Aretha, Count Basie, Booker T go into Blues Hall of Fame

On May 7 in Memphis, several of the biggest names in music will be admitted into the Blues Hall of Fame, including Aretha Franklin, Count Basie and Booker T & the MGs. It’s the 40th class. The blues and rhythm and blues are interconnected enough that installing the late Queen of Soul might seem like a no-brainer to many fans, reports Variety. But for anyone who doubts that Franklin counts as a true exemplar of the genre, the Blues Foundation points out that the very first record she ever released after signing with Columbia was a song called “Today I Sing the Blues,” and her fifth album was “Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington.” In 1980 she released a compilation of her more blues-oriented early material, “Aretha Sings the Blues.” The Blues Foundation names recordings as well as artists to its Hall of Fame, and the singles being inducted this year include Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ Stone,” Ray Charles’ “I Got a Woman” and Elmore James “Shake Your Moneymaker,” along with Elmore James’ 1965 compilation “The Sky Is Crying.” Ida Cox and guitarist Pee Way Crayton are the other two performers joining the Hall of Fame, which will also honor the late Folkways Records executive Moses “Moe” Asch.