Biography
Belonging to the Headhunters from the start, the bold outfit that also counted Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers among its ranks—so called for their habit of crashing nightclubs and upstaging the performers already onstage— “Baby Face” Leroy Foster helped shape the postwar Chicago blues style. Sadly, he did not live long enough to share in the success that followed.
The Mississippi-born musician reached Chicago in 1945 alongside harpist Little Walter and pianist Johnny Jones. Before linking with the rising Waters crew, he worked with Sunnyland Slim and Sonny Boy Williamson. On 1948 Tempo-Tone sessions Foster supplied drums for Floyd Jones’s somber “Hard Times,” Little Walter’s “Blue Baby,” and Sunnyland Slim’s “I Want My Baby.”
Switching to rhythm guitar, he supported Waters on several Aristocrat 78s issued in 1948 and 1949, among them “You’re Gonna Miss Me (When I’m Dead and Gone),” “Mean Red Spider,” and “Screamin’ and Cryin’,” plus Johnny Jones’s buoyant “Big Town Playboy.” As a leader for Aristocrat, Foster cut “Locked Out Boogie” and “Shady Grove Blues” during a 1948 date that also produced six Muddy masters.
Waters risked the ire of the Chess brothers by moonlighting on Foster’s explosive eight-song Parkway session in January 1950. Although Foster’s powerful drumming drives the date, Muddy’s incisive slide and plaintive vocals stand out on the two-part “Rollin’ and Tumblin’,” prompting Waters to record his own version for Aristocrat so his label bosses could undercut Foster’s release.
Those Parkway sides proved durable: Foster’s gritty “Red Headed Woman” resurfaced on Savoy in 1954, while “Boll Weevil” had already appeared on Herald the year before. His modest recorded output also includes two JOB singles—the 1950 pairing “My Head Can’t Rest Anymore” / “Take a Little Walk with Me,” later issued on Chess with Muddy and Rogers backing him, and the 1952 release “Pet Rabbit” / “Louella,” which featured Sunnyland and guitarist Robert Jr. Lockwood. Alcoholism claimed Baby Face at only 35 when he died in 1958.
The Mississippi-born musician reached Chicago in 1945 alongside harpist Little Walter and pianist Johnny Jones. Before linking with the rising Waters crew, he worked with Sunnyland Slim and Sonny Boy Williamson. On 1948 Tempo-Tone sessions Foster supplied drums for Floyd Jones’s somber “Hard Times,” Little Walter’s “Blue Baby,” and Sunnyland Slim’s “I Want My Baby.”
Switching to rhythm guitar, he supported Waters on several Aristocrat 78s issued in 1948 and 1949, among them “You’re Gonna Miss Me (When I’m Dead and Gone),” “Mean Red Spider,” and “Screamin’ and Cryin’,” plus Johnny Jones’s buoyant “Big Town Playboy.” As a leader for Aristocrat, Foster cut “Locked Out Boogie” and “Shady Grove Blues” during a 1948 date that also produced six Muddy masters.
Waters risked the ire of the Chess brothers by moonlighting on Foster’s explosive eight-song Parkway session in January 1950. Although Foster’s powerful drumming drives the date, Muddy’s incisive slide and plaintive vocals stand out on the two-part “Rollin’ and Tumblin’,” prompting Waters to record his own version for Aristocrat so his label bosses could undercut Foster’s release.
Those Parkway sides proved durable: Foster’s gritty “Red Headed Woman” resurfaced on Savoy in 1954, while “Boll Weevil” had already appeared on Herald the year before. His modest recorded output also includes two JOB singles—the 1950 pairing “My Head Can’t Rest Anymore” / “Take a Little Walk with Me,” later issued on Chess with Muddy and Rogers backing him, and the 1952 release “Pet Rabbit” / “Louella,” which featured Sunnyland and guitarist Robert Jr. Lockwood. Alcoholism claimed Baby Face at only 35 when he died in 1958.
Albums
Singles
