Johnny B. Moore
| Johnny B. Moore | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Johnny Belle Moore |
| Born |
January 24, 1950 Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States |
| Genres | Chicago blues, electric blues |
| Occupation(s) | Guitarist, singer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Labels | Various |
Johnny B. Moore (born Johnny Belle Moore, January 24, 1950, Clarksdale, Mississippi) is an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a member of Koko Taylor's backing band in the mid-1970s. He has recorded nine solo albums since 1987. Moore's music retains a link to the earlier Chicago blues of Jimmy Reed and Muddy Waters, who also travelled to Chicago from the Mississippi Delta.
"If Johnny B. Moore isn't a star in the making," stated Allmusic's Bill Dahl, "there's no justice in the world." The blues historian Gérard Herzhaft commented that "[Moore's] albums reflect a strong Delta flavor that is refreshing in the present blues scene, dominated by rock or funk overtones." However, the blues historian Tony Russell noted in 1997 that Moore "was still one of Chicago's interesting secrets".
Moore's father, Floyd Moore, a Baptist minister, taught his son to play the guitar from the age of seven. John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen'" was the first piece Moore mastered, but he was influenced by the style of Magic Sam. In his early days Moore performed gospel music in his hometown of Clarksdale and later in Chicago with the Gospel Keys.
In 1964, the teenage Moore relocated to Chicago with his father. In high school Moore learned to read music, and his education was enhanced by listening to blues records with Letha Jones, the widow of the pianist Little Johnny Jones. By the late 1960s Moore was working in a lamp factory, but after work played music. He was further tutored by Jimmy Reed, whom he first met in his childhood, and then with the Charles Spiers band.
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