James Reed, 6 September 1925, Leland, Mississippi, USA, d. 29 August 1976, Oakland, California, USA. Jimmy Reed was a true original: he sang in a lazy mush-mouthed ramble, played limited, if instantly recognizable, harmonica, and even more minimal guitar. He produced a series of hits in the 50s that made him the most successful blues singer of the era.

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Bukka White - 59% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

Booker T. Washington White, 12 November 1906, Houston, Mississippi, USA, d. 26 February 1977, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. White learned guitar and piano in his teens, and hoboed from 1921, playing blues with artists such as George ‘Bullet’ Williams. In the mid-30s White was a boxer and baseball pitcher. He recorded for Victor Records in 1930, a largely unissued sessio Read more

Howlin' Wolf - 59% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

Otis Rush - 59% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

29 April 1934, Philadelphia, Mississippi, USA. A left-handed blues guitarist, Rush moved to Chicago where his impassioned singing and playing on ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’ brought a Top 10 R&B hit in 1956. He became one of the ‘young turks’ of the Chicago scene together with Buddy Guy, Freddie King and Magic Sam. ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby Read more

Son House - 59% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

Eddie James House Jnr., 21 March 1902, Riverton, Mississippi, USA, d. 19 October 1988, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Brought up in a religious home, Son House was drawn to the ministry in his youth, and took up the guitar, and the blues, as late as 1927. Throughout his life there was to be a tension between his religious feelings and his secular way of life (including the playing Read more

Muddy Waters - 58% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

McKinley Morganfield, 4 April 1913, Rolling Fork, Mississippi, USA, d. 30 April 1983, Chicago, Illinois, USA. One of the dominant figures of post-war blues, Muddy Waters was raised in the rural Mississippi town of Clarksdale, in whose juke-joints he came into contact with the legendary Son House and Robert Nighthawk. Having already mastered the rudiments of the harmonica an Read more

Big Joe Williams - 57% match to Lightnin' Hopkins

Joe Lee Williams, 16 October 1903, Crawford, Mississippi, USA, d. 17 December 1982, Macon, Mississippi, USA. Big Joe Williams was one of the most important blues singers to have recorded and also one whose life conforms almost exactly to the stereotyped pattern of how a ‘country’ blues singer should live. He was of partial Red Indian stock, his father being ‘R Read more