Biography

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NINETY-YEAR-OLD “SIR” BOB STROGER, LORD OF THE BLUES,
has had a glorious musical career and played with the greatest. He has appeared on more than 30 Delmark releases. “That’s My Name” by Bob Stroger & the Headcutters marks his first Delmark album as a leader. The Headcutters are a crack blues quartet hailing from Brazil, and they are a welcome addition to the Delmark family.

TRACKLIST
01 What Goes On in the Dark 3:49 (H.PARKER JR.)
02 Just A Bad Boy 3:19 (EDDIE TAYLOR)
03 CC Rider 4:19 (MA RAINEY)
04 I’m A Busy Man 4:34 (ROBERT STROGER)
05 Come On Home 3:44 (ROBERT STROGER)
06 Move to the Outskirts of Town 5:32 (CASEY BILL)
07 Keep Your Hands Off Her 3:25 (JAY McSHANN)
08 Something Strange 3:21 (ROBERT STROGER)
09 Stranded in St. Louis 4:55 (H. PARKER JR.)
10 Pretty Girls 3:05 (EUGENE CHURCH)
11 Talk to Me Mama 4:07 (ROBERT STROGER)
12 Just A Dream 4:54 (BIG BILL BROONZY)
13 That’s My Name 4:18 (ROBERT STROGER)

FEATURED ARTISTS

Bob Stroger BASS AND VOCALS
Joe Marhofer HARMONICA
Ricardo Maca GUITAR
Arthur ‘Catuto’ Garcia BASS
Leandro ‘Cavera’ Barbeta DRUMS

GUEST ARTISTS
Luciano Leães PIANO AND HAMMOND
Braion Johnny SAXOPHONES

ALBUM PRODUCTION AND SUPERVISION BY Julia A. Miller and Elbio Barilari
PRODUCED BY Bob Stroger & The Headcutters
ANALOG RECORDED, AND MIXED BY Ricardo Maca at Grooveland Recording Studio Itajaí, SC - Brazil - November, 2019
PIANO AND HAMMOND RECORDED BY Luciano Leães at Estúdio do Arco - Vintage Keys, Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil - April, 2020
MASTERED BY Julia A. Miller at Delmark Riverside Studio, Chicago, IL - US - December 2021
PHOTOGRAPHY - HugoT akemoto LIVE PHOTO - Lorena Jastreb GRAPHIC DESIGN - Leandro ‘Cavera’ Barbeta

Bob Stroger Biography
by Eugene Chadbourne (ALLMUSIC.com)

After moving to Chicago as a teen in 1955, the great blues bassist Bob Stroger didn't even have to get out of bed in order to hear the music he would wind up spending the rest of his life playing. He lived in the back of a night club on the windy city's west side. Not just any night club, either, this was one that happened to book some blues artists, along the lines of Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. It probably makes sense that the bass is what he heard first, as it is always the sound of the electric bass which carries the furthest distance, disturbing the most people. Peeking in at the action at the club encouraged Stroger further. Despite the melancholy association of the blues, to Stroger "it looked like they were having a lot of fun and I made up my mind that what I wanted to do was play music," he wrote in a little autobiography on his own website. His older brother-in-law happened to be Johnny Ferguson, who played alongside blues legend J.B. Hutto in a group called the Twisters. While not as important as playing bass, Stroger's first taste of the music business was performing a task that is certainly a foundation of doing a gig: he would drive the Twisters to the club. Improving on his own through steady practice, Stroger got an enthusiastic family band project going with harmonica blowing cousin Ralph Ramey and brother John Stroger, a drummer. A few months later an audition landed this new group a club job, with one little problem. The owner wanted the band in uniforms, so the typically broke and busted bluesmen showed up in black tams with red circles scrawled on the top, announcing that the combo was now officially the Red Tops. Ramey was out of the picture as soon as the new band became in demand for touring work, as his wife would allow no such drifting. Willie Kent was the replacement, and the new group was called Joe Russel & the Blues Hustlers. As for Russel, this was simply a stage name adopted by John Stroger. From here Bob Stroger got into a bit of jazz, working sporadically with Rufus Forman for three years. Meeting guitarist Eddie King in 1969 was the next big development, as the ensuing collaboration became very dear to Stroger, to the point where he stopped playing bass completely for two years following King's decision to relocate. This was after Eddie King & the King Men had been together off and on for about 15 years, followed a few years later by a shorter stint as Eddie King & Babee May & the Blues Machine. All of this firmly established the leader as yet another gripping string choker named King, just what the blues world needed as it has almost as many Kings as the English empire. Morris Pejo was one of the bandleaders who got Stroger going again, leading to an '80s bass assignment backing up the great guitarist Otis Rush. In the following decade, the bassist worked with pianist Sunnyland Slim and Mississippi Heat in what has become much more of a freelance career. Stroger and drummer Odie Payne became the rhythm section for European promoter Horst Lippman, whose productions include the American Blues Folk Festivals. Stroger's discography resembles a stuffed New York deli sandwich, beginning with the first Eddie King single, "Love You Baby" in 1965. He has also recorded with Rush, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Eddie Clearwater, Sunnyland Slim, Lousiana Red, Buster Benton, Homesick James, and Snooky Pryor, among others. Blues rhythm section enthusiasts should enjoy Stroger's personal list of great drummer sidekicks: Odie Payne, Jr., Fred Below, S.P. Leary, Ted Harvey, K.C. Jones, Robert Covington, Sam Lay, Jessie Green, Willie "Big Eye" Smith, Jim Telmin, and Billy Davenport.

