Happy New Year!
1874 Henry Thomas* 1)
1884 Jim Jackson* 1)
1885 Papa Charlie
Jackson* 1)
1890 Charley Jordan*
1885- Funny Papa
Smith*/+ 1)
1940
1895 Oscar "Buddy"
Woods* 1)
1895 Trixie Smith* 1)
1896 Arthur "Blind"
Blake* 1)
1896 Tommy Johnson*
1)
1905 Ed Bell* 1)
1906 Al Broussard*
1918 Johnny "Man"
Young*
1921 Big Jack
Reynolds* 1)
1923 Sydney Maiden* 1)
1934 Bishop
Dready Manning* 1)
1939 Bob Stroger* 1)
1941 Barry Goldberg*
1942 Mighty Mo
Rodgers* 1)
1950 Bernd Kleinow*
1)
1950 Omar Kent Dykes*
1)
1950 Henry Thomas+ 1)
1951 Hugh Holmes
(Professor Harp)* 1)
1952 Al Copley*
1953 Tampa Blue*
1954 Alex Schultz* 1)
1958 Carlos del Junco*
1)
1960 Ed Bell+ 1)
1962 Tommy McClennan+
1)
1964 Ruthie Foster* 1)
1967 Lazer Lloyd*
1980 Matt
S. Force*
1984 Alexis Korner+
1988 Frank Stokes*
2001 Al Broussard+
2014 Ernest "Rockin'
Tabby" Thomas+
2015 Jeff Golub+
Bo Weavil Jackson 1)
Buddy Boy Hawkins )
"Stovepipe No. 1"
Sam Jones *before 1900
Tom Freitag*
Happy Birthday/R.I.P.
Teil 2
Am 01. Januar habe ich auch all die Musiker eingefügt, bei denen mir der Geburtstag bzw. der Todestag nicht bekannt ist. Deswegen die Fülle hier.
Omar Kent Dykes *1950
Omar & the Howlers sind eine 1973 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi gegründete Bluesband, die später nach Austin, Texas zog. Gegründet wurden sie vom Gitarristen und Sänger Kent Dykes.[1]
Bandgeschichte
Die Band wurde 1973 vom 1950 in McComb, Mississippi, geborenen Gitarristen „Omar“ Kent Dykes gegründet. Seine ersten musikalischen Erfahrungen machte dieser mit 12 Jahren und als er in seinen 20ern stand, gründete er eine Band, die sich schon bald „The Howlers“ nannte. Sie waren eine beliebte Partyband und spielten „R & B und sogar gelegentlich Polkas und Western-Swing-Songs“.[2] Zu dieser Zeit gab sich Dykes auch den Vornamen Omar und entwickelte seinen Hang zum Blues. Beeinflusst wurde er dabei vom Stil Bo Diddleys, in dessen Heimatstadt auch er geboren war [3]. 1976 übersiedelte die Band nach Austin, wo damals eine blühende Musikszene beheimatet war. Nach einiger Zeit löste sich die Band auf, da manche Mitglieder das Gefühl hatten, nicht von Musik leben zu können.
Dykes blieb in Austin und bei der Musik und behielt den Bandnamen [1]. Mit einer neuen Band entstand 1980 das erste Album Big Leg Beat. Es dauerte bis 1987, bis die Band bei einem großen Label unterschrieb und mit Hard Times In The Land Of Plenty einen ersten überregionalen Erfolg hatte. Inzwischen hat die Band etwa 20 Alben aufgenommen und tourt regelmäßig, auch in Europa. Der einzige Fixpunkt im Line-up ist Omar Dykes, der immer wieder verschiedene Musiker um sich versammelt, die „The Howlers“ bilden.
2007 nahm er gemeinsam mit Jimmie Vaughan einen Tribut an Jimmy Reed auf (On The Jimmy Reed Highway), gemeinsam mit Vaughan trat er auch bei Austin City Limits auf.
Omar Kent Dykes (born Kent Dykes Giggedy, 1950, McComb, Mississippi, United States) is an American blues guitarist and singer, living in Austin, Texas. In 1973 he formed the band, Omar & the Howlers. The band plays electric Texas blues, rock and roll and blues-rock. Dykes has also had a successful career as a solo artist, and regularly toured European countries.
