RIP Robert Lockwood Jr Bluesman Goes Home

Robert Lockwood Jr., the Mississippi Delta bluesman who was taught by Robert Johnson and became a mentor to generations of blues musicians, died on /Tuesday in Cleveland, where he lived. He was 91.

Mr. Lockwood considered himself Johnson's step-son, since Johnson had a decade-long romance with his mother. For long stretches of his career, he called himself, Robert Ur Lockwood to acknowledge Johnson's influence.

Mr. Lockwood carried the music of the Missiissippi Delta to other emerging blues scenes. He performed on the pioneering blues radio show "King Biscuit Time." He gave B.B. King guitar lessons. He became a studio musician at Chess Records and played on sessions that defined electric Chicago blues and went on to shape rock'n'roll. Although he could play in the old Delta style, he embraced blues from across the United States and drew strongly on the harmonies and phrasing of jazz.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/25/arts/music/25lockwood.html