The Pete Welding collection was compiled by leading blues and Jazz journalist and record producer Pete Welding throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Welding had a long and diverse career in which he wrote liner notes for 300 albums by everyone from Shuggie Otis to Frank Sinatra, helped run record companies like Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Records, and worked with some of the most famous blues musicians of all time including Muddy Waters, Son House, and Honeyboy Edwards—all of whom also have recordings at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. The collection includes recordings of interviews and music, as well as lots of great photos. In this post you’ll read about the life and career of Pete Welding with links to some of the music he produced, and see photos of Big Joe Williams, Yusuf Lateef, Charlie Musselwhite, and other musical pioneers.