Biography
Hudson Woodbridge aka Whittaker, 8 January 1904, Smithville, Georgia, USA, d. 19 March 1981, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Tampa Red was raised in Tampa, Florida, by his grandmother Whittaker’s family, hence his nickname. By the time of his 1928 recording debut for Vocalion Records, he had developed the clear, precise bottleneck blues guitar style that earned him his billing, ‘The Guitar Wizard’. He teamed with Thomas A. Dorsey in Chicago in 1925, and they were soon popular, touring the black theatre circuit. ‘It’s Tight Like That’, recorded in late 1928, was a huge hit, fuelling the hokum craze. They recorded extensively, often in a double entendre vein, until 1932, when Dorsey finally moved over to gospel. Tampa also recorded with his Hokum Jug Band, featuring Frankie Jaxon, and alone, in which capacity he cut a number of exquisite guitar solos. By 1934, when Tampa signed with Victor Records, he had ceased live work...
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