It all started in the spring of 1981, with a Sold Out concert at the San Jose Civic Auditorium by the rock group, Ambrosia. The Associated Students wanted to do a Free of Charge show to repay their fans for their support during the year. The Board decided on a blues festival because 1) the blues is an art form that cuts across every demographic line known to man, 2) blues artists usually don’t cost an arm and a leg to contract, and 3) there was almost no blues in San Jose at that time. To everyone’s surprise about 1,000 fans appeared to see mostly local acts, and just seemed to have a grand time of it. Some money was put aside earlier in 1982, John Lee Hooker and the Coast to Coast Blues Band was hired to headline, around 2,500 people came and the rest is history.
In 1997, the Festival had some financial problems and was on the verge of going under when our friends at Metro Newspapers signed on as primary sponsors. Metro has kept its commitment ever since to “save the Blues” for San Jose and the South Bay. In 1999, we received permission for the first time to sell beer and wine and moved the festival site to San Carlos Plaza. In 2005 we had a huge success celebrating our 25 th year with Etta James. In 2011, we moved the festival to its current location at St. James Park.
31 Years of Rosters
First Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2, 1981
Ron Thompson and the Resistors
Little Charlie and the Nitecats
J. J. Malone
Troyce Key and the Rhythm Rockers
Charlie Musselwhite
Tom Mc Farland
Imam Omar Shariff
The House Rockers
Mark Naftalin’s R and B Revue
Dr. Wild Willie Moore
Mississippi Johnny Waters
Sonny Rhodes
Sugar Pie DeSanto
Second Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 1, 1982
John Lee Hooker
Ron Thompson and the Resistors
Buddy Ace
BBQ Barnes
Francis Clay
Sonny Lane
Little Frankie Lee
Sid Morris
Mississippi Johnny Waters
Third Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 7, 1983
Koko Taylor and the Chicago Blues All Stars
The Oakland All-Stars
The Broadway Blues Band with John “Broadway” Tucker
Roy Rogers
R. B. Fire
Fourth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 12, 1984
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown
The Chris Cain Band
Luther Tucker All Stars Blues Revue
Ms.Maxine Howard
Little John Chrisley
Fifth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Sunday, May 12, 1985
Bo Diddley with the Rat Band and Lady Bo
Lady Bianca Thornton
Nick Gravenites
Ms. Maxine Howard
Johnny Heartsman
Little John Chrisley and the Hair Of The Dog
Sixth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Sunday, May 11, 1986
John Lee Hooker and the Coast To Coast Blues Band
with Roy Rogers and Michael Osborn- guitars; Kenny Baker-Sax; John Missocco, bass; and Tim Michael, Drums
The Bobby Murray Band
Lady Bianca Thornton
The Rat Band with Tim Kiehatsu
Little Frankie Lee
Little John Chrisley and the Hair Of The Dog
Seventh Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Sunday, May 10, 1987
Katie Webster
Nitecry
Lady Bianca Thornton
(HELP! This is all we have of that year’s lineup. Ted Gehrke lost his booking book for that year and the poster is not in any of our files! DOES ANY ONE REMEMBER? REWARDS! Call Ted Gehrke at 408-924-6262)
Eighth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Sunday, May 8, 1988
Buddy Guy
Lady Bianca Thornton
The Bobby Murray Band with Maurice Mc Kinnies and Vivian Irvine
Andy Just and the Shapes
Little John Chrisley
Beau Kane’s Blues Train
Ninth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Sunday, May 7, 1989
Otis Rush
Johnny Heartsman
Earl “Good Rockin” Brown
Lady Bianca Thornton
Nitecry
The John Garcia Blues Band
Tenth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Sunday May 6, 1990
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown
Johnny Heartsman
Lady Bianca Thornton
Nitecry
Madylan Rose
Joe Louis Walker and the Bosstalkers
Eleventh Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Sunday, May 5, 1991
Slide Guitar Shootout
Johnnie Shines with Kent Duchine
**Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings
John Mooney
Robert Lowery with Virgil Thrasher
Nitecry
The Back to Back Blues Band
**Roy Rogers, booking consultant
Twelfth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Sunday, May 17, 1992
Harmonica Heaven
Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers
The Junior Watson/ Lynwood Slim Blues Band
The Bobby Murray Band
Andy Just and the Shapes
The Gary Smith Blues Band
Little John Chrisley
Ginny Sakellar
Thirteenth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Sunday, May 2, 1993
Women and the Blues
La Vern Baker
The Debbie Davies Blues Band
Taylor P. Collins
Vala Cupp
Liz Fisher
Beverly Stovall
Lady Bianca Thornton
Nancy Wright
The Great Nitecry (On Stage for 4 Hours!!)
