This page contains a brief overview on the album BLUE CHERRY & FRIENDS: Live One. Learn more about the artist and explore the track lists and website. If you find any information that needs to be corrected, please let us know.

 
BLUE CHERRY & FRIENDS * A Blues Band *

Blue Cherry & Friends is led by Bill Cherry, also known as the "Blues Crusader," (he got the handle from his long-running (ten plus years) radio show on KUNV, "Blues Legacy," and from being President of the Las Vegas Blues Society for six years). Bill was born in Oklahoma, and fell in "lust" with the blues while living in Chicago in the mid-'60s. His road to Las Vegas took him through New Orleans, where he absorbed the swamp influence that can be heard in his Chicago-Vegas blend of blues.
The band has come together through many years of working with the "cream of the crop" of Las Vegas musicians. Formed in 1994, Blue Cherry & Friends has performed at Arizona Charlie's Hotel & Casino (for two years), and many clubs in the area, including Bob's Paradise, Gordon Biersch Brewing, the Safari Club, Carollo's Supper Club, the Double Down Saloon, and many other venues. Many noted musicians have jumped onstage to jam including Barry Rillera (musical director of the Righteous Brothers), Billy Branch, Bob Margolin, Eddie King, Huck Daniels, and Sam Taylor.

Currently, the band consists of "Blues Crusader" Bill Cherry, Julius "Platinum J" Funchess, "Goldtop" Bob Doerr, and John White. You can catch them live every Wendesday from 10pm to 2am at the Double Down Saloon in Las Vegas, Nevada, joined by a rotating cast of hundreds of friends sitting in with the band.

"BLUES CRUSADER" BILL CHERRY

Bill started this journey in Madill, Oklahoma, on November 12, 1946, the youngest of three chidren born to the family of a Southern Baptist minister. His musical direction began early, starting piano lessons at the age of four. He continued the lessons for seven years, eventually abandoning piano in his early teens, but remained active in the church choir. The family relocated to Southern Illinois when Bill was six.
In the early '60s, he was introduced to folk music and the guitar by an older friend, Charles Hammond. This was the time of Peter, Paul, & Mary, The Kingston Trio, and others, and Bill liked the simplicity of the music, and began learning guitar. Upon returning to Oklahoma for college in 1964, he met another older friend, Don Lewis, continuing his musical education with the likes of Dave Van Ronk and Lightnin' Hopkins. Immediately struck by the passion and intensity of the blues, Bill began devouring all the blues records he could find.
Life then led him to move to Chicago in '65. Living on the streets for a time, with his '64 Harmony Soverign on his back, Bill started "learning about life instead of books." The fertile musical environment of Chicago was just what he was looking for, befriending many of the musicians in Old Town. The Butterfield Blues Band was playing at venues such as Big John's and Poor Richard's, Spanky McFarlane was sitting in with Little Brother Montgomery at the Old Town Gate, Charlie Musselwhite was rooming with Big Joe Williams by Old Town Records, and so on.
Then a close friend of Bill's, Lorraine "Mother" Blue, changed the format of her club, Mother Blue's, from folk to rock briefly, and then blues. She was one of the leading forces in bringing South- and West-Side blues artists to the North side, making them more accessible to the new generation of young whites. Bill was one of these young whites, eager to absorb the blues. Since he was underage, Lorraine became Bill's legal guardian in Chicago, so he could be in the club.
This led to meeting, and spending time with, Buddy Guy, A.C. Reed, Otis Rush, Junior Wells, Muddy Waters, Siegel-Schwall, Linn County, and many others. He became particularly close to Luther "Georgia Boy" "Snake" Johnson, who was playing guitar with Muddy at the time. He and Luther spent a great deal of time together when the band was in Chicago, with Luther "trying to teach me how to play the blues, and me trying to teach him how to read music."
When Luther decided to leave Muddy in 1969, he asked Bill to play rhythm guitar in the band he was putting together, but, for personal reasons (including his first divorce), Bill declined the invitation.
Bill left Chicago in early 1970, spending some time in New Orleans and on the carnival circuit, before landing in the blues wasteland of Las Vegas in November, 1971. He found little blues in Vegas in the '70s and '80s beyond B.B. King's appearances at the Hilton lounge, and meeting Huck Daniels in 1972.
In 1987, he saw an announcement that the Las Vegas Blues Society was being formed. He became a Charter Member, and was elected to the Board of Directors for the second year of the Society. In '89, with the help of several others, the LVBS Jam Sessions were started. At this point, Bill had not been on stage in 20 years. In fact, he had stopped playing completely for several years, devoting time to his second wife and two children. A chance conversation with co-worker Curt Thompson about blues led Bill to dust off the guitar, and the two of them jammed regularly in the early '80s.
After the LVBS Jams started, Bill was "dragged kicking and screaming" to the stage at the 19th Hole. One thing led to another, and, in 1993, he received his second invitation to play professionally with his good friend (and mentor) Huck Daniels.
The fall of 1994, Bill decided to try to accelerate his musical growth by leaving the Huck Daniels Revue to form his own band, Blue Cherry & Friends. Since that time, he has worked with the cream of the crop of Las Vegas musicians, averaging about 160 gigs per year, constantly honing his craft.
Bill's involvement with the Las Vegas Blues Society included being an officer of the orgainzation for 7 1/2 years (6 1/2 years as President). This also led to his being elected to the board of the Blues Foundation in Memphis, a position he held for four years. One of the things he enjoyed about working with the LVBS was doing the newsletter, so when he resigned in 1996, he purchased the publication, changing the name to Las Vegas Blues News. LVBN is a bi-monthly publication devoted to "News & Views of the Blues in Las Vegas and Beyond ..."
Being truly a multi-media person, Bill produced and hosted "Blues Legacy" on KUNV 91.5 FM from June, 1990 to September, 2000. This was a weekly two-hour show, showing where the blues came from, making several stops before arriving at where they are today.

Track List:
1. Hoochie Coochie Man
2. Black Cat Bone
3. Love Me With A Feeling
4. Sick and Tired
5. Walking Blues
6. Nothing To Lose
7. Help Me
8. I'm So Good
9. I Ain't Drunk
10. Let Me Love You
11. The Sky Is Crying

Suggested CDs:

• Fernando Noronha & Black Soul
• Jeanne French

Other Genres:

• BLUES: Chicago Style
• BLUES: Electric Blues
• TYPE: LIVE RECORDINGS