Sandy Atkinson

Chapter 1: Tampa Red By Sandy Atkinson Tampa Red (born Hudson Woodbridge-Whittaker) was born in Georgia. His parents died when he was a child and he was sent to Tampa to be raised by his aunt and grandmother. The date of his birth is uncertain, but his death certificate states he was born in1904. He became one of the most important blues musicians from Tampa Bay. His distinctive slide style on the National Resonator guitar along with his songwriting influenced other blues guitarists such...

We met later to plan the album, and I gave him a cassette because back then that's how I wrote songs. Hit record, and me and my guitar — that was it. He listened, and the first thing he said was, "You write an inordinate number of songs about relationships." I had to laugh. Yep. He liked the songs. He picked the musicians, and we recorded at Audio Lab in Tampa, where I had recorded the first album. Greg Marchack was the engineer, and he was excellent again. We picked the song "Why Baby Why"...

I first met Rock in '93. I had moved here from SC and had been in town for just a few months. I was running the blues jams, looking to meet other musicians. Rock was hosting one in St. Pete, and when I walked in, Rock and the guys were on stage playing. I was, of course, amazed by his harmonica, and little Juke on guitar was awesome too. I found out later that the two of them had played together for years. I can't remember right now who was on bass and drums, but you had to be the cream of...