Tampa Red

Hudson Woodbridge, known as Tampa Red, was one of the most important and prolific recording artists in pre-war and postwar Chicago blues. His clean, single-string slide guitar technique on the National resonator guitar earned him the nickname 'The Guitar Wizard,' and his smooth vocal style and sophisticated arrangements anticipated the urbane postwar sound. He recorded over 300 sides beginning in 1928, including the massive hit 'It's Tight Like That' (with Georgia Tom Dorsey), 'It Hurts Me Too,' 'Love Her with a Feeling,' and dozens of other standards. His Chicago apartment served as an informal headquarters for blues musicians throughout the 1930s and 1940s, where newcomers like Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie, and Big Maceo found lodging, rehearsal space, and professional connections. His influence on subsequent slide guitarists, particularly Elmore James and Robert Nighthawk, was profound.