Tampa Red

Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903 March 19, 1981), better known by his stage name Tampa Red, was an American Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago blues guitarists such as Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Nighthawk, Muddy Waters, and Elmore James.

In a career spanning over 30 years, he also recorded pop, R&B and hokum songs. His best-known recordings include "Anna Lou Blues", "Black Angel Blues", "Crying Won't Help You", "It Hurts Me Too", "Let Me Play with Your Poodle", and "Love Her with a Feeling".

Biography Early life Tampa Red was born Hudson Woodbridge in Smithville, Georgia. The date of his birth is uncertain, with Tampa himself giving years varying from 1900 to 1908. The birth date given on his death certificate is January 8, 1904. His parents, John and Elizabeth Woodbridge, died when he was a child, and he moved to Tampa, Florida, where he was raised by his aunt and grandmother and adopted their surname, Whittaker. He emulated his older brother, Eddie, who played the guitar around the Tampa area, and he was especially inspired by an old street musician called Piccolo Pete, who first taught him to play blues licks on the guitar. Red also picked up some knowledge from early recordings of female blues singers like Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Ida Cox. In an interview with Martin Williams, Red told Williams "That record of "Crazy Blues" by Mamie Smith, it was one of the first blues records ever made. I said to myself, 'I don't know any music, but I can play that.'" The National guitar he used was a gold-plated tricone, which was found in Illinois in the 1990s by Randy Clemens, a music shop owner and guitarist, and later sold to the Experience Music Project in Seattle. Red was known as "The Man with the Gold Guitar", and into the 1930s he was billed as "The Guitar Wizard". In 1931, Red recorded "Depression Blues", including the topical lyrics, "If I could tell my troubles, it would give my poor heart ease, but Depression has got me, somebody help me please".

Red's partnership with Dorsey ended in 1932, but he remained much in demand as a session musician, working with John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, Memphis Minnie, Big Maceo, and many others. a group of session musicians who created what became known as the Bluebird sound, a precursor of the small-group style of later jump blues and rock and roll bands.

By the 1940s, Red was playing an electric guitar. In 1942, his "Let Me Play with Your Poodle" When blues expert Jim O'Neal discovered him on Chicago's South Side in 1974, he was living with his female companion, 81-year-old Effie Tolbert. Red was reportedly in a much worse shape than in his earlier years, and his electric guitar rested under a bed while his National steel guitar had been stolen (it was recovered in a pawn shop in 1994, and eventually sold to the Experience Music Project in Seattle for $85,000). Tolbert died on December 10, 1974, and accounts of Red's past mental problems discouraged friends from taking him into their homes. By January 1975, he was at a state hospital in Chicago.

Red lived out his final years in Central Nursing Home, where he died from a heart attack while eating breakfast on the morning of March 19, 1981. According to a newspaper obituary published by Jim O'Neal, his funeral was held at Biggs & Biggs Funeral Home, and he was buried in Mount Glenwood Memory Garden in the Chicago suburb of Willow Springs.

Discography Red was one of the most prolific blues recording artists of his era. It has been estimated that he recorded 335 songs on 78-rpm records, 251 of which were recorded between 1928 and 1942, making him the blues artist with the most recordings during that period. Most of his singles were released before Billboard magazine began tracking blues (and other "race music") in October 1942, and accurate sales records are not available. However, he had four singles that placed in the R&B Top 10 between 1942 and 1951.

Selected singles Red recorded alternate versions (usually designated "No. 2", "No. 3", etc.) of some of his early songs. Songs with alternate versions are marked with a plus sign. He recorded some singles with collaborators, credited as the Hokum Boys, Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band, Papa Too Sweet, and other names. Date Title Label & Cat. no. Comments 1928 "It's Tight Like That" Vocalion 1216+ with Georgia Tom (Tom Dorsey) (piano) "How Long, How Long Blues" Vocalion 1228+ as Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band 1929 "The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas" Vocalion 1277 with Dorsey "You've Got to Reap What You Sow" Vocalion 1404 slide guitar instrumental "Corrine, Corrina" Vocalion 1450+ with Dorsey 1930 "The Dirty Dozen #2" Vocalion 1538 1931 "Things 'Bout Coming My Way" Vocalion 1637+ 1932 "You Can't Get That Stuff No More" Vocalion 1706 with Dorsey 1934 "Sugar Mama Blues No. 1" Vocalion 2720+ "Black Angel Blues" Vocalion 2753 "Things 'Bout Comin' My Way" Vocalion 2774 instrumental remake of "Things 'Bout Coming My Way" with Dorsey "Denver Blues" Vocalion 2774 instrumental "Mean Mistreater Blues" Bluebird 5546 1938 "Love with a Feeling" Bluebird 7822 with Black Bob Hudson (piano) & unknown bass 1939 "Don't Forget It" Bluebird 8327-B 1940 "It Hurts Me Too" Bluebird 8635 with Blind John Davis (piano) & unknown bass "Anna Lou Blues" Bluebird 8654 with Davis & unknown bass "Don't You Lie to Me" Bluebird 8654 with Davis & unknown bass 1942 "Let Me Play with Your Poodle" Bluebird 0700 with Big Maceo Merriweather (piano) & Clifford Jones (drums), Billboard R&B chart No. 4 1945 "Detroit Blues" Bluebird 0731 with combo (piano, bass, & drums), R&B No. 5 1946 "Crying Won't Help You" RCA Victor 20-1988 with combo 1949 "When Things Go Wrong with You" RCA Victor 22-0035 remake of "It Hurts Me Too", with combo, R&B No. 9 1950 "Love Her with a Feeling" RCA Victor 22-0084 remake of "Love with a Feeling", with combo 1951 "Sweet Little Angel" RCA Victor 22-0107 remake of "Black Angel Blues", with combo "Early in the Morning" RCA Victor 22-0123 with combo "Pretty Baby Blues" RCA Victor 22-0136 with combo, R&B No. 7 He also played as a sideman on recordings by Big Maceo Merriweather, John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, Memphis Minnie, Ma Rainey, and Victoria Spivey.

Selected albums Although he was a prolific singles artist, Red recorded only two albums, which were released late in his career. Various compilation albums have been released since his death by different record companies, often with significant overlap, but some compilations focus on certain aspects of his style or original record labels. Date Title Label Comments 1961 Don't Tampa with the Blues Bluesville recorded 1960 Don't Jive Me Bluesville recorded 1960 1974Bottleneck Guitar 1928–1937 Yazoo 1991–93 Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vols. 1–15 Document recorded 1928–53 1993 Keep Jumping 1944–1952 Wolf 1994 Tampa Red (1928–1942) Story of the Blues The Guitar Wizard Columbia/Legacy Okeh and Vocalion releases 1928–34 It Hurts Me Too – The Essential Recordings Indigo various labels, 1928–42 1997 The Complete Bluebird Recordings 1934–1936 RCA The Bluebird Recordings 1936–1938 RCA 2001 The Essential Classic Blues recorded 1928–51 2002 Slide Guitar Classics P-Vine