Legendary harpist is one of a generation of Mississippians who came to Chicago in the 1940s and invented the urban sound of Chicago Blues. His muscular harmonica tone and voice, which goes from a quavering vibrato wail to a roar in an instant, remain strong. When his contemporaries (Little Walter, for example) turned to jazz-tinged sophistication starting in the 1950s, Pryor's raw, rootsy agressiveness made him something of a relic. But the recent generation of black bluesmen (Keb' Mo', Cory Harris, etc.) have led to his recent unretirement and popularization.
Pryor died at the age of 85 on October 18, 2006.
Got a correction? Click
Here
Pages linking to this one include:
