Bobby “Blue” Bland

Few artists are as distinctly “Memphis” as soul pioneer Bobby “Blue” Bland.

Bobby "Blue" Bland

For a time Bland, long a particular favourite of female listeners, sang some disco material along with his blues ballads, and in later years he developed the curious habit of snorting between lines. His 1974 song “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” was covered by the band Whitesnake and singers Paul Weller and Paul Carrack; it was also reworked (“Heart of the City [Ain’t No Love]”) for rapper Jay-Z’s album The Blueprint (2001).


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