by Bill Dahl & Al CampbellHouston was homebase to a remarkable cadre of red-hot blues guitarists during the 1950s. Joe Hughes was not as well known as his peers Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland, but he was a solid electric bluesman with a formidable discography. Another of his Houston neighbors, Johnny Guitar Watson, lit a performing fire in Hughes when he was 14. Lone Star stalwarts T-Bone Walker and Gatemouth Brown also exerted their influence on Hughes playing. His path crossed Copelands circa 1953 when the two shared vocal and guitar duties in a combo called the Dukes of Rhythm. Hughes served as bandleader at a local blues joint known as Shadys Playhouse from 1958 through 1963, cutting a few scattered singles of his own in his spare time (I Cant Go on This Way, Ants in My Pants, Shoe Shy). In 1963, Hughes hit the road with the Upsetters, switching to the employ of Bobby Blue Bland in 1965 (he also recorded behind the singer for Duke) and Al TNT Braggs from 1967 to 1969. A long dry spell followed, but Hughes finally came back to the spotlight with a fine set for Black Top in 1989 with If You Want to See These Blues (by that time, hed inserted a Guitar as his middle name, much like his old pal Watson). Hughes then released Texas Guitar Slinger, (1996, Blueseye Blues), Down & Depressed: Dangerous (1997, Munich), and Stuff Like That (2001, Blues Express), which contain slashing blends of blues and soul with the ocassional tightly arranged horn section and, most importantly, enough axe to fulfill Hughes adopted nickname. After half a century of playing the blues, Joe Guitar Hughes passed away on May 20, 2003 after suffering a heart attack.