Song:Christmas Time Blues
Album:Roy Milton & His Solid Senders.
Roy Milton is a now forgotten blues artist who had success in the late 40s and early 50s. His music is similar to Louis Jordan but he wasn't as successful. Christmas Time Blues deserves to be a Christmas classic. He was born July 31, 1907 in Wynnewood, OK and grew up on an Indian reservation as his mom was Native American. Milton moved to Tulsa and was a singer and then drummer for Roy Fields. He moved to Los Angeles in 1933 and formed his band The Solid Senders. The key figure in his band was pianist Camille Howard. She sang lead on several of Milton's singles and also wrote a lot of the arrangements. Milton signed with Juke Box Records in 1945 and it would soon be renamed Specialty Records. Milton was a big part of establishing Specialty as a force in R & B. Of course they would go on to have success with Little Richard among others. Milton had a total of 19 top ten R & B hits including R.M. Blues, Information Blues and Best Wishes. Christmas Time Blues was released in 1950 on the B side of Oh, Babe!. It deserves to be a Christmas perennial. You can get all of Milton's hits on this CD. Blues fans should check it out. Milton left Specialty for Dootone in 1955 and with the rise of Rock 'n' Roll, Milton wasn't as successful as he was earlier in his career. He also recorded for King, Warwick and Cenco. By the early 70s, he was touring with Johnny Otis. And he recorded a few albums in Europe in the 70s. Roy Milton died on Sept. 18, 1983 at age 76. He is known as the Grandfather of R & B. Here's a video for Christmas Time Blues by Roy Milton.
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