Blues Moments in Time - January 15: Kings, Hookers, and the Chicago Wind

Описание: In this episode of Blues Moments in Time, January 15 becomes a crossroads where civil rights, Chicago clubs, and streaming-era singles all meet. We begin with the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., tracing how his fight against Jim Crow reshaped the emotional climate and working reality of blues musicians—opening doors to integrated audiences, safer touring routes, and a new alignment between blues laments, freedom songs, and soul anthems of protest.


From there, we turn to the births of Earl Hooker, John Lee Hooker Jr., and Captain Beefheart: a slide-guitar wizard who rewired Chicago phrasing, a son who rebuilt his life into a modern urban blues voice, and an avant-garde shapeshifter who twisted Delta and Chicago traditions into something surreal but still unmistakably blues at the core.


We also mark January 15, 1998, the passing of harmonica great Junior Wells—Muddy Waters sideman, Buddy Guy partner, and one of the fiercest ambassadors of the electrified Chicago sound. And we land in the present, where January 15 remains a working date on the blues calendar, hosting new releases like Bob Corritore & Bobby Rush’s “I’ve Got Three Problems” and fresh digital-era slow blues. Taken together, the day shows the blues as a living calendar entry—rooted in struggle, reinvented by each generation, and still very much on the release schedule.


Hosted by: Kelvin Huggins


Presented by: The Blues Hotel Collective


Keep the blues alive.


© 2026 The Blues Hotel Collective.