Robert Calvin Bland (known as
Bobby "Blue" Bland by millions of fans) passed on to the next phase
on Sunday, June 23, 2013 at his home in Memphis, of a long term illness. Mr.
Bland was 83.
Although his music was a
combination of gospel, R&B, and the blues, he was an imitator of Frank
Sinatra and was sometimes referred to as the "Sinatra of the Blues".
I was not a huge fan of this
particular genre, but in my youth local soul stations played all of our music,
so I was exposed to Bobby at a young age, and I can still hear his distinctive
voice in my head.
Through the 1950s, Bobby toured
with Junior Parker and was a driver for B.B. King. In the 1960s, Bobby released
“Turn on Your Love Light,” which became a standard.
Over the course of his long
career, Bobby had 23 hits on the Billboard charts, and was inducted into the
Blues Hall of Fame in 1981, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and
received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
Bobby is probably still writing
songs, playing his harmonica, and belting the blues, wherever he may be.
Robert Calvin Bobby "Blue” Bland
[1930 – 2013]
© 06/24/2013
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