Bob Stroger Discography as leader

In The House (Crosscut Records) 2002
Bob Is Back In Town ‎(Airway Records) 2006
Bob Stroger & Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith - Keepin' Together (Big Eye Records) 2014
That's My Name (Delmark Records) 2022

https://web.archive.org/web/20141129102609/http://www.corbydesigns.com/bobstroger/home.htm




The Headcutters - BIOGRAPHY

Considered one of the most renowned blues bands in Brazil, with timbres and sounds from the 50s and 60s, they follow the line of the legendary blues labels in Chicago.

​The name comes as a tribute to the great Blues idols: Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Jimmy Rogers who in the early 50's were called The Headhunters, the name The Headcutters comes as an allusion to these masters who are the great source of inspiration for the band.

​With contagious shows, a lot of charisma and exciting performances, the band has been conquering the public wherever it has been. Founded in September 1999, it was formed by four childhood friends: Joe Marhofer (harmonics and vocals), Ricardo Maca (guitar and vocals), Arthur Catuto (acoustic bass) and Leandro Cavera (drums).

They made four international tours, three in Argentina (2015, 2017 and 2018) and another in the USA (2014) 28 days with 14 shows, touring 5 states and 18 cities.

​The highlight of this US tour is the concerts at the legendary Festivals: “King Biscuit Blues Festival” in Helena, Arkansas (Festival with more than 40 years of existence) and also at the “Pinetop Perkins Blues Festival” in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The Headcutters was the first Brazilian band to play at both festivals, a feat never before performed by Brazilians in the USA. The record of this entire tour is on the Documentary DVD - Walkin' in USA, released in 2017 and available on Youtube.

DISCOGRAPHY

2009 - CD Back to 50's (recorded in Brazil).

2011 - Sweet Home Blues DVD (recorded in Brazil).

2013 - CD Shake That Thing (recorded in Brazil). TOP 20 in the US in 2013.

2015 - CD Walkin' in USA (recorded in USA). TOP 10 in the US in 2015.

2016 - CD Live at Mr. Jones Pub (recorded live in Argentina in 2015).

2017 - DVD Walkin' in USA - Documentary DVD

(recorded during the US tour in 2014).

2020 - CD Chicago Blues Extravaganza (with Nico Smoljan and Silver Kings).

2022 - CD Bob Stroger & The Headcutters - That's My Name
(Delmark Records).


The band participated in major Blues & Jazz festivals, recorded and played with national and international blues greats such as: Bob Stroger , James Wheeler , Rip Lee Pryor (son of Snooky Pryor), JJ Jackson , Junior Watson , Jai Malano , Lorenzo Thompson , Phil Guy (Buddy Guy's brother), Mud Morganfield (Muddy Waters' son), Eddie C. Campbell , Kim Wilson , Billy Flinn , Gary Smith , Billy Branch , Carlos Johnson , Wallace Coleman ,Joe Filisko & Eric Noden , Ian Siegal , Lynwood Slim , Mitch Kashmar , Igor Prado , Blues Etilicos , Greg Wilson , Nico Smoljan and The Silver Kings .

https://www.theheadcutters.com/


https://youtu.be/OTRffnjg5kg
"No Border Blues" with The Headcutters