Memphis Jug Band(Will Shade, Ben Ramey, Charles Polk, Will Weldon) Heroes of the Blues Trading Tee Card #21 Art by R. Crumb, Text by Stephen Calt The Memphis Jug Band was organized by singer-guitarist Will Shade, also known as Son Brimmer, who was born in 1898 and spent most of his life in Memphis. Other members of the band included musicians Ben Ramey, Charles Polk and Will Weldon. Between 1927 and 1934 the group recorded nearly seventy-five sides, many of them infectiously up-tempo pieces. Their "Bottle It Up and Go" of 1932 became a blues standard of that decade. Shade died in 1966. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this Keep on Truckin' Apparel exclusive t-shirt will be donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation. Image copyright of Shanachie Entertainment Corp.

Bo Carter (1893-1964) Heroes of the Blues Trading Tee Card #36 Art by R. Crumb, Text by Stephen Calt Armenter Chatmon, better known as Bo Carter, was raised in Bolton, Mississippi. He learned guitar in the early 1900's, played bass viol in a family string band led by his brother, Lonnie Chatmon, in the 1910's, and later joined the Mississippi Sheiks. Carter's career as a street singer was largely imposed by the blindness that afflicted him in the late 1920's. Between 1930 and 1940, he recorded 105 titles, many notable for their musical sophistication and for the clever sexual innuendo of their lyrics. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this Keep on Truckin' Apparel exclusive t-shirt will be donated to the Music Maker Relief Foundation. Image copyright of Shanachie Entertainment Corp.

Rube Lacey(1901-1972) Heroes of the Blues Trading Tee Card #13 Art by R. Crumb, Text by Stephen Calt Rubin (Rube) Lacey was born in 1901 at Pelahatchie, Mississippi, and learned guitar in his teens from an older performer, George Hendrix, Working out of the Jackson area in the Mississippi Delta, he became one of the state's most popular blues singers. His bottleneck style inspired that of the better-known performer Son house. In 1928, Lacey recorded two dance tunes for Paramount; four years later he became a minister. He died in 1972. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this Keep on Truckin' Apparel exclusive t-shirt will be donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation. Image copyright of Shanachie Entertainment Corp.

William Moore(c.1894-1955) Heroes of the Blues Trading Tee Card #1 Art by R. Crumb, Text by Stephen Calt A barber by trade, William Moore was born in Georgia around 1894 and spent most of his life in Tappahannac, Virginia. His eight extant sides, recorded at a single Paramount session in 1928, stamp him as one of the few instrumentally oriented performers of the era. Moore's upbest music may echo the happy-go-lucky ragtime dances popular before the heyday of the blues; "Ragtime Millionaire" is probably his best known song. He died in 1955. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this Keep on Truckin' Apparel exclusive t-shirt will be donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation. Image copyright of Shanachie Entertainment Corp.

Furry Lewis(c. 1900-1981) Heroes of the Blues Trading Tee Card #16 Art by R. Crumb, Text by Stephen Calt Walter (Furry) Lewis was born about 1900 and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, where he learned guitar in the early 1900s by listening to a middle-aged street singer named Blind Joe. Never a full-time musician, Lewis played mainly on local streets where his most popular piece was "John Henry." From 1927 to 1928, he recorded twenty-three sides. In the 1960s the personable Lewis began a second career as a concert performer, even appearing in a Burt Reynolds movie. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this Keep on Truckin' Apparel exclusive t-shirt will be donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation. Image copyright of Shanachie Entertainment Corp.