Biography
Gary Coleman spent years working as a blues performer and concert promoter across Texas and Oklahoma before discovering his ideal outlet in 1986 by licensing his self-produced debut to Atlanta’s new Ichiban label. From that point forward Coleman issued six albums under his own name while also guiding the majority of Ichiban’s blues output, recruiting for the studio many of the artists he had previously booked or toured behind, among them Chick Willis, Buster Benton, and Blues Boy Willie. Although he appeared onstage strictly as a singer and guitarist, Coleman handled multiple instruments once in the studio; his sound stayed rooted in the blues tradition and in the legacy of the two Kings referenced by his “B.B.” nickname and by his open admiration for fellow Texan Freddie King.
Coleman’s immersion in the blues began in childhood; at fifteen he was already performing alongside Freddie King. After that apprenticeship he backed Lightnin’ Hopkins, assembled his own Texas-based band, and started routing other blues acts through clubs in Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado, a dual schedule of gigging and booking that occupied him for nearly twenty years. In 1985 he launched his own imprint, Mr. B’s Records, and the next year issued the label’s first release, Nothin’ But the Blues. The album’s reception prompted Ichiban to sign Coleman and to reissue Nothin’ But the Blues in 1987.
His follow-up, If You Can Beat Me Rockin’, appeared in 1988, the same year he expanded into production, songwriting, and A&R duties for Ichiban. Between 1988 and 1992 Coleman placed six additional titles under his name while producing thirty further albums, including projects by Little Johnny Taylor and Buster Benton. He remained busy as both a stage and studio artist and as a producer until his death in the mid-1990s.
Coleman’s immersion in the blues began in childhood; at fifteen he was already performing alongside Freddie King. After that apprenticeship he backed Lightnin’ Hopkins, assembled his own Texas-based band, and started routing other blues acts through clubs in Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado, a dual schedule of gigging and booking that occupied him for nearly twenty years. In 1985 he launched his own imprint, Mr. B’s Records, and the next year issued the label’s first release, Nothin’ But the Blues. The album’s reception prompted Ichiban to sign Coleman and to reissue Nothin’ But the Blues in 1987.
His follow-up, If You Can Beat Me Rockin’, appeared in 1988, the same year he expanded into production, songwriting, and A&R duties for Ichiban. Between 1988 and 1992 Coleman placed six additional titles under his name while producing thirty further albums, including projects by Little Johnny Taylor and Buster Benton. He remained busy as both a stage and studio artist and as a producer until his death in the mid-1990s.
Albums
Singles
