Sam Myers embraced a fresh opportunity for major recognition later in life and seized it fully. Serving as lead singer for Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets, the legally blind Myers delivered a powerful voice and concise harmonica playing that reached greater visibility than at any earlier stage.
Although born and raised primarily in Mississippi, Myers started traveling regularly to Chicago beginning in 1949, absorbing influences from Little Walter and James Cotton. After relocating to Jackson, MS, in 1956, he joined King Mose & the Royal Rockers. His first recording, the 1957 single “Sleeping in the Ground”/“My Love Is Here to Stay” on Johnny Vincent’s Ace label, featured the Royal Rockers as backing musicians.
Myers supplied drums and harp for slide guitar master Elmore James during a 1961 session for Bobby Robinson’s Fire label in New Orleans. The prior year he released a notable single on Robinson’s Fury Records, pairing his take on Jimmy Reed’s “You Don't Have to Go” with “Sad, Sad Lonesome Day.”
In the early 1980s Myers recorded albums with the loosely formed Mississippi Delta Blues Band for the TJ label before linking with young Texas guitarist Anson Funderburgh, whose emphasis on swinging rhythms supplied an ideal foundation. Their initial joint release, 1985’s My Love Is Here to Stay on New Orleans-based Black Top Records, preceded further albums—Sins, Rack ’Em Up, Tell Me What I Want to Hear, and 1995’s Live at the Grand Emporium—each affirming one of the 1990s’ most durable blues partnerships. Myers issued his first solo album, Coming from the Old School, in 2004 and died on July 17, 2006.
