Lester Kinsey; Bluesman Influenced Music of His 3 Sons

Lester “Big Daddy” Kinsey, a blues singer-guitarist and influential patriarch of his sons’ band now known as the Kinsey Report, has died at the age of 74.

Kinsey died Tuesday in Gary, Ind., of prostate cancer.

Born in Pleasant Grove, Miss., and raised in Indiana, Kinsey could play guitar by age 6 and as a teenager became a harmonica player with the Gary band Soul Brothers.

A disciple of Muddy Waters, Kinsey rooted his instrumentals and gravel-voiced singing in Delta and Chicago blues styles.

“Whether he sings of social ills or belts more traditional lowdown themes, Kinsey does it with the measured respect of an elder statesman,” a Houston reviewer wrote in 1996.

His albums included “Bad Situation” in 1985, “Can’t Let Go” in 1990 and “Ramblin’ Man” in 1995. But his career highlight album was the 1993 “I Am the Blues,” dedicated to Waters, on which Kinsey was backed by other bluesmen such as Pinetop Perkins, Buddy Guy, James Cotton and Sugar Blue.

Kinsey’s greater legacy may have been his musical influence on his three sons--singer and guitarist Donald, drummer Ralph and bassist Kenneth.

With their friend Dave Miller on second guitar, they formed the Kinsey Report in 1984 and toured and recorded, frequently with their father.

The generation fusion produced a “one size fits all” blues style, with the patriarch’s traditional blues updated by his sons’ layering on tinges of rock, jazz and reggae.

“Back in my day, traditional was enough. I could get by. But I think people are demanding more now,” Kinsey said in 1999, quite pleased with the road on which he had set his boys.

He put a guitar in Donald’s hands when the child was 5, and provided similar training for the others.

Billed as Big Daddy and His Fabulous Sons, the four Kinseys played Elks lodges and community events on the edges of Chicago on Friday and Saturday nights as the boys were growing up. They were frequently the first blacks to play local hotel clubs.

On Sunday mornings, they did a live radio gospel broadcast and performed at grandfather Lester Kinsey’s church, the Powerhouse Church of God in Christ. Big Daddy’s minister father might have called the blues “devil music,” but he knew his offspring could draw a congregation.

In recent years, the four Kinseys made several appearances in the Los Angeles area, including performances at the Lighthouse Cafe, the Music Machine, B.B. King’s Blues Club at Universal CityWalk and the Long Beach Blues Festival.