Baby Boy Warren
Encyclopedia
Baby Boy Warren was an American
blues
singer and guitar
ist, who was a leading figure on the Detroit blues
scene in the 1950s.
, Louisiana
in 1919, but moved with his parents to Memphis, Tennessee
at the age of three months. He was interested in music from an early age, and was working occasionally as a musician from around 1931, when he dropped out of school, having learned to play guitar from two of his older brothers. During the 1930s he worked in W. C. Handy Park, Memphis, with Howling Wolf, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Little Buddy Doyle
and others, and he appeared on the Helena
, Arkansas
based King Biscuit Time
radio show with Sonny Boy Williamson
around 1941. In 1942 he moved to Detroit, where he worked for General Motors
while also performing as a musician.
. Further sessions the same year resulted in a single on the Blue Lake
label featuring Boogie Woogie Red
on piano and Calvin Frazier
on guitar, and a reworking of the Robert Johnson song "Stop Breakin' Down" for the Drummond Label.
, with the Progressive Blues Band, a popular blues band that played in many of Detroit's best blues venues.
He suffered a fatal heart attack
at his home on July 1, 1977, and was buried at Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery, Macomb County
, Michigan
.
and Swing Time
labels he was marketed as Johnny Williams.
, and he stated that another musician he particularly admired was Memphis Minnie
, who he knew in Memphis in the 1930s. The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings described him as having brought "a hip, literate humour to the blues lyric".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
singer and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist, who was a leading figure on the Detroit blues
Detroit blues
Detroit blues is blues music played by musicians resident in Detroit, Michigan, particularly that played in the 1940s and 1950s. Detroit blues originated when Delta blues performers migrated north from the Mississippi Delta and Memphis, Tennessee to work in Detroit's industrial plants in the 1920s...
scene in the 1950s.
Early life
He was born Robert Henry Warren in Lake ProvidenceLake Providence, Louisiana
Lake Providence is a town in and the parish seat of East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2000 census.-Civil War:...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
in 1919, but moved with his parents to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
at the age of three months. He was interested in music from an early age, and was working occasionally as a musician from around 1931, when he dropped out of school, having learned to play guitar from two of his older brothers. During the 1930s he worked in W. C. Handy Park, Memphis, with Howling Wolf, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Little Buddy Doyle
Little Buddy Doyle
Little Buddy Doyle was an American Memphis and country blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a working associate of Big Walter Horton and Hammie Nixon....
and others, and he appeared on the Helena
Helena, Arkansas
Helena is the eastern portion of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. As of the 2000 census, this portion of the city population was 6,323. Helena was the county seat of Phillips County until January 1, 2006, when it merged its government and city limits with...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
based King Biscuit Time
King Biscuit Time
King Biscuit Time is the longest-running daily American radio broadcasts in history. The program is broadcast each weekday from KFFA in Helena, Arkansas, United States and has won the George Foster Peabody Award for broadcasting excellence and is currently broadcast from the KFFA studio located in...
radio show with Sonny Boy Williamson
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
around 1941. In 1942 he moved to Detroit, where he worked for General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
while also performing as a musician.
Recordings
Warren's first recording sessions were in 1949 and 1950 in Detroit, with the five resulting singles being released on a number of labels. Tracks recorded at a 1954 session accompanied by Sonny Boy Williamson were released on Joe Von Battle's JVB label, and on Excello RecordsExcello Records
Excello Records was an American blues record label, started by Ernie Young in Nashville, Tennessee in 1953 as a subsidiary of Nashboro, a gospel label...
. Further sessions the same year resulted in a single on the Blue Lake
Blue Lake Records
Blue Lake was a Chicago-based record label founded in 1954 by disc jockey Al Benson. It specialized in blues, doo-wop, jazz, and gospel. A subsidiary of Benson's Parrot operation, it lasted until mid-1956...
label featuring Boogie Woogie Red
Boogie Woogie Red
Boogie Woogie Red was an American Detroit blues, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist, singer and songwriter. He variously worked with Sonny Boy Williamson, Washboard Willie, Baby Boy Warren, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, John Lee Hooker and Memphis Slim.-Biography:He was born Vernon Harrison in Rayville,...
on piano and Calvin Frazier
Calvin Frazier
Calvin Frazier was an American Detroit blues and country blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Despite leaving a fragmented recording history, both as a singer and guitarist, Frazier was an associate of Robert Johnson, and recorded alongside Johnny Shines, Sampson Pittman, T.J...
on guitar, and a reworking of the Robert Johnson song "Stop Breakin' Down" for the Drummond Label.
Later career and death
Warren was mostly inactive in music during the 1960s, but revived his career to play the Detroit Blues Festival in 1971 and the Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1973, and to tour Europe with Boogie Woogie Red in 1972. From 1974 to 1976 he was also a featured performer, along with Willie D. WarrenWillie D. Warren
Willie D. Warren was an American electric blues guitarist, bass player and singer. In a long career, he worked with Otis Rush, Al Benson, Little Sonny Cooper, David Honeyboy Edwards, Baby Boy Warren, Guitar Slim, Freddie King, Jimmy Reed, Morris Pejoe, Bobo Jenkins and Jim McCarty...
, with the Progressive Blues Band, a popular blues band that played in many of Detroit's best blues venues.
He suffered a fatal heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at his home on July 1, 1977, and was buried at Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery, Macomb County
Macomb County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 788,149 people, 309,203 households, and 210,876 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,640 people per square mile . There were 320,276 housing units at an average density of 667 per square mile...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Personal information
Warren was given the nickname "Baby Boy" by his older brothers as a child. One of 12 children himself, he married twice, in 1935 and the early 1960s, and had seven children. On the Staff, FederalFederal Records
Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. But also hillbilly and rockabilly recordings were released,...
and Swing Time
Swing Time Records
Swing Time Records was a United States based record label, active in the 1940s. The label was founded by Jack Lauderdale in 1947 and was headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Swing Time went bankrupt in 1953....
labels he was marketed as Johnny Williams.
Influences
His chief influences were Little Buddy Doyle and Willie "61" Blackwell, especially in his approach to lyricsLyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
, and he stated that another musician he particularly admired was Memphis Minnie
Memphis Minnie
Memphis Minnie was an American blues guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the only female blues artist considered a match to male contemporaries as both a singer and an instrumentalist.-Career:...
, who he knew in Memphis in the 1930s. The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings described him as having brought "a hip, literate humour to the blues lyric".