When blues stars were pop stars.

When blues stars were pop stars.

by | Jan 12, 2019 | blogs, stories | 0 comments

And why we prefer blues to pop music. Because the title of this blog is Paul Merry Blues, it’s easy to assume blues is the only music I’m interested in. Nothing could be further from the truth. People have referred to me as Mr Bluesman, something I’m definitely not,...
1938’s HEAVYWEIGHT BLUES CLASH.

1938’s HEAVYWEIGHT BLUES CLASH.

by | Dec 13, 2018 | blogs, stories | 0 comments

W.C. Handy and Jelly Roll Morton clash on paper as Joe Louis puts Nazis’ champ on canvas. In a fight with enormous political implications, black heavyweight champ, Joe Louis, successfully defends his world title against Hitler’s Max Schmeling. WW2 started...
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL’S FORGOTTEN FATHER.

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL’S FORGOTTEN FATHER.

by | Nov 8, 2018 | blogs, stories | 0 comments

REMEMBERING LESTER MELROSE: 1891 – 1968. THE FIRST FATHER OF CHICAGO BLUES. Move over Sam Phillips. Not only is Chicago’s Lester Melrose a serious contender for the title ‘Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ but he’s the only one I’ve heard of who links the birth of blues in the...
FIRST EVER MENTIONS OF THE BLUES

FIRST EVER MENTIONS OF THE BLUES

by | Oct 19, 2018 | blogs, stories | 0 comments

  AMERICA’S GIFT: THE UNTOLD STORY OF HOW BLUES EVOLVED – CHAPTER ONE. Long before the blues became a genre of American music, it was an expression used to describe an English frame of mind. The word blues almost certainly derives from what people,...
The day I discovered the blues.

The day I discovered the blues.

by | Sep 14, 2018 | blogs, stories | 2 comments

How ironic is it that white kids living in England in the mid-1960s were more exposed to black American blues than your average white teenager in the United States? Without knowing it, in 1950s England, I’d heard the blues of Lead Belly, Leroy Carr and Little Son Joe,...