Johnny Laws

A longstanding presence in Chicago's South Side blues scene from the mid-1960s onward, singer and guitarist Johnny Laws stayed unrecognized beyond his hometown for decades and waited another thirty years before entering the studio. Born on July 12, 1943, he built a strong local following through his distinctive aching falsetto and an unusually broad mix of material, yet stayed a niche favorite until his first recording appeared. The 1995 Wolf label album My Little Girl introduced his work to listeners farther afield, with Blues Burnin' in My Soul arriving four years later.