A Brief History of the BCBS
BCBS was founded in July 1977 by two
ex- Philadelphians, Tom Cullen and Lou Wolfenson and by lifetime
Levittowner, Alex Hastie.
(Lou Wolfenson left the society in 1979 and currently resides in
Hawaii as a prominent blues agitator). BCBS is the second oldest
blues society in the world, the oldest east of the Mississippi
River and the oldest continuously active blues society. BCBS is
a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the presentation and
preservatioin of Black American blues traditions. SInce the initial
concert on August 29th, 1977 with James Cotton, BCBS steadily became
known as "The Blues Authority in the Delaware Valley."
Including
the "Blue Tuesday" series at Jaspers (1988
- 89) and the "Blue Thursday" series at AJ's (which
started in 1995), BCBS has presented over 400 blues shows in
a variety
of settings with a plethora on (inter)national, regional and
local artists. Many well known artists first performed in the
Delaware
Valley at a BCBS event. The short list includes, Albert Collins,
Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Jimmy Johnson, Billy Price, Little Jimmy
King, Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers, Little Charlie and the
Nightcats, and most recently, Lloyd Jones (to name a few). Since
BCBS has existed for more than 25% of the history of the blues
in this century, it is one of the few, if any societies that
can boast of direct link to legendary artists like Muddy Waters
('79),
Willie Dixon ('82), John Lee Hooker ('79), Albert Collins('78),
Professor Longhair ('79) and the man who gave BCBS instant credibility,
James Cotton ('77, '78(2x), '84' 87 and '91).In 1980 BCBS was
awarded two citations from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
for
preserving the blues and in 1983 BCBS was the recipient of the
prestigious W.C. Handy Award for "Keeping the Blues ALive" presented
by the Blues Foundation in Memphis. In 1993 BCBS co-founder and
director Tom Cullen received the "Keeping the Blues Alive" award
for his work in public radio. In 1999 BCBS assistant director
and producer of the "Blue Thursday" series, Bob Settelen
helped AJ's win the "Best of Philly" award for suburban
blues clubs from Philadelphia Magazine. Additionally, over the
years, numerous adult and youth sports teams sponsored by the
BCBS have won championships. BCBS has donated a collection of
300 items
(CD's, tapes, books and videos) pertaining to blues, soul, R&B,
rock, jazz and gospel to the Levittown branch of the Bucks
County Library System located on New Falls road. BCBS has always
been
committed to bringing the best blues to the best audience anywhere
for reasonable prices. |
