“Farther Up the Road”, Bobby “Blue” Bland, 1957, Don Robey and Joe Medwick Veasey. #1 US R&B, #43 Billboard Hot 100. Dave Marsh’s Heart of Rock & Soul #333.

Thing I was curious about, is Bland’s nickname. “Blue”. What I wonder about is, just how was it his nickname? Was it as simple as, his friends would call him “Blue”? Hey, Blue, I heard your new record yesterday, great stuff. That would be straightforward. But as far as I can tell, his records didn’t get sold as either Blue Bland records or Bobby Blue records. They were either Bobby Bland records or Bobby “Blue” Bland records. So, not the same kind of deal where Gary “U.S.” Bonds’ singles were sold sometimes as just by “U.S. Bonds”. Was “Blue” a nickname that he used at all, or just one that he sort of generally had? It’s not important. But I wasn’t there, so I don’t know.