FLORIDA BLUES LEGEND: TAMPA RED      By Ben Prestage

Hudson Woodbridge was born on January 8^th, 1904 in Smithville Georgia, but at a young age, following the death of his parents, he moved to Tampa, Florida. He was raised in Tampa by his grandmother’s family and adopted her last name: Whittaker. It was there (less than three hours from the Treasure Coast) that the young man started playing guitar. He even used the city in the nickname he became better known as: Tampa Red.In the mid-to-late 1920's Tampa Red was part of the Northern migration that many Southern African-Americans took part in, to seek work and better living conditions. He was one of the first musicians to bring the predominantly Southern music knows as "Blues" to Chicago. He started playing on street corners and clubs, looking for a break and before long was hired to back up Ma Rainey, who is considered by some to be the first Blues singer in history. During his stint with Rainey, Red met a piano player named "Georgia" Tom Dorsey (not to be confused with Tommy Dorsey.) The cohesion of the two players’ styles and the chemistry between them led to a string of hits as "The Hokum Boys" and the "Hokum" style, which combines elements of Ragtime and Blues, with bawdy subject matter and double-entendres, became a fad during the Depression era. Some songs in this genre by Red and Georgia Tom include: "Let me Play With Your Poodle", "She Wants to Sell My Monkey",and "She’s a Solid Killer Diller."Tampa Red also had a serious side to his music. On his Blues songs he played a National Tricone Style 4 resonator guitar with a bottle neck for a slide. Although there were Hawaiian artists who played resonator guitars with a slide, Tampa Red is considered the 1^st to incorporate the two into Blues music. His single string slide playing was very sophisticated and polished compared to his contemporaries. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 Tampa Red and "Big" Bill Broonzy ruled the new Blues Club scene that was burgeoning throughout Chicago. With new, larger nightclubs opening all over the city, around 1940, Tampa Red took up the electric guitar with his band the Chicago Five and planted the seed for the Post-War style of Blues that Chicago is world-renown for today. This "new" sound of electric slide guitar led to hits that have become Blues standards. His 1949 recording "When Things Go Wrong With You (It Hurts Me Too)" became a signature song for Elmore James, and his song "Black Angel Blues" was a hit for B.B. King when he recorded it under the name "Sweet Black Angel." He also penned the often covered standards "Love Her With a Feeling" and "Don’t You Lie To Me."Another huge contribution to the early Chicago Blues scene was Tampa Red’s house. He used it as an informal booking agency for new musicians in Chicago, and according to "Big" Bill Broonzy and "Big" Joe Williams, he even offered musicians a meal and a place to stay, and helped them get accustomed to their new life in the Big City.

In 1953 Tampa Red’s beloved wife Frances died, and he stopped playing music and started drinking heavily. In the late 1950's he was re-discovered, and he recorded his final album in 1960, but future attempts to record him and book him at live concerts were fruitless. Hudson Whittaker died broke, at the Central Nursing Home in Chicago on March 19, 1981, and was buried at Glenwood Memory Gardens, in Glenwood, Illinois. It’s amazing to think that an artist raised so close to the Treasure Coast could have such an impact on the Blues world. It’s also amazing to think how someone who is one of the most recorded Blues artists of all time (he recorded 335 sides between 1928 and 1960, not counting the session work he did with artists such as Memphis Minnie, and Sonny Boy Williamson) could die in poverty and today remains relatively unknown even by Blues fans and musicians.