Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds.
22 Facts About T-Bone Walker
2.
Aaron Thibeaux Walker was born in Linden, Texas, of African-American and Cherokee descent.
3.
T-Bone Walker began his career as a teenager in Dallas in the 1920s.
4.
T-Bone Walker left school at the age of 10, and by 15 he was a professional performer on the blues circuit.
5.
In 1929, Walker made his recording debut with Columbia Records, billed as Oak Cliff T-Bone, releasing the single "Wichita Falls Blues" backed with "Trinity River Blues".
6.
Oak Cliff is the community in which he lived at the time, and T-Bone Walker is a corruption of his middle name.
7.
T-Bone Walker married Vida Lee in 1935; the couple had three children.
8.
In 1944 and 1945, T-Bone Walker recorded for the Rhumboogie label, which was tied to the club, backed up by Marl Young's orchestra.
9.
T-Bone Walker performed at the second famed Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles produced by Leon Hefflin Sr.
10.
T-Bone Walker performed for the third Cavalcade of Jazz concert held in the same location on September 7,1947, along with Woody Herman as Emcee, The Valdez Orchestra, The Blenders, The Honeydrippers, Slim Gaillard, Johnny Otis and his Orchestra, Toni Harper, The Three Blazers, and Sarah Vaughan.
11.
T-Bone Walker recorded from 1950 to 1954 for Imperial Records.
12.
Walker's only record in the next five years was T-Bone Blues, recorded during three widely separated sessions in 1955,1956 and 1957 and released by Atlantic Records in 1959.
13.
T-Bone Walker recorded in his last years, from 1968 to 1975, for Robin Hemingway's music publishing company, Jitney Jane Songs.
14.
T-Bone Walker's career began to wind down after he suffered a stroke in 1974.
15.
T-Bone Walker died at his home in Los Angeles of bronchial pneumonia following another stroke in March 1975, at the age of 64.
16.
T-Bone Walker was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
17.
King cited hearing T-Bone Walker's recording of "Stormy Monday" as his inspiration for getting an electric guitar.
18.
T-Bone Walker's blues filled my insides with joy and good feeling.
19.
T-Bone Walker was admired by Jimi Hendrix, who imitated T-Bone Walker's trick of playing the guitar with his teeth.
20.
Steve Miller stated that in 1952, when he was eight, T-Bone Walker taught him how to play his guitar behind his back and with his teeth.
21.
T-Bone Walker was a family friend and a frequent visitor to Miller's family home and Miller considers him a major influence on his career.
22.
T-Bone Walker "pioneered electric blues by becoming the first artist to make the electric guitar a solo instrument and a true centerpiece of his stunning live shows".