Bernard Allison
| Bernard Allison | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 26, 1965 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Electric blues, blues-rock |
| Occupations | Guitarist, singer |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | Early 1980s-present |
| Labels | Ruf, Platinum |
| Associated acts | Luther Allison |
| Website | Official website |
Bernard Allison (born November 26, 1965, Chicago, Illinois) is a blues guitarist based out of Paris, France.[1]
Biography
Bernard Allison was born on November 26, 1967, in Chicago, Illinois.[1] His father, Luther Allison, was a Chicago blues musician. Allison moved back and forth between Illinois and Florida, but remained close to his father's music whether with him or not, listening to his father's albums when they were apart.[2] He accompanied his father to blues festivals in the early 1970s.[1] There he was introduced to Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor and Albert King, amongst others.
Allison taught himself to play in Florida while his father was touring internationally and displayed his early skills to his father when he was 12.[3] His father brought him a Stratocaster guitar but required him to remain in school, although he did allow his son to join him on stage at the age of 18 at the 1983 Chicago Blues Festival. A week after his graduation from high school, he was invited to join Koko Taylor's touring band. During that time, he was further his skills with the tutelage of Johnny Winter, whom he had met when younger, and Stevie Ray Vaughan whom he met in the first year of his career.
From 1985, he also tried out his headline act, Bernard Allison and Back Talk, largely active in Canada, although he remained with Koko Taylor.[1][4] He became the European bandleader for his father's touring band late iin 1989, and with his father's assistance and the loan of his father's musicians recorded his debut album, The Next Generation, in Paris near Christmas that year.[1][4] Over the next several years, Allison and his father would continue to collaborate closely, with Allison co-writing and arranging material on his father's final three albums and Luther Allison offering ongoing advise to his son's band.[1]
Allison released three more albums in Europe, Hang On, No Mercy, and Funkifino, and in 1997— the year of his father's death— released his critically acclaimed U.S. debut, Keepin' the Blues Alive.[1][5] The album was followed by a U.S. tour and further releases. Allison's 2002 album Storms of Life charted at #5 on the Top Blues Albums charts.[1] In spite of the success of his tours and albums in the U.S., Allison remains based in Paris.[6]
Discography
- 1990 – The Next Generation (Teldec Recording Service)
- 1994 – No Mercy
- 1995 – Funkifino (Ruf Records)
- 1997 – Born With The Blues (Ruf Records)
- 1997 – Keepin the Blues Alive
- 1998 – Times Are Changing (Ruf Records)
- 2000 – Across the Water (Tone-Cool)
- 2001 – Hang On (Ruf Records)
- 2002 – Storms of Life (Tone-Cool)
- 2003 – Kentucky Fried Blues (live album) (Ruf Records)
- 2005 – Higher Power (Ruf Records
- 2005 – Triple Fret (with Larry McCray, Carl Weathersby & Lucky Peterson)
- 2006 – Energized – Live in Europe (CD + DVD) (Ruf Records)
- 2007 – Chills & Thrills (Jazzhaus Records)
- 2010 – The Otherside (Jazzhaus Records)
- 2011 – Live at the Jazzhaus (Jazzhaus Records)
See also
- List of blues-rock performers
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Biography by Richard Skelly". Allmusic.com. Retrieved December 22, 2009.
- ↑ Tipaldi, Art (2002). Children of the Blues: 49 Musicians Shaping a New Blues Tradition. Backbeat Books. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-87930-700-4.
- ↑ Tipaldi (2002), p. 20.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tipaldi (2002), p. 21.
- ↑ Tipaldi (2002), 22.
- ↑ Komara, Edward; Lee, Peter (1 July 2004). Blues Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-135-95832-9.
External links
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