Luther Allison

Luther Sylvester Allison was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas, although some accounts suggest his actual place of birth was Mayflower, Arkansas. Allison was interested in music as a child and during the late 1940s he toured in a family gospel group called The Southern Travellers. He moved with his family to Chicago in 1951 and attended Farragut High School where he was classmates with Muddy Waters' son. He taught himself guitar and began listening to blues extensively. Three years later he dropped out of school and began hanging around outside blues nightclubs with the hopes of being invited to perform. Allison played with the bands of Howlin' Wolf and Freddie King, taking over King's band when King toured nationally. He worked with Jimmy Dawkins, Magic Sam and Otis Rush, and also backed James Cotton. Chicago Reader has called him "the Jimi Hendrix of blues guitar".

17 August 1939

Born on the same birth day (17 August): Alexander Briant • Bill Downs • Evelyn Ankers • Garrett Wolfe • Harve Bennett • John A. Sampson • Mikhail Botvinnik • Rachel Hurd-Wood • Shaun Rehn • T. J. Anderson

Born in the same month (August 1939): Clarence Williams III • David Jacobs (writer) • Frankie Ford • James Burton • James Mancham • Jayakumar • John Peel • Johnny Preston • Maxine Brown (soul singer) • Robert James Waller • Vincent Hanna • Viorica Viscopoleanu