Biography
Born on 5 December 1938 in Alabama, USA, and deceased on 26 December 1980 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, Lyons emerged in the 1950s as a west side Chicago blues guitarist. During those years he served as an accompanist for numerous performers, among them Luther Allison, Jimmy Dawkins and Bobby Rush. Chicago record companies inexplicably overlooked him, yet French blues enthusiasts championed his music in the 1970s. He contributed to recordings as a sideman, issued a disappointing half album, and journeyed to Europe in 1979, where he completed his sole full-length album. That release displayed the work of a fine singer and guitarist shaped by B.B. King and Freddie King, ‘T-Bone’ Walker and Lowell Fulson.