Biography
Maurice John Vaughn issued his first recording, Generic Blues Album, in 1984 on his own shoestring Reecy imprint. The plain white sleeve bore only a stamped title, an unadorned look born of tight finances rather than any marketing tactic.
By the time Alligator released In the Shadow of the City in 1993, Vaughn had established himself as one of Chicago’s more distinctive and adaptable younger blues performers. That set merged blues with soul, funk, and additional modern elements. Equally comfortable on guitar and saxophone, he had already worked as a sideman on both instruments. His earliest focus was the saxophone; raised on Chicago’s South Side, he performed with several R&B ensembles and cut a 1976 session with the Chosen Few for Chi-Sound Records. When saxophone opportunities dwindled, he shifted greater attention to guitar. Phil Guy hired him and his band for a Canadian tour in 1979, after which the blues idiom took hold. Subsequent sideman engagements included stints with Luther Allison, Son Seals, Valerie Wellington, and A.C. Reed.
Alligator preserved the original plain packaging when it reissued Generic Blues Album following Vaughn’s contribution of “Nothing Left to Believe In” to the label’s 1987 collection The New Bluebloods. After the 1993 album appeared, Vaughn toured intermittently and occasionally performed in schools for children unfamiliar with the blues. He later stepped away from the road to serve as an A&R executive for Appaloosa Records, where he produced sessions for Maxine Carr and Shirley Johnson. He also contributed to two albums by Detroit Junior. His next release, Dangerous Road, finally arrived in 2001. Notwithstanding the stark cover of his debut, Maurice Vaughn’s soulful blues bears no trace of the generic.
By the time Alligator released In the Shadow of the City in 1993, Vaughn had established himself as one of Chicago’s more distinctive and adaptable younger blues performers. That set merged blues with soul, funk, and additional modern elements. Equally comfortable on guitar and saxophone, he had already worked as a sideman on both instruments. His earliest focus was the saxophone; raised on Chicago’s South Side, he performed with several R&B ensembles and cut a 1976 session with the Chosen Few for Chi-Sound Records. When saxophone opportunities dwindled, he shifted greater attention to guitar. Phil Guy hired him and his band for a Canadian tour in 1979, after which the blues idiom took hold. Subsequent sideman engagements included stints with Luther Allison, Son Seals, Valerie Wellington, and A.C. Reed.
Alligator preserved the original plain packaging when it reissued Generic Blues Album following Vaughn’s contribution of “Nothing Left to Believe In” to the label’s 1987 collection The New Bluebloods. After the 1993 album appeared, Vaughn toured intermittently and occasionally performed in schools for children unfamiliar with the blues. He later stepped away from the road to serve as an A&R executive for Appaloosa Records, where he produced sessions for Maxine Carr and Shirley Johnson. He also contributed to two albums by Detroit Junior. His next release, Dangerous Road, finally arrived in 2001. Notwithstanding the stark cover of his debut, Maurice Vaughn’s soulful blues bears no trace of the generic.
Albums