Bland, Bobby “Blue” 1930–

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Bobby “Blue” Bland 1930–

Blues vocalist

Bobby “Blue” Bland may be the preeminent vocal stylist of the blues tradition. A genuine musical institution after more than fifty years of performing, Bland has built a career on a vocal personality that took him many years to develop, but that no one else could imitate. Bland’s style was built in equal parts upon smooth popular crooning, gospel preaching, and the downhome blues of the Memphis area where he began his musical life—a disparate set of influences, but one that seemed so natural as to be foreordained when Bland took the stage and vocally caressed the throngs of female fans that reliably attended his concerts.

An only child, Robert Calvin Bland was born on January 27, 1930, in rural Rosemark, Tennessee. Raised by his mother (he met his father only after becoming a star), Bland moved with her to Memphis when he was 17. He worked during the day at a garage, but began to get acquainted with local musicians as a member of a gospel group called the Miniatures. Memphis at the time was in the middle of a musical golden age that would make its name almost synonymous with the blues, and legendary guitarist B. B. King was already displaying his talents on a weekly radio show.

It was King who became Bland’s most helpful backer as he began to dream of a musical career. “He’d let me hang around and get some kind of experience,” Bland told the Washington Post. “I drove his car; I did anything I could to get my foot in the door. He gave me the opportunity and I still thank him today.” King invited Bland to perform on his radio program and to join the Beale Streeters, a touring blues ensemble (with Johnny Ace and Junior Parker as other members) that enjoyed regional fame and frequently backed King in concert. Bland imitated King’s vocal style precisely in his early years, but King encouraged him to define his own sound.

That process began in 1951 and 1952 when Bland cut a few sides for Elvis Presley producer Sam Phillips and for Memphis’s new Duke record label, but was interrupted when the singer was drafted into the U.S. Army. He spent two years in Japan and a year at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, where he began to sing on weekends at amateur-night contests in nearby cities. He began to find his distinctive voice when he learned to emulate

At a Glance…

Born Robert Calvin Bland, January 27, 1930, in Rosemark, TN; married four times. Military service: U.S. Army, 1952-55.

Career: Performed in Memphis with gospel group the Miniatures; performed with group the Beale Streeters and provided backup vocals to B.B. King; signed to Duke label, 1951; recorded for Duke, 1951-73; toured widely, performing up to 300 dates a year, 1950s and 1960s; signed to MCA label, late 1970s; signed to Malaco label, 1985; continued to tour, early 2000s.

Selected awards: Grammy nomination, 1989; inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1991.

Addresses: Recording label —Malaco Records, P.O. Box 9287, 3023 Northside Dr., Jackson, MS 39206.

the smooth styles of the then-popular Nat “King” Cole and of West Coast bluesman Charles Brown and to combine them with the Memphis blues he knew well.

Back in Memphis after leaving the Army, Bland discovered that the Duke label had been purchased by hard-driving entrepreneur Don Robey. Robey sent Bland bus fare of $13.80 to come to Houston, signed him to the label, and teamed him with the Texas-born trumpeter Joe Scott, a gifted arranger who found ways of showcasing Bland’s maturing voice. At about this time Bland also encountered recordings made by the Rev. C. L. Franklin, father of Aretha Franklin and, as Bland told the Washington Post, “one of the greatest Baptist preachers that ever was.” Incorporating aspects of Franklin’s preaching style into his singing—notably a snort-like interjection that Bland called a “squall”—Bland arrived at a blues vocal style marked by both a crooner’s smoothness and a simmering underlying passion.

The result was a string of hit records for Bland, beginning with the rhythm-and-blues number one “Farther Up the Road” in 1957 and continuing for a quarter-century; Bland would land on the R&B charts at least once every year through 1982. Several of his 24 top ten R&B hits, such as “I Pity the Fool” (1961) and “That’s the Way Love Is” (1963) became blues standards, and his fusion of blues and gospel influenced the genre known as soul that was on its way up in Bland’s hometown of Memphis. Many of his recordings during his years with the Duke label were composed (or claimed) by Robey, but even after Duke was absorbed by the more mainstream ABC label in 1973 he continued to enjoy success with such contemporary releases as The California Album. In the late 1970s he recorded for the MCA label and even flirted with disco music.

Indeed, the problems Bland faced at mid-career were not musical but personal. In his prime years at Duke, Bland benefitted from the label’s small size and familylike atmosphere, with special support given by Robey’s assistant Evelyn Johnson. “He had a lot of complexes,” Johnson told Texas Monthly. “When he hit the stage he was Bobby Bland, but offstage he was just Bobby. He was so shy, and he took no responsibility for anything. You had to lead him around. I was like a mother: ‘Did you take a bath today, Bobby?’” Bland, who married four times, developed a worsening alcohol dependency after his musical relationship with Joe Scott fell apart in the late 1960s. At one point he was reported to be drinking three fifth bottles of liquor a day.

Bland gradually brought his drinking under control, however, and though his popularity fluctuated it never nosedived. Although he never really attracted the attention of white blues revivalists in the way that B. B. King did, his career attained equal longevity. A Bobby “Blue” Bland concert in the early 1980s was a heavily romantic affair, often held in a lavish downtown big-city auditorium, attended by crowds of middle-aged African Americans who had followed his career for decades. Among Bland’s hits of this period was “Ain’t No Heart in the City,” which was later covered by the white heavy metal rock band Whitesnake.

What kept Bland happy and productive into old age was his move to the Jackson, Mississippi-based Malaco label in 1985. Malaco devoted itself primarily to classic southern soul and blues styles, and its atmosphere was congenial for Bland. “Malaco has a family atmosphere like Duke used to have,” Bland explained to the Washington Post. “The people there know how to explain things to you; they show an interest in you as more than just a singer.” Bland remained a strong concert draw into the 21st century; his 1998 Malaco album Live on Beale Street showcased his skills in front of an audience. The man whom Rolling Stone Record Guide critic Dave Marsh called “the black Frank Sinatra” had become a true institution of the blues. Bland was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1981 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.