Tampa Red, born Hudson Whittaker, was one of the most prolific and influential figures of prewar Chicago blues, a singer and guitarist whose clean, single-string bottleneck slide earned him the nickname 'the Guitar Wizard.' His 1928 hokum hit 'It's Tight Like That,' cut with pianist Georgia Tom Dorsey, was a runaway seller, and over three decades he recorded hundreds of sides that helped define the city's smooth, ensemble-driven blues. His slide phrasing and songs passed directly into the next generation, most audibly through Elmore James.

the sound in question

1928

It's Tight Like ThatTampa Red