Today is the 11th day of Black History Month. As we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list.
So far I’ve talked about:
- Rick James, who was born 76 years ago on February 1
- OutKast‘s Big Boi, who celebrated his 49th birthday on February 1
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- John Lee Hooker
- Patti LaBelle
- The Temptations‘ second and longest tenured lead vocalist Dennis Edwards, who was born 81 years ago on February 4
- Tina Turner
- Aretha Franklin
- Bobby Brown, who celebrated his 55th birthday on February 5
- Bob Marley, who was born 79 years ago on February 6
- The Supremes
- J. Dilla, who was born 50 years ago on February 7
- Queen Latifah
- Black Moon, DJ Evil Dee and Buckshot
- Dionne Warwick
Black History Month is about Black Excellence — in everything. Since this is a music site though, I’m going to focus on music, because of course. Today, I must spend a little bit of time on the Queen of the Blues and the Queen of R&B, Big Mama Thornton.
Thornton’s work has largely been unrecognized — and I firmly believe that it’s unfair and downright criminal. White artists like Elvis and Janis Joplin adored her and her work, covering some of her greatest tunes: “Hound Dog” is a Big Mama Thornton song, but infuriatingly she never got credit for it.
Joplin, who covered “Ball and Chain” paid her hero back by having Thornton tour with her.
So, it must be said that without Thornton that we wouldn’t have some of the most beloved versions of songs ever recorded. Pay the legend her proper due.
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