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American blues guitarist

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.

Luther Sylvester Allison was born on August 18, 1939, in Widener, Arkansas, the fourteenth of 15 children. His family moved to Chicago when he was 12, in search of better opportunities. Several of Allison's siblings sang in a gospel group called the Southern Travellers. One of his older brothers, Ollie, soon began working as a guitarist on Chicago's booming South Side blues scene. Seeking to emulate his brother, Luther took up the guitar himself. By the middle of his teens, Allison was good enough to sit in with his brother's band on club dates.

From 1954, Allison jammed with his brother's band, the Ollie Lee Allison Band. Allison was known for his powerful concert performances, lengthy soulful guitar solos and crowd walking with his Gibson Les Paul. He lived briefly during this period in Peoria, Illinois, where he signed with Rumble Records, releasing two live recordings, Gonna Be a Live One in Here Tonight!, produced by Bill Knight, and Power Wire Blues, produced by George Faber and Jeffrey P. Hess. Allison played the bar circuit in the United States during this period and spent eight months of the year in Europe at high profile venues, including the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 1992, he performed with the French rock and roll star Johnny Hallyday in 18 shows in Paris, also playing during the intermission. Allison's manager and European agent, Thomas Ruf, founded Ruf Records in 1994. Signing with Ruf Records, Allison launched a comeback in association with Alligator Records. Alligator founder Bruce Iglauer convinced Allison to return to the United States. The album Soul Fixin' Man was recorded and released in 1994, and Allison toured the United States and Canada. He won four W. C. Handy Awards in 1994. With the James Solberg Band backing him, nonstop touring and the release of Blue Streak (featuring the song "Cherry Red Wine"), Allison earned more Handy Awards and gained wider recognition. He won several Living Blues Awards and was featured on the covers of blues publications.

During his tour in the summer of 1997, Allison checked into a hospital on July 10, 1997 for dizziness and loss of coordination. It was discovered that he had a tumor on his lung that had metastasized to his brain. He began radiation therapy on July 16, which lasted through August 1. In and out of a coma, Allison died at around 2:30 A. M. on August 12, 1997, five days before his 58th birthday, in Madison, Wisconsin. His final album, Reckless, had just been released 5 months prior. His son Bernard Allison, at one time a member of his band, is now a solo recording artist. Bernard, the youngest of nine siblings, was exposed to all kinds of music by his father. The younger Allison made his first venture into the music business at age 13, when he performed on a live album with his father. Allison was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2000, the Chicago Sun Times called him "the Bruce Springsteen of the blues". He was a strong influence on many young blues guitarists, such as Chris Beard and Reggie Sears. Allison is buried at Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery in Homewood, Illinois.

YearTitleLabelNumberNotes1969Love Me MamaDelmark6251972Bad News Is ComingMotown/Gordy9641974Luther's BluesMotown/Gordy9671976Night LifeMotown/Gordy9741977Love Me PapaBlack & Blue33.524 Reissued as Estudio Eldorado 524 (Brazil) and Evidence CD 26015 (U. S.)1979Gonna Be a Live One in Here Tonight!Rumble1001Recorded live in Peoria, Illinois, on April 18–19, 1979; reissued as South Side Safari, Red Lightnin' 00361979Power Wire BluesRumble1004Part 2 of the Peoria concert; reissued 1985 as Charly 11051979Live in ParisParis Album/Buda2 28501Recorded in Paris, La Chapelle Des Lombards, 1979; also issued as Ruf 1354, Free Bird 209/FLY06, Pläne 88295, Platinum 1613541979LiveBlue Silver3001/3321Part 2 of the 1979 Paris concert; also on Blue Sky/Buda1980TimeParis Album/Buda2 285051984Let's Have a Natural BallJSP10771984Life Is a BitchEncore!/Melodie131Blind Pig 2287 (1987) in the U. S., retitled Serious1985Here I ComeEncore!/Melodie1331987Rich ManRuf8001Also RFR 1005, Charly CRB 1227, Orbis BLU NC 044 (plus 3 bonus tracks)1991More from BerlinEast WestLACD 1991 2Live, 19891992Hand Me Down My MoonshineInak/Ruf1047Acoustic1992Bercy 92 (Johnny Hallyday)Philips514 400Electric guitar on one title; recorded live at the Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy1994Soul Fixin' ManAlligator4820Ruf 1021 in Europe, retitled Bad Love1995Blue StreakAlligator4834Ruf 7712 in Europe1996Live ’89: Let's Try It AgainRuf1028Recorded in Berlin, May 19891996Live in Montreux: Where Have You Been?Ruf1008Recorded 1976–19941997RecklessAlligator4849Ruf 1012 in Europe1999Live in ChicagoAlligator4869Ruf 1042 in Europe, recorded 1995–1997, 2 disc set1999Standing at the CrossroadBlack & Blue421.1Recorded 1977 in Paris; also Night & Day 210, Blues Reference2002Pay It ForwardRuf1060Recorded 1984–19942007UndergroundRuf1132Recorded c. 19582009Songs from the RoadRuf1157CD and DVD recorded in Montreal, 1997