J.B. Hutto and His Hawks

Joseph Benjamin "J.B." Hutto (born 1926 in Blackville, South Carolina; died 1983 in Harvey, Illinois) was a fiercely aggressive slide guitarist and a cornerstone of the rough-hewn Chicago club scene. Migrating to Chicago in the 1940s, Hutto was a prominent fixture performing at the open-air Maxwell Street market. Deeply influenced by the slashing slide guitar style of Elmore James, Hutto played with a harsh, heavily distorted tone and sang in a powerful, declamatory shout. He recorded sporadically in the 1950s for Chance Records with his band, the Hawks, but gained wider recognition during the mid-1960s blues revival.