Fourteenth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, April 24, 1994 (RAINED OUT)
Little Charlie and the Nitecats
Zakiya Hooker
Smokey Wilson
The Johnny Nocturne Band with Brenda Boykin
W. H. A. T. (Wedemeyer, Hayes and Tarsey)
Fourteenth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 14, 1994
Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings
Sista Monica
Zakiya Hooker
The Johnny Nocturne Band with Brenda Boykin
W. H. A. T. (Wedemeyer, Hayes and Tarsey)
Fifteenth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 13, 1995
Jimmy Rogers and the Chicago Blues All-Stars
Johnnie Johnson (backed by the Tommy Castro Band)
Sista Monica
Mark Hummell and the Blues Survivors
The Tommy Castro Band
Sixteenth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 18, 1996
Lowell Folson with the Kevin Coggins Band
Johnnie Johnson (backed by the Tommy Castro Band)
Pam Hawkins
James Armstrong
The Tommy Castro Band
The Elmer Lee Thomas Blues Revue
Seventeenth Annual Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 10, 1997
The Texas Blues
The Smokin’ Joe Kubek Band with Bnois King
Lou Ann Barton
Angela Strehli
Derek O’Brien
Antone’s House Band
Pete Mayes
Kelly Joe Phelps
Eighteenth Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 9, 1998
Great Guitars
R. L. Burnside with Kenny Brown
The Tommy Castro Band
Eddie King and the Swampbees
Deborah Coleman
Barry Levinson with Sherry Pruitt and Edward Earl Thomas
The Ray Bailey Band
Nineteenth Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 8, 1999
Son Seals (backed by the Sammy Varela Band)
Howard and the White Boys
Chris Cain
Sugar Pie DeSanto
Rusty Zinn
Terry Hanck and the Soul Rockers
Twentieth Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 13, 2000
Bo Diddley with the Debby Hastings Band
The Tommy Castro Band
Sista Monika
Jimmy Thackery and The Drivers
Murali Coryell
Jimmy D. Lane
The Jimmy Dewrence Blues Band
Twenty-first Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 12, 2001
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown
Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings
The Smokin Joe Kubek Band with Bnois King
Anson Funderburgh and The Rockets with Sam Myers
The Imperial Crowns
The Kaye Bohler Blues Band
Twenty-second Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 11, 2002
The Tommy Castro Band
Magic Slim and The Teardrops
E.C. Scott and Smoke
Corby Yates
Mighty Mo Rodgers
The Cathy Lemons – Johnny Ace Blues Band
Twenty-third Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 11, 2002
Bernard Allison
Sista Monica
Corby Yates
Blue Monday – with Ron E. Beck, Chris Cain, Clifford Coulter, and Danny Hull
Rene Solis and the Persuaders featuring Gary Smith, with special guest, Essra Mohawk
The Shane Dwight Band
Twenty-fourth Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 8, 2004
Canned Heat
Otis Taylor
Lady Bianca
The J. C. Smith Band
The Shane Dwight Band
Ron Hacker and the Hacksaws
Twenty-fifth Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 14th, 2005
Etta James and the Roots Band
The Tommy Castro Band
Chris Cain
Craig Horton
The Lara Price Band
David Jacobs-Strain
Twenty-sixth Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday May 13th, 2006
Great Guitars 2
Magic Slim and the Teardrops
Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings
The Craig Horton Band with special guest Rusty Zinn
The Debbie Davies Band
Johnny A
The Daniel Castro Band
Twenty-seventh Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 12th, 2007
Buddy Guy
Sista Monica
Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers
Jason Ricci and New Blood
The J.C. Smith Band
The Lara Price Band
Twenty-eighth Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 10th, 2008
The Robert Cray Band
Koko Taylor and her Blues Machine
Sonny Landreth
The Smokin’ Joe Kubeck Band Ft. Bnois King
The Shane Dwight Band
Maxx Cabello Jr.
Twenty-ninth Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 9th, 2009
The Derek Trucks Band
The Tommy Castro Band ft. Chris Cain
Lurrie Bell
The Candye Cain Band ft. Laura Chavez
The Bay Area Blues Society Caravan of Allstars
John Wedemeyer and Friends
Thirtieth Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, May 8th, 2010
Otis Taylor
Bettye LaVette
Metro Fountain Blues All-Stars
Sista Monica
Jason Ricci & The New Blood
Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Thirty-First Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
Roomfil of Blues
Tommy Castro with special guests Guitar Shorty, Rod Piazza and Sista Monica
The Guitar Shorty Band
The Metro Fountain Blues Festival All-Stars
Thirty-Second Annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival
Saturday, July 14th, 2012
Elvin Bishop
CANNED HEAT featuring Fito de la Parra, Harvey Mandel, Larry Taylor, and and Dale Spalding
Ruthie Foster
The Chicago Blues Guitar Shootout with Lurrie Bell and John Primer
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