March 16, 2005 -- Mississippi bluesman Little Milton will perform at Delta Blues Symposium XI: Imagining the Delta, sponsored by the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

The concert will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 7, in the auditorium of the new Student Union. The event is free and open to the public.

Known as an excellent all-around electric bluesman, Milton has often been compared to B.B. King — as well as Bobby "Blue" Bland — for the way his particular style combines soul, blues, and R&B, a combination that helped him become one of the biggest-selling bluesmen of the 1960s.Since his 1953 debut on Sun Records, Milton has maintained a steadily active recording career.

James Milton Campbell was born in 1934 in Inverness, Miss., and grew up in Greenville. His father was a local blues musician. Growing up listening to the Grand Ole Opry radio program, Milton was playing guitar by age 12. He eventually caught the attention of R&B great Ike Turner, who was also a talent scout for Sam Phillips at Sun.

In 1958 he moved to St. Louis and broke into stardom in 1965 with "We're Gonna Make It," which hit number one on the R&B charts. Other R&B top 10 singles have included "Who's Cheating Who?," "Grits Ain't Groceries," "If Walls Could Talk," "Baby I Love You," and "Feel So Bad."

Milton developed his studio sound at Stax Records in Memphis, where he added horn and string sections and spotlighted. In the early 1970s he produced hits like "Annie Mae's Cafe," "Little Bluebird," "That's What Love Will Make You Do," and "Walkin' the Back Streets and Cryin'.” In the 1980s he debuted the song that would become his anthem, "The Blues Is Alright."

Little Milton has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the W.C. Handy 1988 Blues Entertainer of the Year. He was also inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in same year. He currently has out at least 5 different collectible albums and more than eight self-made albums.

Funding and other assistance has been provided by the Department of Art, Department of History, Department of Theatre, Department of Music, Heritage Studies Ph.D. Program, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Office of Diversity Initiatives, and Lecture~Concert Series.