[Slowhand] Robert Jr. Lockwood Suffers Stroke: One of Two Living Links to Robert Johnson

[An English Boy]

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/116297941018990.xml?emmus&coll=2

Stroke puts bluesman Lockwood in hospital

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Grammy Award-nominated bluesman Robert Lockwood Jr. had a stroke Friday and 
is recovering at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.

The singer-guitarist, 91, was in stable condition Tuesday, said his wife, 
Mary.

Lockwood, a native of Turkey Scratch, Ark., took guitar lessons from 
legendary blues pioneer Robert Johnson. Lockwood has lived in Cleveland 
since 1960. A fixture on the local music scene, he has had a regular 
Wednesday night engagement at Fat Fish Blue. He performed there last week.
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"He was playing good as ever," said bassist Gene Schwartz, who has backed 
Lockwood since 1972.

Schwartz accompanied Lockwood to Europe in July to perform at blues 
festivals in England and Finland.

Branching out beyond the Mississippi Delta-style blues he learned from 
Johnson, Lockwood developed his own sound, embracing styles ranging from 
jump blues to jazz to funk.

After honing his chops on street corners and in juke joints, he became a 
musical mentor to B.B. King, who used to listen to Lockwood in the 1940s on 
the "King Biscuit Time" radio show broadcast out of Helena, Ark.

Lockwood relocated to Chicago in the 1950s, where he was a sought-after 
session musician for Chess Records. He recorded with Little Walter, 
Sunnyland Slim, Roosevelt Sykes and other blues musicians.

As a solo artist, Lockwood has had a sporadic recording career. He earned 
Grammy nominations for a pair of albums: 1998's "I Got to Find Me a Woman" 
and 2000's "Delta Crossroads."

He recently returned to the studio to appear on "The Way Things Go," the 
latest album by singer-guitarist Cleveland Fats, aka Mark Hahn.

Lockwood has won four W.C. Handy Awards from the Memphis-based Blues 
Foundation, which inducted him into the Blues Hall of Fame. When he 
celebrated his 90th birthday in March 2005, the festivities included a 
sold-out tribute at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

For Lockwood's band, the show will go on in his honor at 8:30 tonight at Fat 
Fish Blue, 21 Prospect Ave., Cleveland. Admission is free.

Well-wishers may send cards to: Robert Lockwood Jr., 7203 Lawnview Ave., 
Cleveland, OH 44103.

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