Tampa Red
Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903 – March 19, 1981), better known by his stage name Tampa Red, was an American Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago blues guitarists such as Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Nighthawk, Muddy Waters, and Elmore James. In a career spanning over 30 years, he also recorded pop, R&B and hokum songs. His best-known recordings include "Anna Lou Blues", "Black Angel Blues", "Crying Won't Help You", "It Hurts Me Too", and "Love Her with a Feeling". |
Birth and Death Data: Born Smithville (city in Lee County, Georgia, United States), Died March 19, 1981 (Chicago (city and county seat of Cook County, and largest city in State of Illinois, United States of America) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1928 - 1951
Roles Represented in DAHR: guitar, vocalist, composer, leader, kazoo, lyricist, songwriter, piano, electric guitar, speaker, yodeling
Notes: Often sub-credited as "The Guitar Wizard." Compositions generally credited as Hudson Whittaker, his real name.
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 101-125 of 416 records)
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | BS-020805 | 10-in. | 6/16/1938 | Love with a feeling | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | leader, composer, vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-020806 | 10-in. | 6/16/1938 | When bad luck is on you | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | leader, composer, vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-020807 | 10-in. | 6/16/1938 | When I had a good woman | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | leader, composer, vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-028116 | 10-in. | 10/18/1938 | It's tight like that | Eddie De Lange Orchestra ; Phil Sillman | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and vocal ensemble | songwriter | |
| Victor | BS-030800 | 10-in. | 12/16/1938 | Mr. Rhythm Man | Chicago Five ; Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance quintet | leader, composer, vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-030801 | 10-in. | 12/16/1938 | Just you and I alone | Chicago Five ; Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance quintet | leader, composer, vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-030802 | 10-in. | 12/16/1938 | Checkin' up on you | Chicago Five ; Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance quintet | leader, composer, vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-030803 | 10-in. | 12/16/1938 | Oh yes, my darling | Chicago Five ; Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance quintet | leader, composer, vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-030804 | 10-in. | 12/16/1938 | Forgive me, please | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | leader, composer, vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-030805 | 10-in. | 12/16/1938 | Blues for my baby | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | leader, composer, vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-030806 | 10-in. | 12/16/1938 | Hellish old feeling | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | leader, composer, vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-030807 | 10-in. | 12/16/1938 | She got the best in town | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | leader, composer, vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-034782 | 10-in. | 5/15/1939 | You say it's love | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer, instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BS-034783 | 10-in. | 5/15/1939 | Bessemer blues | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer, instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BS-034784 | 10-in. | 5/15/1939 | Please don't throw me down | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer, instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BS-034785 | 10-in. | 5/15/1939 | Sad letter blues | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer, instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BS-034786 | 10-in. | 5/15/1939 | Booze head woman | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer, instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BS-034787 | 10-in. | 5/15/1939 | If I had known | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer, instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BS-034788 | 10-in. | 5/15/1939 | You got to give me some | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer, instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BS-034789 | 10-in. | 5/15/1939 | Poor old gal blues | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer, instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BS-034790 | 10-in. | 5/15/1939 | No good woman blues | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer, instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BS-034791 | 10-in. | 5/15/1939 | Nobody knows how bad I feel | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer, instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BS-044079 | 10-in. | 11/8/1939 | Ready for rhythm | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer | |
| Victor | BS-044080 | 10-in. | 11/8/1939 | I got a big surprise for you | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer | |
| Victor | BS-044081 | 10-in. | 11/8/1939 | I'll try to forget | Tampa Red | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass | vocalist, composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Tampa Red," accessed January 6, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106703.
Tampa Red. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106703.
"Tampa Red." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 6 January 2026.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Tampa Red
Discogs: Tampa Red
Allmusic: Tampa Red
IMDb: Tampa Red
Britannica: Tampa Red
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Tampa Red, 1904-1981 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n92117137
Wikidata: Tampa Red - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1345751
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/120789174
MusicBrainz: Tampa Red - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/1b62df85-00d2-464f-81bc-a5c0cdcad278
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/1509194 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/1509194
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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