(7CD/DVD)
BIOGRAPHY
Little Arthur Duncan (February 5, 1934 – August 20, 2008) was an American
Chicago blues and electric blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter.
He was a member of the Backscratchers and over his career was associated
with Earl Hooker, Twist Turner, Illinois Slim and Rick Kreher.
Duncan was born in Indianola, Mississippi. His first instrument was the
drums. In 1950, aged 16, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, and became
acquainted with Little Walter, who helped him to learn the rudiments of
harmonica playing, and Jimmy Reed. He found work playing the harmonica
accompanying Earl Hooker, John Brim and Floyd Jones. Billed and
henceforth commonly known as Little Arthur Duncan, he played primarily
in and around Chicago and built up a local reputation over the years. He
performed with his own band in the Backscratcher's Social Club, which he
owned. He worked in construction during the 1960s and 1970s, so was
limited to playing and singing in the evenings.
In 1989, Duncan recorded the album Bad Reputation, which was released
on the Blues King label. He later appeared on a compilation album, Blues
Across America: The Chicago Scene, with Emery Williams Jr. and Robert
Plunkett. In 1999, Duncan recorded for Delmark Records, which released
the album Singin' with the Sun that year. On the album he was
accompanied by the guitar players Billy Flynn and Eddie Taylor Jr. Live
in Chicago followed in 2000.
His final recording was Live at Rosa's Blues Lounge, a live album
recorded in Chicago in August 2007. One music journalist noted that
"spirited, gritty performances of Reed's "Pretty Thing," Wolf's "No
Place to Go," and two Dixon favorites ("Young Fashioned Ways" and
"Little Red Rooster") leave no doubt that Duncan lives and breathes
electric Chicago blues." However, a subsequent lengthy illness and
hospitalization prevented Duncan from building on this success.
Duncan died in Northlake, Illinois, in August 2008, of complications
following brain surgery, at the age of 74. (Wikipedia)