Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903 – March 19, 1981), better known as Tampa Red, was an American Chicago blues musician. His unique single-string slide guitar style, songwriting, and bottleneck technique inspired other Chicago blues guitarists, including Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Nighthawk, Muddy Waters, and Elmore James.

Over a career lasting more than 30 years, he also recorded pop, R&B, and hokum songs. His most well-known recordings include "Anna Lou Blues," "Black Angel Blues," "Crying Won't Help You," "It Hurts Me Too," "Let Me Play with Your Poodle," and "Love Her with a Feeling."

Biography

Tampa Red was born Hudson Woodbridge in Smithville, Georgia. His exact birth date is unknown, and he gave different years between 1900 and 1908. His death certificate lists January 8, 1904, as his birth date. His parents, John and Elizabeth Woodbridge, died when he was young. He moved to Tampa, Florida, and was raised by his aunt and grandmother, who gave him the surname Whittaker. He learned to play guitar by watching his older brother, Eddie, and was inspired by a street musician named Piccolo Pete. Red also learned from early recordings of female blues singers like Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Ida Cox. In an interview, he said, "That 1920 record of 'Crazy Blues' by Mamie Smith was one of the first blues records ever made. I said to myself, 'I don't know any music, but I can play that.'"

By 1925, Red had mastered his slide guitar technique and moved to Chicago, Illinois. He began his career as a street musician and adopted the name "Tampa Red," which referred to his childhood home and his light skin. His big opportunity came when he was hired to accompany Ma Rainey. In Chicago, he met Thomas A. Dorsey, also known as Georgia Tom, a skilled pianist and composer who had worked with top blues singers. Dorsey introduced Red to J. Mayo Williams, a manager at Paramount Records, who arranged a recording session for him in 1928.

Red's first recording, "Through Train Blues," was not very successful because it was the B-side of "How Long How Long" by Blind Lemon Jefferson, who was Paramount's most famous artist at the time. His second recording, "It's Tight Like That," became a national hit. The song was based on a tune from a Charley Jordan song and used the popular phrase "Tight Like That." Mayo Williams loved the song and insisted it be recorded immediately. Played in a humorous and lively style called hokum, it sold one million copies. Red later said people waited outside record stores to buy it. Since the song was written by Red and Dorsey, they shared about $4,000 in royalties.

Tampa Red's early recordings were mostly made with Dorsey. Together, they recorded nearly 90 songs, sometimes as the Hokum Boys or, with Frankie Jaxon, as Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band. In 1928 and 1929, Red and Georgia Tom appeared on recordings by Ma Rainey, Madilyn Davis, Lil Johnson, and Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon.

In 1928, Red became the first Black musician to play a National steel-bodied resonator guitar, the loudest and most showy guitar available before amplification. He used a gold-plated tricone model, which was later found in Illinois by Randy Clemens, a music shop owner, and sold to the Experience Music Project in Seattle. People called him "The Man with the Gold Guitar," and by the 1930s, he was known as "The Guitar Wizard." In 1931, he recorded "Depression Blues," which included the lyrics, "If I could tell my troubles, it would give my poor heart ease, but Depression has got me, somebody help me please."

Red's partnership with Dorsey ended in 1932, but he remained in high demand as a session musician, working with artists like John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, Memphis Minnie, and Big Maceo. He signed with Victor Records in 1934 and stayed on their roster until 1953. He formed the Chicago Five, a group of session musicians who helped create the Bluebird sound, a style that influenced later jump blues and rock and roll bands. Red was friends with Big Bill Broonzy and Big Maceo Merriweather. He achieved commercial success, and his home became a center for the blues community, offering space for musicians traveling from the Mississippi Delta.

By the 1940s, Red played an electric guitar. In 1942, his song "Let Me Play with Your Poodle" reached number 4 on Billboard's "Harlem Hit Parade," a precursor to the R&B chart. His 1949 recording, "When Things Go Wrong with You (It Hurts Me Too)," was another R&B hit and later covered by Elmore James.

Red was rediscovered during the blues revival of the late 1950s, along with other early blues artists like Son House and Skip James. He made his last recordings in 1960.

Red's wife, Frances Whittaker, died on November 21, 1953. This loss deeply affected him, and he became an alcoholic. In 1974, blues expert Jim O'Neal found him living with his companion, 81-year-old Effie Tolbert, on Chicago's South Side. Red was in poor health, and his National steel guitar had been stolen (it was later recovered in a pawn shop and sold to the Experience Music Project for $85,000). Tolbert died on December 10, 1974, and Red's past mental health struggles made it hard for friends to care for him. By January 1975, he was in a state hospital in Chicago.

Red spent his final years at Central Nursing Home, where he died of a heart attack while eating breakfast on March 19, 1981. According to a newspaper obituary by Jim O'Neal, his funeral was held at Biggs & Biggs Funeral Home, and he was buried in Mount Glenwood Memory Garden in Willow Springs, a Chicago suburb.

Discography

Red was one of the most productive blues musicians of his time. He recorded about 335 songs on 78-rpm records, with 251 of these songs recorded between 1928 and 1942. This makes him the blues artist with the most recordings during that time period. Most of his singles were released before Billboard magazine started tracking blues and other "race music" in October 1942. Because of this, exact sales numbers are not known. However, four of his singles reached the top ten on the R&B charts between 1942 and 1951.

Red recorded different versions of some of his early songs, often labeled as "No. 2," "No. 3," and so on. These alternate versions are marked with a plus sign. He also recorded some singles with other musicians, who were credited as the Hokum Boys, Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band, Papa Too Sweet, and other names.

He played on recordings by other musicians, including Big Maceo Merriweather, John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, Memphis Minnie, Ma Rainey, and Victoria Spivey.

Although he recorded many singles, Red made only two albums, which were released later in his career. After his death, several compilation albums were released by different record companies. These compilations often include similar songs, but some focus on specific parts of his music or original record labels.