1. Bobby Bland was sometimes referred to as the "Lion of the Blues" and as the "Sinatra of the Blues".
18 Facts About Bobby Bland
1. 2.
Bobby Bland was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1981, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2012.
3.
Bobby Bland received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
4.
Bobby Bland was born Robert Calvin Brooks in the small town of Barretville, Tennessee.
5.
Between 1951 and 1952, Bobby Bland recorded commercially unsuccessful singles for Modern and Sun Records.
6.
When Bobby Bland returned to Memphis in 1954, several of his former associates, including Johnny Ace, were enjoying considerable success.
7.
Bobby Bland joined Ace's revue and returned to Duke Records, which was then being run by the Houston entrepreneur Don Robey.
8.
Bobby Bland began recording for Duke with the bandleader Bill Harvey and the arranger Joe Scott, asserting his characteristic vocal style and, with Harvey and Scott, beginning to craft the melodic big-band blues singles for which he became famous, often accompanied by the guitarist Wayne Bennett.
9.
Bobby Bland recorded an album with Parker, Blues Consolidated, in 1958.
10.
Bobby Bland recorded a hit version of T-Bone Walker's "Call It Stormy Monday ", which was erroneously given the title of a different song, "Stormy Monday Blues".
11.
Bobby Bland barely broke into the mainstream market; his highest-charting song on the pop chart, "Ain't Nothing You Can Do", peaked at number 20 in 1964, in the same week in which the Beatles held down the top five spots.
12.
Bobby Bland suffered from depression and became increasingly dependent on alcohol, but he stopped drinking in 1971.
13.
Bobby Bland was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
14.
The Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison was an early adherent of Bobby Bland, covering "Turn On Your Love Light" while with the band Them, and Bobby Bland was an occasional guest singer at Morrison's concerts.
15.
Bobby Bland included a previously unreleased version of a March 2000 duet of Morrison and Bland singing "Tupelo Honey" on his 2007 compilation album, The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3.
16.
Bobby Bland is interred at Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis.
17.
Bobby Bland is survived by his wife, Willie Martin Bland, and his son Rodd, who is a musician.
18.
Bobby Bland was nominated for seven Grammy Awards in the course of his career.