MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Jackson (11th), Walls, Jordan, Simmons, Chassaniol, Dawkins, Harden, Hewes, Jones, Turner, Dickerson, Blount, Burton, Butler, Davis, Dearing, Frazier, Horhn, Jackson (32nd), Montgomery
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND SALUTING THE CAREER OF MALACO RECORDING ARTIST AND ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY.
WHEREAS, Malaco recording artist, Robert Calvin Bland, better known as Bobby "Blue" Bland, is an American singer of blues and soul. He is an original member of The Beal Streeters and is sometimes referred to as the "Lion of the Blues." Along with such artists as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and Junior Parker, Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B; and
WHEREAS, Bobby "Blue" Bland was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1981, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997; and
WHEREAS, born on January 27, 1930, in the nearby Town of Rosemark, Bobby "Blue" Bland had moved to Memphis by age seventeen. He worked in a garage during the week and sang spirituals on weekends. At various times, he also served as a chauffeur for B.B. King and Roscoe Gordon and a valet for Junior Parker. In the beginning he styled himself after the likes of Roy Brown. After serving a stint in the Army, however, Bland spent the latter half of the 1950s maturing into a masterful singer and assured entertainer; and
WHEREAS, Bobby "Blue" Bland's hallmark was his supple, confidential soul-blues delivery. As a singer, 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; and
WHEREAS, 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. Bland's painstakingly crafted records featured his deliberate, resolute vocals set over a backdrop of dazzling horn fanfares, supple rhythm parts and Wayne Bennett's T-Bone Walker-style guitar. 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; and
WHEREAS, in 1985, Bland was signed by Malaco Records, specialists in traditional Southern black music, who provided an empathetic environment and the singer turned out a series of well-crafted albums in the ensuing years while continuing to tour and occasionally appear at concerts with fellow blues singer, B.B. King. The two collaborated for two albums in the 1970s. One of the finest singers in post-war blues, Bland need not apologize for never quite achieving across-the-board popular acclaim that his influence and craft deserves (such as that of B.B. King and even Muddy Waters) but his devoted, primarily older, African-American soul-blues fan base are content with his historic legacy as it is. Despite occasional age-related ill health, Bland continues to record new albums for Malaco, perform occasional tours alone and also with B.B. King, plus appearances at blues and soul festivals worldwide. A DVD of a 1990s Memphis nightclub performance is a popular Malaco title; and
WHEREAS, despite Bland's extensive recording catalogue, his long-term success on the R&B charts, and his near-constant touring (often with longtime friend B.B. King), he rarely crossed over into the pop realm. Dozens of blues and R&B influenced rock vocalists, however, have credited Bland as a main influence. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, he continued to record, mostly for the Jackson, Mississippi, blues label, Malaco. Bland was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1981. He continues to perform regularly; and
WHEREAS, 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; and
WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we commend the accomplishments of this rhythm and blues icon and Mississippi recording artist:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize and salute the career of Malaco recording artist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bobby "Blue" Bland, and extend to him our best wishes on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Bobby "Blue" Bland on his 80th birthday and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.