{{Short description|American blues singer (1936–1991)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Andrew Odom | image = | caption = | alt = | image_size = | birth_name = | alias = Voice, Andrew "Big Voice" Odom, B.B., Little B.B., B.B. Junior,<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|author=Dahl, Bill |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/andrew-odom-mn0000032310 |title=Andrew Odom: Biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=2015-03-12}}</ref><ref name="Regional"/> B.B. Odom, B.B. Andrew | birth_date = December 15, 1936 | birth_place = Denham Springs, Louisiana, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1991|12|23|1936|12|15}} | death_place = Chicago, Illinois, United States | instrument = Vocals | genre = Chicago blues, electric blues, soul blues<ref name="AMG"/> | occupation = singer, songwriter | years_active = 1955–1991 | label = }}
'''Andrew Odom''' (December 15, 1936 – December 23, 1991) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues singer and songwriter. Born in Denham Springs, Louisiana, United States, he is best known for the close resemblance of his singing style to that of Bobby Bland and B.B. King.<ref name="AMG"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/andrew-odom |title=Andrew Odom |publisher=Rhapsody.com |access-date=2015-03-12}}</ref> He recorded three solo albums in his lifetime and performed regularly around Chicago and further afield until his death.
==Life and career== Odom, who was African-American, was born in Denham Springs, Louisiana, United States, the son of Lula Odom on December 15, 1936.<ref name="Regional">{{cite book|author1=Eagle, Bob L.|author2=LeBlanc, Eric S.|title=Blues: A Regional Experience|publisher=Praeger|date=2013|location=Santa Barbara, California|page=211|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZNfAQAAQBAJ&q=%22ANDREW+ODOM%22.+%22BLUES%22&pg=PA211|isbn=978-0-313-34424-4|access-date=2015-03-13}}</ref> He learned to sing at his family's church.<ref name="All">{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutbluesmusic.com/andrew-odom/ |title=Andrew Odom |date=16 January 2014 |publisher=Allaboutbluesmusic.com |access-date=2015-03-12}}</ref> In 1955, he relocated to East St. Louis, Illinois,<ref name="World">{{cite web|url=http://www.bluesworld.com/Other.html |title=St. Louis Blues and Jazz Hall of Fame |publisher=Bluesworld.com |access-date=2015-03-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524025315/http://www.bluesworld.com/Other.html |archive-date=2013-05-24 }}</ref> and began working with Albert King and Johnny Williams.<ref name="AMG"/><ref name="All"/><ref name="World"/> In the late 1950s he sang with Johnny O'Neal's band.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Danchin|first=Sebastian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2vqzDwAAQBAJ&q=O%27Neal+&pg=PA97|title=Earl Hooker, Blues Master|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|year=2010|isbn=978-1-62846-841-0|pages=98|language=en}}</ref> Through O'Neal he met Earl Hooker, with whom he recorded and performed for a number of years.<ref name="AMG"/>
In 1960, he moved to Chicago, which was his home for the rest of his life. The following year, he recorded "East St. Louis" with the Little Aaron Band for a small label, Marlo Records.<ref name="AMG" /><ref name="World" /> Another single of Odom's, "Turn On Your Love Light", credited to Andre Odom, was released by Nation Records in 1967.<ref name="AMG" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Andre-Odom-Turn-On-Your-Love-Light/release/6613284 |title=Andre Odom – Turn On Your Love Light |website=Discogs |date=1966 |access-date=2015-03-12}}</ref>
Hooker, after being released from the hospital in 1968, assembled a new band and began performing in Chicago clubs and touring, against his doctor's advice. The band, with Odom as the vocalist and the pianist Pinetop Perkins, the harmonica player Carey Bell, the bassist Geno Skaggs and the steel guitar player Freddie Roulette, was "widely acclaimed" and "considered one of the best Earl had ever carried with him".{{sfn|Danchin|2001|p=251}} On the recommendation of Buddy Guy, Arhoolie Records recorded ''2 Bugs and a Roach'' by Hooker and his new band.{{sfn|Strachwitz|1998|p=1}} Hooker's album ''Don't Have to Worry'' (1969) included instrumental selections and songs with vocals by Odom, Johnny "Big Moose" Walker, and Hooker. It has been said that the session had a "coherence and consistency" that helped make the album part of Hooker's "finest musical legacy".{{sfn|Danchin|2001|p=281}}
Odom's debut album, ''Farther On Down the Road'' (recorded in 1969 and released in 1973), included his version of "Farther Up the Road", with accompaniment throughout by Hooker on guitar and Johnny "Big Moose" Walker on keyboards.<ref name="AMG"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/farther-on-the-road-mw0000860008/credits |title=Andrew Odom, ''Farther on the Road'': Credits |website=AllMusic|access-date=2015-03-12}}</ref>
