From Clarksdale to Chicago
Johnny Belle Moore is an authentic son of the Delta : he was born in 1950 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, one of the iconic birthplaces of the blues. He first learned how to play guitar at age seven from his Baptist minister father Floyd Moore, and quite naturally played and sang gospel in his dad's church. In 1964, like so many elder blues musicians, he moved up to Chicago with his family after his mother died.
In the Windy City, Letha Jones, the widow of pianist Little Johnny Jones, took him under her wings and introduced him to the blues, playing lots of records to him. The young man was caught by the blues fever and got further guidance from Jimmy Reed that he had already met back in Clarksdale during his childhood.
In the Windy City, Letha Jones, the widow of pianist Little Johnny Jones, took him under her wings and introduced him to the blues, playing lots of records to him. The young man was caught by the blues fever and got further guidance from Jimmy Reed that he had already met back in Clarksdale during his childhood.