Thinking about some of my favorite unsung heroes of rhythm & blues -- unsung because they were black and their biggest hits were either restricted to race records in the early 50s (until Alan Freed broke down those walls and introduced young white kids to the real deal) or were covered by white musicians who made all the money off the tunes, or they died young, like Jackie Wilson and Little Willie John.
Maybe some of these can't be strictly called r&b, but whatever they are, they're some great American music.
Gotta start with Mr. Excitement, Jackie Wilson, "Lonely Teardrops":
Another one of my favorites of Jackie's was "Reet Petite" (note this video is a weird claymation, oh but what a tune!):
Then we have Little Willie John, who sang the original version of "Fever," a later Peggy Lee hit:
Little Willie John had a wild life and died young. But his music lives and still is so vibrant, and he should not be forgotten.
Then there's the original singer of "Hound Dog," Big Mama Thornton:
Big Mama also wrote and sang "Ball and Chain" long before Joplin made the tune famous.
Big Joe Turner. Made a hit of "Shake Rattle and Roll" long before the Bill Haley and the Comets version:
And his take-off song, "Flip, Flop and Fly":
Amerian music. When Alan Freed played this kind of music on his radio show, white America was shocked and tried to shut it down. Heh, they still are, I think.
There's so many more musicians, singers, to this rich American treasure, a music so powerful it has affected the whole world with dreams of freedom and joy.
Well, I just love this music, can't help it.