After Hooker's death, in April 1970, Odom worked for the next decade as a singer with Jimmy Dawkins. In 1971, Delmark Records released Dawkins's second album, ''All for Business'', with Odom on vocals and Otis Rush on guitar.<ref name="All"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Dahl, Bill |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jimmy-dawkins-mn0000352524/biography |title=Jimmy Dawkins: Biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=2015-03-11}}</ref> In 1974, Wasp Records issued the single "I Got This Bad Feeling", credited to B.B. Odom and the Earbenders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/B-B-Odom-With-The-Ear-Benders-I-Got-This-Bad-Feeling-Memo-Blues/release/5806121 |title=B B Odom with the Ear Benders* – I Got This Bad Feeling / Memo Blues |website=Discogs |date=1976 |access-date=2015-03-12}}</ref>
In 1982, Odom recorded his second solo album, ''Feel So Good'', with accompaniment by Magic Slim and the Teardrops, which was issued by the small French record label Black & Blue Records. It was reissued by Evidence Music in 1993.<ref name="AMG"/>
Flying Fish Records released Odom's third album, ''Goin' to California'', in 1991. The album, co-produced by Steve Freund and including guitar accompaniment by Steve Katz, has been considered Odom's best recorded work.<ref name="AMG"/><ref name="All"/>
On December 23, 1991, Odom suffered a fatal heart attack while driving from the blues club Buddy Guy's Legends to his next scheduled appearance at the Checkerboard Lounge. He was dead on arrival at Cook County Hospital, in Chicago.<ref name="AMG"/><ref name="Regional"/> In 2015 the Killer Blues Project placed a headstone for Andrew Odem at Washington Memory Gardens in Homewood, Illinois.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Headstones Placed|url=https://killerblues.net/headstones/|access-date=2025-11-22|website=Killerblues.net|language=en-US}}</ref>
Some of his work appeared on the compilation album ''The Chicago Blues Box: The MCM Records Story''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Leggett, Steve |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-chicago-blues-box-the-mcm-records-story-mw0002519800 |title=Various artists, ''The Chicago Blues Box: The MCM Records Story'': Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |website=AllMusic|access-date=2015-03-12}}</ref>
==Discography== ===Albums=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year !! Title !! Record label |- | 1969 || ''Farther On Down the Road'' || style="text-align:left;"|BluesWay Records |- | 1977 || ''Going to California'' || style="text-align:left;"|MCM Records |- | 1982 || ''Feel So Good'' || style="text-align:left;"|Evidence Music |- | 1991 || ''Goin' to California'' || style="text-align:left;"|Flying Fish Records |}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/andrew-odom-mn0000032310/discography/all |title=Andrew Odom: Discography|website=AllMusic |access-date=2015-03-12}}</ref>
===As sideman=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year !! Title !! Artist/Band !! Record label !! Ref. |- | 1969||''2 Bugs and a Roach'' || Earl Hooker || Arhoolie Records || |- | 1969||''Don't Have to Worry''|| Earl Hooker || BluesWay Records || |- | 1991||''{{ill|The 2120 Sessions|pt|The_2120_Sessions|vertical-align=sup}}'' ||{{ill|André Christovam|pt|Andr%C3%A9_Christovam|vertical-align=sup}}||Estúdio Eldorado (Brazil)||<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Andr%C3%A9-Christovam-The-2120-Sessions/release/6563118|title=André Christovam - The 2120 Sessions |website=Discogs |date=1991 }}</ref> |}
==See also== * List of Chicago blues musicians
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite AV media notes | title = The Moon Is Rising | others = Earl Hooker | year = 1998 | last = Strachwitz | first = Chris | author-link = Chris Strachwitz | type = album notes | publisher = Arhoolie Records | id = CD 468}} *{{cite book | last = Danchin | first = Sebastian | title = Earl Hooker: Blues Master | publisher = University Press of Mississippi | location = Jackson | year = 2001 | isbn = 1-57806-306-X}}
==External links== *[http://www.wirz.de/music/mcmfrm.htm MCM Records discography]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Odom, Andrew}} Category:1936 births Category:1991 deaths Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters Category:American blues singers Category:20th-century African-American male singers Category:Chicago blues musicians Category:Electric blues musicians Category:Soul-blues musicians Category:People from Denham Springs, Louisiana Category:American blues singer-songwriters Category:Singer-songwriters from Illinois Category:Singer-songwriters from Louisiana Category:20th-century American male singers Category:Flying Fish Records artists Category:African-American songwriters Category:American male singer-songwriters