Detroit Count

Blues singer, pianist, and organist. He arrived in Detroit in 1938, and made his first recordings as "Bob White 'The Woogie Man' for Bluebird in Chicago in 1940. He performed as a solo artist in bars and clubs in Paradise Valley throughout the 1940s. In 1953 he changed from piano to the Hammond organ. At that time he recorded some rhythm and blues sides with Emitt Slay for Savoy Records. Detroit Count made his name locally by recording "Hasting Street Opera" in 1948. This recording is a humorous description of life on Hastings Street delivered as a talking blues with piano accompaniment. Detroit Count's other recorded work is more interesting from a musical point of view. "Hastings Street Woogie Man" is a driving barrel-house piano blues and "I'm Crazy About You" is close to a blues ballad in feeling.