Born on January 27, 1930, in the nearby town of Rosemark, Bobby "Blue" Bland projected a grainy, down-to-earth quality, punctuated with guttural growls and snorts that would come to be known as the "chicken-bone sound". Yet his voice was simultaneously smooth as velvet, allowing Bland to bring audiences under his hypnotic spell as he walked a fine line between passionate expression and exquisite self-control.

Working with bandleader and producer Joe Scott, Bland recorded straight blues such as "Farther On Up the Road" but subsequently evolved into more of an intimate soul-blues stylist. Beginning with "I'll Take Care of You" in early 1960, Bland released a dozen huge R&B hits in a row, eleven of which made the Top Ten. They included "I Pity the Fool", "That's the Way Love Is" and "Turn On Your Love Light", a song that went on to become an R&B standard. As a measure of his considerable appeal to black audiences, Bland placed an amazing 51 singles on the R&B Top Forty. However, he crossed over into the pop-oriented Top Forty singles chart only four times and never got higher than Number 20 (with "Ain't Nothing You Can Do", in 1964). To this day, Bland remains a fixture on the concert circuit, a hard-working professional who purveys a definitive union of Southern blues and soul. Bland was nominated for seven Grammy Awards in the course of his career. Bland was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. He died on June 23, 2013, at his home in Germantown, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis, after what family members described as "an ongoing illness." He was 83."

Tracklist:

1.Lovin' Blues 2.It's My Life Baby 3.I Woke Up Screaming 4.You've Got Bad Intentions 5.I Smell Trouble 6.Farther Up The Road 7.Little Boy Blue 8.I'm Not Ashamed 9.I'll Take Care Of You 10.Lead Me On 11.Cry, Cry, Cry 12.I've Been Wrong So Long 13.I Pity The Fool 14.Don't Cry No More 15.Ain't That Lovin' You 16.Who Will The Next Fool Be 17.Stormy Monday Blues 18.Turn On Your Love Light 19.Yield Not To Temptation 20.36-22-36 21.Call On Me 22.That's The Way Love Is 23.Ain't Nothing You Can Do 24.Share Your Love With Me 25.Blind Man 26.Ain't Doin' Too Bad Part 1 27.These Hands (Small But Mighty) 28.I'm Too Far Gone (To Turn Around) 29.Good Time Charlie Part 1 30.Poverty 31.You're All I Need 32.That Did It 33.Driftin' Blues 34.Save Your Love For Me 35.Rockin' In The Same Old Boat 36.Ask Me 'bout Nothing (But The Blues) 37.Chains Of Love 38.If You Got A Heart 39.Do What You Set Out To Do? 40.Goin' Down Slow 41.Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City 42.I Wouldn't Treat A Dog (The Way You Treated Me) 43.Yolanda 44.I Take It On Home 45.It Ain't The Real Thing 46.The Soul Of A Man 47.Soon As The Weather Breaks 48.Recess In Heaven

Lineup:

Bobby "Blue" Bland - composer, primary artist, Johnny Ace - piano, Laythan Armor - piano, Jimmy Beck - sax (alto, tenor), Ben Benay - guitar, Max Bennett - bass, Wayne Bennett - guitar, Ginger Blake - vocals (background), Johnny Board - sax (alto, tenor), George Bohannon - trombone, Henry Boozier - trumpet, Skippy Brooks - piano, Mel Brown - guitar, Larry Carlton - guitar, Rayfield Davers - sax (baritone), Pluma Davis - trombone, David Ervin - piano, Wilton Felder - bass, Chuck Findley - horn, Earl Forest - drums, Bobby Forte - sax (alto, tenor), Sonny Freeman - drums, Roy Gaines - guitar, Ed Greene - drums, Warren Haygood - percussion, Monk Higgins - sax (tenor), Clarence Holliman - guitar, Paul Hubinon - horn, Dick Hyde - horn, Jack Kelson, Jr. - horn, B.B. King - guest artist, Michael Omartian - organ, piano, Ray Parker, Jr. - guest artist, Dean Parks - guitar, Teddy Reynolds - piano, Jerome Richardson - guest artist, Curtis Robinson - bass, Freddy Robinson - guitar, Joe Scott - trumpet, Hamp Simmons - bass, Gerald Sims - guitar, Julia Tillman - vocals (background), Phil Upchurch - bass, guest artist, Ernie Watts - horn, Maxine Willard Waters - vocals (background)