Featured Blues Artist: Bo Carter

Bo Carter (1893-1964)

Heroes of the Blues Trading Tee Card #36

Art by R. Crumb, Text by Stephen Calt

Armenter Chatmon, better known as Bo Carter, was raised in Bolton, Mississippi. He learned guitar in the early 1900's, played bass viol in a family string band led by his brother, Lonnie Chatmon, in the 1910's, and later joined the Mississippi Sheiks. Carter's career as a street singer was largely imposed by the blindness that afflicted him in the late 1920's. Between 1930 and 1940, he recorded 105 titles, many notable for their musical sophistication and for the clever sexual innuendo of their lyrics.

Enjoy 15% off this week on all Bo Carter t-shirts, no coupon code required, discount will be applied at checkout.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this Keep on Truckin' Apparel exclusive t-shirt will be donated to the Music Maker Relief Foundation.

Image copyright of Shanachie Entertainment Corp.

R. Crumb Illustration of Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe

Lizzie Douglas, born in Algiers, Louisiana, was raised in Memphis, and learned guitar at the age of eleven. As Kid Douglas, she toured the South from 1916 onward, returning to Memphis in the late 1920's under the name Memphis Minnie. An accomplished guitarist and gifted song-writer, she recorded over 150 sides between 1929-1941. Most were solo blues, but she also teamed for duets with her second husband, guitarist Kansas Joe McCoy, and her third husband, guitarist Little Son Joe Lawlar. Memphis Minnie was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980.

R. Crumb of underground comics fame immortalized Memphis Minnie, as well as 35 other early great musicians and singers who were among the first to record the Blues,when creating the original “Heroes of the Blues” Trading Card Set for Yazoo Records in 1980.

In 2010 Keep On Truckin' Apparel of Carlton, Oregon negotiated the rights to reproduce these amazing portraits on t-shirts and hoodies. A portion of the proceeds from each sale is donated to Music Makers Relief Foundation so you can support the blues while wearing the blues.

Featured Blues Artists: Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell

Leroy Carr (1905-1935)
Scrapper Blackwell (1903-1962)

Heroes of the Blues Trading Tee Card #8

Art by R. Crumb, Text by Stephen Calt

Leroy Carr, one of the first blues singers to use understated vocal delivery, was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1905. Francis (Scrapper) Blackwell was born in 1903 and learned guitar in childhood, eventually developing a delicate vibrato blended with string-snapping. The Indianapolis-based team of Carr and Blackwell popularized the piano-guitar blues duet. They made more than one hundred sides between 1928 and Carr's death in 1935, including the famous "How Long Blues."

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this Keep on Truckin' Apparel exclusive t-shirt will be donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation.

Image copyright of Shanachie Entertainment Corp.

Featured Heroes of the Blues Artist this week: Curley Weaver & Fred McMullen

Curley Weaver & Fred McMullen

Heroes of the Blues Trading Tee, Card #10

Art by R. Crumb, Text by Stephen Calt

Curley Weaver was born in 1906 and raised near Porterdale, Georgia. He learned guitar around 1922 and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, a few years later. Most of his records were duets with other local blues recording artist, such as Atlanta based Blind Willie McTell and Fred McMullen of Macon, Georgia. McMullen began recording in 1933. He teamed up with Curley Weaver and Buddy Moss that same year in a recording trio known as The Georgia Browns.

This week enjoy 15% off on this exclusive Keep On Truckin Apparel t-shirt design at www.kotapparel.com

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this Keep on Truckin' Apparel exclusive t-shirt will be donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation.

Image copyright of Shanachie Entertainment Corp.

Featured Heroes of the Blues Artists: The Mississippi Sheiks

The Mississippi Sheiks(Walter Vinson, Lonnie Chatmon, Bo Carter)

Heroes of the Blues Trading Tee Card #12

Art by R. Crumb, Text by Stephen Calt

Singer-guitarist Walter Vinson and fiddler Lonnie Chatmon worked together for over a decade before recording as The Mississippi Sheiks in 1930 and producing the hit "Sittin' on Top of the World." Natives of Bolton, Mississippi, they played for local white square dances, often with Lonnie's brothers who included Bo Carter (Armenter Chatmon), seen at left (see card No. 36). Both read music and their 78 titles offer a mixture of blues and pop styles. They disbanded soon after their final session in 1935.

On Sale this week, enjoy 15% off this Keep On Truckin' Apparel "Heroes of the Blues" exclusive design t-shirt. Available in both short or long sleeve tees, in colors white, black, chestnut and indigo blue, with sizes small to 3X large.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this Keep on Truckin' Apparel exclusive t-shirt will be donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation.

Image copyright of Shanachie Entertainment Corp.

Unique Holiday Gifts for your Blues Lovin' Baby

Join us at Keep On Truckin Apparel in celebrating R. Crumb's "Heroes of the Blues" and get 10% off store wide this Black Friday, 11-25-11. No coupon code required you'll receive the discount automatically at check-out.

Choose from plush cozy heavy cotton hoodies, in two compilation designs:

The Fan which includes Blind Blake, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Skip James, Memphis Minnie, Roosevelt Sykes, Reverend Gary Davis and Bill Bill Broonzy.

Or The Poster which includes all of the above as well as Blind Willie McTell, Clifford Gibson, Barbecue Bob, Buddy Boy Hawkins, Peg Leg Howell, Tommy Johnson, Jaybird Coleman, Sleepy John Estes, Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell.

We also carry both short and long sleeve t-shirts imprinted with one of the 36 Heroes of the Blues color portraits done by Robert Crumb for Yazoo Records. You choose your favorite blues artist, tee style, color and size.


Heroes of the Blues tees and hoodies are available exclusively at www.kotapparel.com.

A portion of the proceeds from each Heroes tee or hoody is donated to the Music Maker Relief Foundation.

Wear the blues while supporting those who make the music!

Heroes of the Blues featured artist of the week Blind Blake

Blind Blake (1893-1933)

Heroes of the Blues Trading Tees Card #4

Art by R. Crumb Text by Stephen Calt

Jacksonville, Florida's Arthur (Blind) Blake ranks among the most accomplished rag and blues guitarists of all time. In the 1920's he based his career in Chicago. Between 1926 and 1932 he recorded nearly eighty sides for Paramount, afterwards fading into obscurity. Unlike many blind blues preformers, Blake played up-tempo dance-oriented music. His polished technique and effortless-sounding improvisations attracted many imitators, but admitted no equals. Blind Blake was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1990.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this Keep On Truckin' Apparel exclusive t-shirt will be donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation.

Image copyright of Shanachie Entertainment Corporation.

A Keep On Truckin' Apparel exclusive design.