Louisiana Red (born Iverson Minter, March 23, 1932, Bessema, Alabama, United States - died February 25, 2012, Hanover, Germany) was a blues guitarist, harmonica player and singer. He recorded more than 50 albums. Louisiana Red played with just about every major blues man you can name, some of the most memorable encounters being his jams with B.B.King and Muddy Waters. But it doesn’t matter who he played with or where he appeared - Louisiana Red brought the same intensity and enthusiasm to every stage he appeared on, whether in front of 10,000 people at a festival or 100 people in an intimate club.

He was strongly influenced by Muddy Waters, Lightnin‘ Hopkins and Arthur Crudup, but he found his own voice, his own style and his own form of expression. Louisiana Red’s albums have been called masterpieces by critics, and in 1983 he won a W.C. Handy Award as best traditional blues artist. After living in Germany for 20 years, he made a several triumphant comeback tours in the United States.

But if you asked Red about it, he wouldn’t tell you much about his success. He’d much rather talk about his latest CD project, about a new song or a new guitar lick. Because Louisiana Red was constantly creating, always searching for another expression of his blues. For once, the hyperbole was justified: Louisiana Red was the Blues.

1932 Born in Bessema, Alabama as Iverson Minter. His mother died a week after his birth.
1941 Louisiana Red’s father was killed by the Ku-Klux-Klan.
1972 His first beloved wife died from cancer.
1975 Festival in Montreux
1981 Louisiana Red leaves the United States for living now in Germany
1983 W.C. Handy Award as best traditional blues artist.
1984 Marriage with his beloved wife Dora.
1997 The first triumphant comeback tours in the United States.
1998 Several comeback tours in the United States.
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