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The ABP is a proud sponsor of the Alabama State License Tag Legislative Committee's Support the Arts, tags. Please consider supporting the arts in Alabama (or your state) through your local Probate's office by purchasing a tag that shows that you support the Arts! Funding from the Alabama Legislative Tag Committee goes toward the funding of the arts in Alabama!
Alabama Blues Project
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INTERNSHIPS | HISTORIC MARKERS | BLUES WOMEN EXHIBITION The Alabama Blues Project is an award winning non-profit organization that is dedicated to the preservation of the blues as a traditional and a contemporary American art form. Since our inception, the ABP has realized the urgent need for research and documentation of Alabama blues history and culture and the crucial importance of preservation work. Since at least the beginning of the twentieth century, there is considerable evidence of a rich and thriving blues culture throughout the Southeast - from Texas, through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina, Kansas and more. States like Mississippi and cities like Memphis have centers of study, museums and a prolific number of books dedicated to their rich blues history. However, the study of Southern blues in many of these regions through recorded material and oral histories has been strikingly lacking. This piecemeal regional approach to blues music research has resulted in a very incomplete history of the blues. We are very concerned that the story of Alabama blues has not been told and there is not yet a book dedicated to this important subject. With every day that passes, more of our important oral history sources are passing away and valuable information is being lost forever. As a contribution to Alabama blues research, we are very proud of a developing intern partnership with the University of Alabama. We are providing a list of research projects for an increasing number of students from the American Studies, History Department and New College. In 2006, the University of Siena in Italy sent an anthropology student who spent a month with the ABP as part of her dissertation research on blues women. Along with academic research, the ABP has compiled a small but growing archive which we hope, with the help of interns, will become a significant historical record of all things Alabama blues.
HISTORIC MARKERS | BLUES WOMEN EXHIBITION
We are very proud of our developing intern program in partnerdsship with Alabama University. There are so many project the ABP would like to see being pursued, and we are always looking for interns who might be interested in working in the following areas:
BLUES ARCHIVE | BLUES WOMEN EXHIBITION
Vera Hall Historic Marker, 2007
The unveiling took place in Livingston at the Sucarnochee Folklife Festival in April, a celebration happily timed to coincide with the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel's declaration of 2007 as “The Year of Alabama Arts.” The annual Sucarnochee Festival celebrates the culture of Alabama’s Black Belt and is organized by the University of West Alabama and the City of Livingston. Alabama blues musicians Willie King, Caroline Shines and Debbie Bond performed at the event, which included a diverse musical line-up, storytelling, and some of Alabama’s best visual artists. Though Vera Hall was largely unrecognized in her lifetime, her talent and artistry continue to touch and speak to millions of people around the world. Hall was born in rural Sumter County, near the town of Livingston, Alabama, around 1902. Immersed in the rich musical culture of West Alabama, she began singing gospel songs she learned from her mother and at her local Baptist church. Rich Amerson, a family friend, harmonica player and singer, taught Vera to sing the blues. Vera was first recorded in 1937 by John and Ruby Lomax, who were then working with Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration recording American folk music at its source. The resulting recordings included Vera’s versions, steeped in the black folk traditions of West Alabama, of spirituals, children’s songs, and blues songs. These recordings are now part of a national collection stored at the Library of Congress and are prized by folklorists throughout the world.
Although Hall died in 1964, her work still garners attention. Indeed, in 1999, techno-artist Moby featured her voice singing “Trouble So Hard” in his multi- platinum album Play, thus introducing Hall’s voice to a whole new generation of listeners around the world. Her masterful renditions of blues and other traditional songs are a defining feature of the rich black culture that came out of the Alabama Black Belt region. We hope that through the ABP’s efforts to create this historical marker we will help to spotlight her life and legacy as part of the great African American contribution to American culture.
