Baby Boy Warren

Robert Henry "Baby Boy" Warren (August 13, 1919 – July 1, 1977), was an American blues singer and guitarist who was a leading figure on the Detroit blues scene in the 1950s.

Early life Warren was born in Lake Providence, Louisiana, in 1919, and at the age of three months moved with his parents to Memphis, Tennessee. He was interested in music from an early age and was working occasionally as a musician from around 1931, when he dropped out of school, In the 1930s, he worked in W. C. Handy Park, Memphis, with Howling Wolf, Robert Jr. Lockwood and Little Buddy Doyle and he appeared on the radio show King Biscuit Time, broadcast from Helena, Arkansas, with Sonny Boy Williamson around 1941.

Recordings Warren's first recording sessions were in 1949 and 1950 in Detroit, with the five resulting singles being released on a number of labels. Tracks recorded at a 1954 session accompanied by Sonny Boy Williamson were released on Joe Von Battle's JVB label and by Excello Records.

He suffered a fatal heart attack at his home on July 1, 1977, and was buried at Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery in Macomb County, Michigan.

Personal information Warren was given the nickname "Baby Boy" by his older brothers when he was a child. He was one of twelve children. He married twice, in 1935 and in the early 1960s, and had seven children. On releases by Staff Records, Federal Records and Swing Time Records, he was credited as Johnny Williams. The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings described him as having brought "a hip, literate humour to the blues lyric".