T-Bone Walker - Flower Blues

Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues and electric blues sound. In 2018 Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 67 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". In March 1975, Walker died due to health issues in his Los Angeles home.

Aaron Thibeaux Walker was born in Linden, Texas, of African-American and Cherokee descent. His parents, Movelia Jimerson and Rance Walker, were both musicians. His stepfather, Marco Washington, taught him to play the guitar, ukulele, banjo, violin, mandolin, and piano.

Walker was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Chuck Berry named Walker and Louis Jordan as his main influences. B.B. King cited hearing Walker's recording of "Stormy Monday" as his inspiration for getting an electric guitar. In his 1996 autobiography, King commented when first heard Walker, he thought "Jesus Himself had returned to earth playing electric guitar. T-Bone's blues filled my insides with joy and good feeling. I became his disciple. And remain so today. My biggest musical debt is to T-Bone." Blues-rock soloing pioneer Lonnie Mack named Walker his principal blues guitar influence. Walker was admired by Jimi Hendrix, who imitated Walker's trick of playing the guitar with his teeth. Steve Miller stated that in 1952, when he was eight, Walker taught him how to play his guitar behind his back and also with his teeth. He was a family friend and a frequent visitor to Miller's family home and Miller considers him a major influence on his career. "Stormy Monday" was a favorite live number of the Allman Brothers Band. The British rock band Jethro Tull covered Walker's "Stormy Monday" in 1968 for John Peel's "Top Gear". Eva Cassidy performed "Stormy Monday" on her 1996 Live at Blues Alley recording. According to Cleveland.com, Walker may have been the best R&B guitarist. He "pioneered electric blues by becoming the first artist to make the electric guitar a solo instrument and a true centerpiece of his stunning live shows". He died of bronchial pneumonia following another stroke in March 1975, at the age of 64.