AFTER OUR SUCCESS WITH THE VERA HALL HISTORICAL MARKER IN
By 1947 Dinah had hits with “Postman Blues,” “Blow Top Blues” and “Evil Gal Blues.” However, her biggest professional triumph came later with blues tinged renditions of pop tunes like the 1959 Grammy-winning “What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" and she topped the charts again with “Baby, You’ve Got What it Takes” a sizzling duet with Brook Benton. Dinah had a silken soprano and heartfelt voice that was confident, intimate and conversational. She was a distinctive song stylist, crossing over from the "race" music category to the pop and jazz charts. Known in her day as Queen of the Blues and Queen of the Juke Boxes, Dinah was regarded as that rare "first take" artist, her studio recordings reflecting the same passion and energy she brought to every live performance. She was one of the few women of the period to run her own booking agency, Queen Productions. She was known to make every song her own, having once said, “George Gershwin wouldn't know his own song when I'm through with it. I can't stay hidebound to any melody.” Ms. Washington died in 1963 at the very young age of thirty-nine. She was in peak musical form at the time of her death, and one can only imagine what magic she would have recorded had she lived longer. Her legend continues through song and through her influence on other singers. She continues to be a huge influence on R & B, soul and blues singers who have come to prominence since the mid-1950s, including Ruth Brown, Etta James, Esther Phillips, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick and Nancy Wilson. Her voice, charm, humor and charisma remain as distinct today as when she recorded the songs that made her the Queen of the Blues. “The traditions of jazz have always been inextricably tied in with great exponents of the blues. Dinah was the “reigning Queen of the Blues, the Bessie Smith and the Ma Rainey of her time.” 0ct 5, 1952, San Francisco Chronicle, music critic Ralph Gleason. JOHNNY SHINES Johnny Shines was born John Ned Shines on April 26, 1915 just north of Memphis, Tennessee in the suburb of Frayser. He grew up playing the guitar on the streets of Memphis for tips except for the occasional opportunity to play in a local juke joint for some cash. Johnny originally learned how to play guitar from his mother, and honed his skills playing for anybody that would listen or give him their spare change. His early musical influences include greats like Blind Lemon Jefferson and the amazing Howlin’ Wolf. Even his stature resembled a young Howlin’ Wolf. At the young age of 17, Johnny and his family moved across the Mississippi River to Hughes, Arkansas. This temporary move put his musical career on hold for a couple of years. Johnny during this time did some manual labor work on farms in the area. Johnny’s world was about to take a new turn with a chance meeting with one Robert Johnson in 1937.
In 1941, Johnny Shines moved north to Chicago, and by this time he was a very accomplished slide guitarist and emotional vocalist. During this time Johnny had a day job and played the local scene at night, and in 1946 he recorded his first album. Columbia Records took a chance and recorded Johnny, but the sessions were never released. Johnny tried again and failed under the Chess label, and again under the J.O.B. recording company. The recording under J.O.B. may be considered at his best work. This era in Johnny’s life could also be considered the peak of his career or at least his playing. With no real commercial success, Johnny hung up his guitar and quit the music business in 1958.
Johnny’s life was about to take another turn, but this one would be for the worse. In 1980, Johnny suffered a stroke that left his hands in a terrible state. He could still play better than most people ever imagined, although it was not the same as his former glory. Johnny did not let this stop him as he was still able to put out one more record in 1991. This album would be Johnny’s last. John “Johnny” Ned Shines passed away on April 20, 1992 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but his legacy and great music still carries on today.
The Alabama Blues Project declared 2005 "The Year Of Alabama Blues Women" and created its first traveling exhibition, Red Hot and Blue: A Spotlight on Alabama Blues Women. This is the first of many planned exhibition projects which we hope will culminate in the opening of our own permanent exhibition space celebrating the many Alabama blues musicians and contributors from our state. The exhibition centers on a number of text and graphic panels which outline the biography of some of Alabama's greatest women blues artists. It has been presented all over Alabama, often augmented by a fascinating collection of period artifacts. At several venues, the opening of the exhibition was celebrated with a live blues show featuring a showcase of Alabama Blues Women.
Alabama Blues Women perform at Freedom Creek 2007
Sweet Claudette, Debbie Bond and Carroline Shines |
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Vera Hall died January 29, 1964, at Tuscaloosa’s Druid City Hospital and is buried in an unmarked grave at the Morning Star cemetery in Livingston, Alabama. Unfortunately, as was the case with many African Americans in this region, Vera Hall died in poverty, her grave was never marked and the position of her burial site was not recorded. 
Heavily influenced by the musical talent of her mother, a gospel singer, she became a gospel star at the age of fifteen. She was discovered by the legendary 
During Johnny’s time with 
Johnny Shines could not stop his want for the blues and the revival that came in the 60’s and 70’s, bringing him right back in. Johnny once again returned to the stage playing in clubs, and even played at some festivals. This second time around Johnny was seen by more people as the great musician that he was. During this period he also sat down and recorded a few more records, and these were given a warm reception by the listeners. The album Chicago/ The Blues/ Today boosted into the mainstream, and solidified him as a blues great. Later in the 60’s, Johnny toured with the Chicago Blues All-Stars. 
