Born in Lachute, Louisiana in 1925, Luke "Long Gone" Miles is a distinctive blues singer with a rich, extraordinarily powerful voice. Miles spent his youth working on a cotton plantation, becoming enamored with the blues through listening to the rad… Read more
Born in Lachute, Louisiana in 1925, Luke "Long Gone" Miles is a distinctive blues singer with a rich, extraordinarily powerful voice. Miles spent his youth working on a cotton plantation, becoming enamored with the blues through listening to the radio as a teenager. Sonny Boy Williamson was his initial inspiration and when his older sister married a Texan with a large record collection of blues, he began devouring the rough aggressive sounds emanating out of Texas.
Miles soon set his sites on Houston, relocating there in 1952 with the sole intention of meeting the most prolific of all the Texas bluesmen, Lightnin' Hopkins. Soon enough, he accomplished just that and Hopkins became his mentor, giving him the name "Long Gone" and the encouragement to perform on the Texas club circuit. Miles also sang on several of Hopkins' late 1950's recordings.
In 1961, Miles again relocated, this time to Los Angeles. He recorded a series of 45s with guitarist Brownie McGhee and harmonica player Sonny Terry, further establishing his reputation. The following year, he teamed up with guitarist Willie Chambers, who he would perform with regularly during 1962 and 1963, often at Sugar Hill in San Francisco and at the Ash Grove in Los Angeles, two West Coast venues that developed strong affiliations with the blues artists of the era.
In 1964, Long Gone Miles recorded Country Born, the album he's best remembered for. The first album recorded under his own name, Country Born was a colorful mix of the swampy sounds he grew up on in Louisiana mixed with Lightnin' Hopkins unique form of Texas flavored country blues.
Read Less
