Ross's blues style has been compared to that of John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson (I). His recordings for Sun Records in the 1950s include "The Boogie Disease" and "Chicago Breakdown". Within the lyrics of "The Boogie Disease", Ross notably sang "I may get better / but I'll never get well".
Ross was a bluesman of Cherokee origin and exuberant one-man band. He learned drums and harmonica at the age of nine and first appeared in public in 1938. Because of the knowledge of the medicine of his ancestors, he was posted in the military hospital while in the army. After the Second World War, he became "Doctor" and set up his band which played throughout the Delta and on various radio stations.
In 1951 Ross's records began to get airplay in Mississippi and Arkansas. He recorded with Chess Records and Sun with a group that included folk instruments, such as the washboard. In 1954 Ross moved to the Detroit area and began working for General Motors in Flint, Michigan. He recorded some singles with Fortune Records, including "Cat Squirrel" and "Industrial Boogie". He recorded an album issued by Testament Records and toured with the American Folk Blues Festival in Europe in 1965. ("Cat's Squirrel" (sic) was covered by the supergroup Cream on their debut album "Fresh Cream"). Ross recorded an album for Blue Horizon while he was in London and worked with Ornament Records in Germany in 1972. Ross and his music were popular in Europe, more so than in his home country. Ross won a Grammy for his appearance on the 1981 album Various - Rare Blues (The Takoma Blues Series) - Previously Unreleased Blues Recordings From The Collection Of Norman Dayron and subsequently enjoyed a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim towards the end of his career.
He died in 1993, at the age of 67, and was buried in Flint, Michigan.
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Doctor Ross among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
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By Jason Ankeny
Isaiah "Doc" Ross was a throwback to a bygone era; a true one-man band, he played harmonica, acoustic guitar, bass drum, and hi-hat simultaneously, creating a mighty racket harking back to the itinerant country-blues players wandering the Delta region during the earlier years of the 20th century. Born Charles Isaiah Ross on October 21, 1925 in Tunica, Mississippi, he took early inspiration from the music of Robert Johnson, Blind Boy Fuller, and Sonny Boy Williamson I; primarily a harpist -- hence his nickname "The Harmonica Boss" -- he only added the other instruments in his arsenal in order to play a USO show while a member of the Army during World War II. (The "Doc" moniker was acquired because he carried his harmonicas in a doctor's bag.) Upon his release from the military, Ross settled in Memphis, where he became a popular club fixture as well as the host of his own radio show on station WDIA; during his club residency he was witness to a number of brutal murders, however, and swore off appearances in such venues during the later years of his life. During the early '50s, Ross recorded his first sides -- among them "Chicago Breakdown" -- for labels including Sun and Chess; in 1954 he settled in Flint, Michigan, where he went to work as a janitor for General Motors, a position he held until retiring. In 1965 he cut his first full-length LP, Call the Doctor, and that same year mounted his first European tour; as the years passed Ross performed live with decreasing frequency, however, and was infamous for backing out of shows to catch his beloved Detroit Tigers on television. Upon winning a Grammy for his 1981 album Rare Blues, he experienced a career resurgence, and played festival dates to great acclaim prior to his death on May 28, 1993.