Andrew Tibbs

b. Melvin Andrew Grayson, 2 February 1929, Columbus, Ohio, USA, d. 5 May 1991, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Although little-known now, Tibbs was an important contributor to the early success of the Aristocrat record label, the precursor of Chess Records and Checker Records. His father, Rev. S.A. Grayson, was one of Chicago's most prominent Baptist ministers and the young Tibbs sang in choirs directed by Mahalia Jackson and Ruth Jones (who later married his brother, Robert, and changed her name to Dinah Washington). He based his blues singing style on Roy Brown, Ivory Joe Hunter and...