Luther Allison (1939 – 1997) was an American blues guitarist born in Arkansas as the 14th of 15 children of cotton farmers.
After moving to Chicago with his parents at the age of 12, Allison was very much influenced by local legends Buddy Guy, Muddy
Waters and Elmore James among others. With the help of friends and relatives he taught himself how to play the guitar and
began appearing in local bars. After signing his first professional contract and releasing his first album in 1969, Allison began
appearing in Blues festivals and a number of hard rock fans who compared him to Jimi Hen ...read more
Luther Allison (1939 – 1997) was an American blues guitarist born in Arkansas as the 14th of 15 children of cotton farmers.
After moving to Chicago with his parents at the age of 12, Allison was very much influenced by local legends Buddy Guy, Muddy
Waters and Elmore James among others. With the help of friends and relatives he taught himself how to play the guitar and
began appearing in local bars. After signing his first professional contract and releasing his first album in 1969, Allison began
appearing in Blues festivals and a number of hard rock fans who compared him to Jimi Hendrix appeared regularly at his shows.
As a result of his live success, Allison was the first blues artist signed by Motown in 1972 and toured extensively throughout the
world in subsequent years.
Nevertheless, despite his live shows’ success, his album sales where rather unimpressive in the US, so Allison decided to move to
Europe close to his most loyal fans. After releasing several albums that fused successfully Chicago blues with funk, soul and hard
rock, he finally attracted interest and started appearing again regularly in blues festivals around the US in the 90’s. However, he
was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1997 in one of the most dramatic comebacks in blues history.
Nowadays, Luther Allison enjoys the respect of loyal blues fans around the world that admire his fusion of Chicago blues with
funk, rock and his soul-drenched vocals.
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