Photo Of The Week: Harlan Thomas And Willis Dobbins

Photo of the week is Harlan Thomas and Willis Dobbins. Both these guys played on the legendary Center Street in the 1960s. Harlan stills plays piano and performs with his band in Des Moines and central Iowa. However, Willis has retired from public performance due to illness.

Photo Of The Week: Jimmy Pryor Plays Piano

This weeks picture was taken back in 1999 when me and Jimmy were running the jam at the Hull Ave Lounge. Sometimes between sets Jimmy would go up and play piano and sing. Mostly he did simple chords and sang older country tunes. We had a lot of fun at the Hull Ave, and thanks to Jimmy a lot of the older blues cats came out of retirement to play with him. I remember Willis Dobbins showing up at the Hull Ave one night. Willis was a brilliant man. He had previously worked for the State Of Iowa setting up GED exams. Unfortunately when I first met him he was just starting to go downhill with the ravages of Alzheimer's. However, Jimmy had seen him come into the Hull, and encouraged us to get him on stage. Willis who at that time was rather shy, and quite sang a couple of beautiful blues ballads and brought down the house. Willis performed with us a few times over the next year, and was inducted in the first class of the Iowa Hall of Fame. However, his health has declined over the years.