Willie Mabon

Accompanying himself on piano and secondly on harmonica, Willie Mabon sang in an urbane blues style similar to Charles Brown. He moved from Memphis to Chicago in 1942 and was first recorded in 1949 as a member of the Blues Rockers group. After military service he became a popular entertainer in Chicago’s Black Belt, and signed as a solo artist to Chess Records in 1951. Mabon had an immediate R&B chart-topper with the novelty blues ‘I Don’t Know’ in 1952. It was followed by the hits with ‘I’m Mad’ (1953), ‘Poison Ivy’ (1954) and ‘Seventh Son’ (1955). After leaving Chess in 1956, Mabon recorded for several small labels, and spent much of the 70s and 80s in Europe, making occasional albums for German and French labels.