January 1, 1987: BLUES, SOUL, R&B AND DOO-WOP ALL SCORE BIG IN THE ROCK ‘N ROLL HALL OF FAME

Born in Mississippi on April 4, 1915,

McKinley Morganfield got the name Muddy Waters because he played in a creek as a boy. He grew up immersed in the Delta blues

 In 1943 he moved to Chicago and began playing in clubs. A record deal followed, and hits like "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Rollin' Stone" made him an iconic Chicago blues man.

Muddy Waters was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On January 1, 1987

Singer Clyde McPhatter was already successful  on the gospel circuit when,  In 1950 , he joined Billy Ward and the Dominoes.

Shortly thereafter, Atlantic Records' sought to establish a new group around him. This group had a hit with "Money Honey."

In 1954 he was drafted into the army, but was able to continue recording. Upon his discharge he became a soloist.

Clyde McPhatter was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 1, 1987

Ahmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum. Ertegun has been described as "one of the most significant figures in the modern recording industry."

Ahmet Ertegun was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 1, 1987

After serving in WWII, Riley B. King became a disc jockey at WDIA in Memphis, where he was dubbed "The Beale Street Blues Boy." That nickname was shortened to "B. B.," and the guitarist cut his first record in 1949. He spent the next decades recording and touring, playing over 300 shows a year. King has worked with artists from rock, pop, and country backgrounds. He won his 14th Grammy Award in 2006.

B.B. King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame January 1, 1987

Jerome "Jerry" Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and Mike Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. Stoller was the composer and Leiber the lyricist.

Their most famous songs include "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", "Kansas City", "Stand By Me" (with Ben E. King), and "On Broadway" (with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil).

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 1, 1987

Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist.

Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All Time as well as the ninth greatest artist of all time.

Aretha Franklin is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame January 1, 1987

Big Joe Turner (born Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri.

According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll"

  Turner's career as a performer stretched from the 1920s into the 1980s. 

Big Joe Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 1, 1987

  Gerald "Jerry" Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s. 

 

He coined the term "rhythm and blues", and was integral in signing and/or producing many of the biggest acts of the last 50 years, including Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers, Chris Connor, Aretha Franklin,  Led Zeppelin, Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfield and Bob Dylan.  Jerry Wexler was one of the most highly-regarded A&R men in popular music history, a status bolstered by his accomplishments with Aretha Franklin. 

Jerry Wexler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 1, 1987

 

The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'"

and "Young Blood"

 

 
their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Although the Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo wop, their records were so frequently imitated that they became an important part of the doo wop legacy through the 1960s

 
The Coasters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 1, 1987

 

      NOT A BAD CROP OF INDUCTEES!!!