Louis Collins was born in
Indianola, Mississippi, United States. Despite his early interest in
country music, Collins family relocated in 1946 to
Chicago,
Illinois, where he acquired his first guitar as a present from his older brother, McKinley. In 1972, Mr. Bo released "Plenty Fire Below" on the Gold Top label, which he co-owned along with
Lee Rogers. He followed this with a performance with his backing band, as part of a Detroit blues package, at the 1973
Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. In 1993, Mr. Bo traveled to Europe for the first time and appeared at the Blues Estafette in the Netherlands. In 1995, he returned to the recording studio for the first time in over 20 years to record the album,
If Trouble Was Money, for Blue Suit Records. He had been granted the Detroit Blues Society Lifetime Achievement Award earlier the same year. Four of his unreleased tracks were issued by Relic on
Three Shades of Blues, which also featured material by
Eddie Kirkland and Bennie McCain and the Ohio Untouchables. ==Discography==