Boogie Woogie Red

Boogie Woogie Red Biography

Boogie Woogie Red (October 18, 1925 - July 2, 1992) was an American Detroit blues, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist, singer and songwriter. He variously worked with Sonny Boy Williamson, Washboard Willie, Baby Boy Warren, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, John Lee Hooker and Memphis Slim. He was born Vernon Harrison in Rayville, Louisiana, moving to Detroit in 1927. In his adolescence he began performing in local clubs, and went on to work alongside Sonny Boy Williamson, Baby Boy Warren and John Lee Hooker. In the mid 1970s, Red used to play solo piano at the Blind Pig, a small bar in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He recorded his own albums in 1974 and 1977, and toured Europe that same decade. Red appeared on BBC Television's Old Grey Whistle Test in May 1973. However most of Red's work was completed within Michigan. He died in Detroit, in July 1992, at the age of 66.