The Resume

(March 5, 1929-April 29, 1967)
Born in Monticello, Mississippi
Blues guitarist and vocalist
Recorded the songs 'Korea Blues,' 'Let's Roll,' 'The Mojo,' 'Natural Man,' 'Mama, Talk to Your Daughter,' 'Alabama Man,' 'Down in Mississippi,' and 'Vietnam Blues'
Died of injuries suffered in a car crash three weeks earlier

Why he might be annoying:

'J.B.' didn't stand for anything -- it was his full name.
He frequently performed zebra-striped suits.
His 'Eisenhower Blues' was controversial enough for his record label to force him to re-record it as the more generic 'Tax-Paying Blues.'
John Mayall performed a tribute song about him, but pronounced his name the French-styled 'Len-WAH' instead of the correct 'Le-NOR.'

Why he might not be annoying:

He was working in the kitchen of the University of Illinois when he was rediscovered by Willie Dixon in the early 1960s.
He toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival (1965).
He recorded songs about civil rights and the wars in Korea and Vietnam.
A critic described him as having 'one of the most beautiful voices in postwar blues.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Blues Musicians
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 89]
• I am Known by My Initials
• I Died in 1967 (Ranked: 38)
• I Died in My 30s (Ranked: 38)
• I'm Remembered in a Tribute Song
• Look at My Guitar
• My Music was Lost in the 2008 Universal Studios Fire
• Profiles 54751-55000 (Ranked: 54991)
• Stacker’s Most Controversial Song from the Year You Were Born (Ranked: 1954)
• Vocalists Who Sing Anti-War Songs
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19670429)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 17 Votes: 5.88% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying