Beale Streeters

In 1949 many musicians in Memphis, Tennessee, having found themselves frequently in company with each other, made a decision to form a loose coalition they named the Beale Streeters. Occasionally one was innovator, others sidemen; after that another of the group would business lead. Occasionally they supported outsiders. As an organization, they documented for Modern Information in 1951. Also in the beginning of the 50s, these were on many edges created by B.B. Ruler (b. Riley B. Ruler, 16 Sept 1925, Indianola, Mississippi, USA) for RPM Information in Memphis. Among those in Ruler’s recording music group had been vocalist Bobby Bland (b. Robert Calvin Bland, 27 January 1930, Rosemark, Tennessee, USA), saxophonist Billy Duncan, drummer Earl Forest, vocalist/guitarist/drummer Willie Nix (b. 6 August 1922, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, d. 8 July 1991, Leland, Mississippi, USA) and vocalist/pianist Johnny Ace (b. John Marshall Alexander Jnr., 9 June 1929, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, d. 24 Dec 1954, Houston, Tx, USA). Ruler’s 1951 strike, ‘Three O’Time clock Blues’, resulted in his creating a nationwide tour and Ace required over leadership from the band back Memphis. The Beale Streeters, which every once in awhile also included vocalist/harpist Junior Parker (b. Herman Parker Jnr., 3 March 1927, Western Memphis, Arkansas, USA, d. 18 November 1971, Blue Isle, Illinois, USA) and vocalist/pianist Rosco Gordon (b. 10 Apr 1928, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, d. 11 July 2002, Queens, NEW YORK, NY, USA), continued to execute in its right and to show up on records produced beneath the name of 1 or another of its users, including, for instance, Bland’s 1951 ‘A Notice From A Trench In Korea’ and the next 12 months’s ‘I.O.U. Blues’.