Episode Details

Before the stage lights and the wailing guitar, there was an accounting textbook. One of the blues' greatest figures started with plans for a respectable career in numbers before the pull of music proved too strong to resist.

This episode traces the unlikely path from studying balance sheets to bending notes, exploring how a business-minded upbringing shaped a performer who understood the music industry as well as any executive — and played circles around all of them.

• He studied accounting before abandoning a conventional career for the blues
• His business sense made him one of the few blues musicians to maintain financial stability
• He became one of the most influential guitarists in blues history
• His live performances were legendary for their emotional intensity and technical mastery