Red Archibald Biography

San Francisco-based Red Archibald is a master of the harmonica. He has led his own group, Red Archibald & the Internationals, since 1980. He also has led a group called the Amsterdam Allstars. For a time he performed with blues greats Champion Jack Dupree and Memphis Slim.With the Internationals, he put out two albums through Blue Tone Records: It Just Won’t Go Away and West Coast Soul Stew. Beginning in the late ’70s, the harmonica player has performed with numerous other artists, among them Taj Mahal, Coke Escovedo, Elvin Bishop, Marty Balin, Freddie Roulette, and Luther Tucker. During the early ’80s, Archibald traveled to Europe, where he remained for almost a decade. He devoted more than 300 nights annually to performing, with the majority of shows held in Belgium, Holland, and Germany. Battling addiction problems, Archibald returned to California at the end of the decade. Rather than jump back into the music scene, he dealt with his substance abuse first before assembling a new group of musicians as the Internationals.