(Robert Henry "Baby Boy" Warren)
(6LP/CD)
BIOGRAPHY
Early life
Warren was born in Lake Providence, Louisiana, in 1919, and at the age of
three months moved with his parents to Memphis, Tennessee. 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.
In the 1930s, he worked in W. C. Handy Park, Memphis, with Howling Wolf,
Robert Jr. Lockwood and Little Buddy Doyle and he appeared on the radio
show King Biscuit Time, broadcast from Helena, Arkansas, with Sonny Boy
Williamson around 1941. In 1942, he moved to Detroit, where he worked for
General Motors 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 by Excello Records. Further
sessions the same year resulted in a single on the Blue Lake label, with
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.
Later career and death
Warren was mostly inactive in music in the 1960s but revived his career
with performances at the Detroit Blues Festival in 1971 and the Ann Arbor
Blues Festival in 1973 and with a tour of Europe with Boogie Woogie Red in
1972. From 1974 to 1976 he was also a featured performer, along with
Willie D. Warren, with the Progressive Blues Band, a popular band that
played in many of Detroit's blues venues.
He suffered a fatal heart attack at his home on July 1, 1977, and was
buried at Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery in Macomb County, Michigan.
Personal information
Warren was given the nickname "Baby Boy" by his older brothers when he
was a child. He was one of twelve children. He married twice, in 1935 and
in the early 1960s, and had seven children. On releases by Staff Records,
Federal Records and Swing Time Records, he was credited as Johnny
Williams....
(Wikipedia)