Leroy Foster
b. 1 February 1923, Algoma, Mississippi, USA, d 26 May 1958, Chicago, Illinois, USA. A guitarist and drummer, Foster followed the black migration north in the '40s, and worked Maxwell Street and the clubs. Foster's singing was indebted to John Lee ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson, and like Williamson he was equally impressive on both uptempo and slow, intense blues. In 1948, he made his debut on record, singing a riotous Locked Out Boogie and a reflective Shady Grove Blues, with Muddy Waters providing guitar. Foster also made fine recordings for JOB with Snooky Pryor, Sunnyland Slim and Robert Lockwood in support; for Parkway Records, he participated in a magnificent session with Little Walter and a contract-jumping Muddy Waters, which constitutes, above all on the two part Rollin And Tumblin’’ a manifesto for the transformation of Mississippi Delta blues in the Chicago ghetto.