Tampa Red/ Hudson Whittaker was born in Smithville GA in 1904. He was an orphan who went to live with his grandparents in Tampa. His nickname came from his red hair. He was a guitarist and a singer who moved to Chicago in his early twenties. He had an amazing talent with slide guitar, and was often referred to as a 'guitar wizard'. He was one of the first big stars of the Chicago blues scene. He was also a prolific composer and wrote many memorable songs. He was good friends with Big Bill Bronzy (more about Big Bill in another post). Tampa Red was very kind to musicians less fortunate than him, and would offer them a meal and a place to sleep. He performed throughout the great depression. Unfortunately, he was a drinker, which he attributed as a cause of his health problems. He died in a nursing home in Chicago in 1981, at the age of 77. He left a great legacy of music available on iTunes™... including some really great guitar on 'Things 'Bout Coming My Way'. You can also imagine the Stone's doing a version of his 'When things Go Wrong with You'... still as pertinent today as it was back then. For more information on obscure Blues greats, go to the Blues Trail.
