By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
BARBARA AND CASH
Cash McCall
C
hicago boasts a long history of blues
divas, but few were as versatile and
unsung as Barbara LeShoure, who
passed away last month. The daughter of
blues musician Jack Stepter, Barbara grew up
on the South Side absorbing the blues first
hand. Legends like Sunnyland Slim, John Lee
Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf
were regular guests at her childhood home.
Before long, little Barbara was accompanying
her father and singing blues standards at
clubs. By the time she started performing on
her own, her repertoire had featured an
impressive array of classic blues, jazz stan-
dards, and R&B.
During the ‘70s and ‘80s, Barbara was
close friends with Chicago Blues Queen Koko
14 illinoisentertainer.com may 2019
Taylor and reigning blues diva Valerie
Wellington. All three ruled local blues scene,
with Barbara performing with Carlos
Johnson and Joe Thomas as the Kingston
Mines house band. Influenced by Koko, Etta
James, Bessie Smith, Dinah Washington, and
Ella Fitzgerald, Barbara’s vocals expressed a
range of emotions and styles. The drama and
elegance of her performances were so strik-
ing that she was offered several theatrical
roles. She played Bessie Smith in the off-
Broadway production of The Cotton Club
Review as well as roles in productions of *The
Wiz and Little Dreamers. She also appeared in
Chicago TV commercials, but her biggest
credit was appearing in the iconic film, Ferris
Bueller’s Day Off.
Barbara moved to Minneapolis in her
later years and was inducted into both the
Chicago Blues Hall of Fame and the
Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame. She was
actively involved in teaching about the
African American blues experience through
the
Minneapolis
program
“Musical
Mentoring.” Barbara also instructed children
about blues history in Minneapolis and St.
Paul schools. Barbara LeShoure was an origi-
nal Chicago blues queen whose dynamic
presence will be sorely missed.
During his thriving 60-year-career, Cash
McCall laid a solid foundation for Chicago
blues, gospel, and soul culture. Cash passed
away April 20 at age 78 after a courageous
battle with lung cancer. Born in Missouri as
Maurice Dollison Jr., he learned to play guitar
as a child on the homemade guitar his father
fashioned out of baling wire nailed to their
front porch. By the time he was a teen, he had
started singing and playing guitar for gospel
groups, including 5 Tones of Harmony,
Jubilee Hummingbirds, Pilgrim Jubilees, and
the Gospel Songbirds, which also featured
Otis Clay. But the connections between
gospel, blues and soul can’t be ignored, and
Cash released a funky R&B hit, “When You
Wake Up,” that earned enough play to win a
spot on Dick Clark’s “Caravan of Stars” tour
in 1966. By the late ‘60s, he was writing and
doing studio session work for Chess Records.
Cash wrote for Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters,
Etta James, Little Milton, and The Rotary
Connection (featuring Minnie Ripperton). He
wrote “That’s The Way It Is (When You Fall in
Love) for himself, but it became a hit for his
old friend Otis Clay. Cash also played guitar
on countless Chess classics, but it wasn’t
until 1974 that the label released his debut
album, Omega Man.
It was Minnie Riperton, who had been the
Chess Records secretary before becoming a
pop sensation, who lured Cash to the West
Coast. He played for Minnie’s band as well as
Natalie Cole, The Drifters, and The Coasters.
Willie Dixon had moved to LA by then (the
‘80s) and Cash dived back into the blues,
playing on his Grammy-winning, 1988
album Hidden Charms. Cash also worked with
blues icons Jimmy Dawkins, Mighty Joe
Young, and Junior Wells. Cash produced two
more of his own blues albums, No More
Doggin’ (1983) and Cash Up Front (1987)
before releasing the acclaimed Going Back
Home with Benny Turner just a few months
ago. Cash McCall’s expansive influence will
live on with the music and people that he
touched.
The line-up for the 36th Annual Chicago
Blues Fest has been announced. Set for June
7-9 2019 in the cramped environs of
Millennium Park, this year’s performances
feature mostly familiar musicians to home-
town fans with a few standouts, including
the rare treat of two blues women headliners.
Friday’s opening day features Bobby
Rush as the headliner, with Jimmy Johnson
and Charlie Musselwhite with Billy Boy
Arnold as the opening acts. All are regulars at
Chicago Blues Fest, and all will supply high-
ly entertaining shows, with Rush’s flashy
showmanship a must see. On Saturday, an
exciting soul blues line-up includes
Grammy-nominated soul powerhouse Bettye
LaVette as the headliner, and soul-blues sta-
ple Lattimore and Memphis soul legend
Done Bryant rounding out the Jay Pritzker
Pavilion show. Young blues artists Melody
Angel and Marquise Knox open at the
Crossroads Stage and should not be missed.
Sunday’s schedule is packed with high
points, starting with the electric Ruthie Foster
as the headliner at the Pritzker Pavilion. At
the Crossroads Stage, every single act is a
can’t miss, beginning with Roomful of Blues
featuring Lynne Jordan, and Toronzo
Cannon, Kinsey Report, Melvin Taylor & The
Slack Band and Omar Coleman performing
throughout the day.