Among his solo albums are Blues Bag from 1991, and Muddy Springs Road from 1994.
Among his solo albums are Blues Bag from 1991, and Muddy Springs Road from 1994.
Austin, besides being the Texas state capital, is home to much of the best in American roots music. Since the 1970s, gutsy blues players, renegade country pickers, and raw-voiced rockers have mixed & matched their musical styles in Austin ’s thriving club scene. And that’s where Kent “Omar” Dykes holds court too.
He hails from McComb, Miss. , a town with the distinction of being home turf for Bo Didley. Omar started playing guitar at seven, took to hanging out in edge-of-town juke joints at 12, joined his first band at 13 – the next youngest player being 50 – and started honing his music. He was still Kent Dykes in those days, but by the time he hit 20 he had hooked up with a crazy party band, called the Howlers, looking back, he says, “We had two saxophone players on baritone and tenor who wore Henry Kissinger masks. They were called the Kissinger Brothers. Not on every song, mind you. Sometimes it was Dolly Parton playing saxophone. Or Cher. And we had these cardboard cutouts from record stores for skits.” They even did fake ads for Sunshine Collard Greens and Howlers’ Fried Chicken – “for that old-fashioned taste that tastes just like Grandma.”
It was a crazy time, but a lot of fun too, with the rough & tumble Howlers playing R&B, Rock & Roll and even the occasional polka and western swing tunes. But Kent Dykes mostly just wanted to play blues. And by then the other Howlers had taken to calling him “Omar Overtone” because he tended to let his guitar feedback on stage while he dropped to the floor to spin on his back in a spontaneous, Big & Tall Store take on break-dancing. As he says, those performances were “sometimes fueled by, a-hmm, alcohol.”
By 1976, the Howlers decided to move and relocate to Austin, where such clubs as the Soap Creek Saloon, the Broken Spoke, the Armadillo World Headquarters and Antone’s had created a haven for renegade music. “We worked out of Austin for about a year,” Omar says, “but a lot of the guys decided they weren’t cut out to play music full-time for the rest of their lives. They headed back to Mississippi and Arkansas , and I decided to keep the name. Nobody objected.” And as Dykes says, Omar & the Howlers works better than Kent & the Howlers. Of such decisions are careers made.
Fronting a new lineup, Dykes honed a band capable of the sort of raw, rowdy, rambunctious blues that made Howlin’ Wolf and Hound Dog Taylor legends. Omar's first release was Big Leg Beat in 1980, shortly followed by I Told You So 1984, earning Omar & the Howlers consecutive Austin band-of-the-year awards in 1985-1986. Hard Time in the Land of Plenty followed in 1987.
But really that was just the beginning as Omar followed up with another twelve albums in the next fourteen years; Wall Of Pride 1988, Monkey Land 1988, Live at the Paradiso, Courts Of Lulu, Blues Bag all in 1992. Blues Bag 1992 was Omar's first solo album followed by a second solo album, Muddy Springs Road in 1995. Omar also released World Wide Open in 1995. Next up was Southern Style 1996, Swingland 1998 followed with two releases; Live At The Opera House and The Screaming Cat both in 2000. But that's not all; Omar came on with Big Delta in 2001 and Boogie Man in 2003.
On Boogie Man, Omar brought in songwriter friends he’s made since he left Mississippi for Texas 27 years earlier. “Co-writing at that point in my life was a lot of fun. To me it’s like free songs. These are ones that I wouldn’t have had the patience to sit down and write on my own. But when you get with friends and drink coffee, tell jokes and stories, and then write something, it always turns out to be something different than what you might have done on your own.”
Plus it’s not exactly heavy lifting to work with such Texas icons as Ray Wyle Hubbard, Darden Smith, Alejandro Escovedo and Stephen Bruton.
Besides the songwriting collaborators, Omar also brought some friends into the recording studio, including guitarists Chris Duarte and Jon Dee Graham (True Believers), Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble, George Rains (Sir Douglas Quintet and house drummer on scores of Antone’s label releases) and his frequent running-mates Terry Bozzio (Missing Persons, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa) and Malcolm “Papa Mali” Welbourne.
In 2006 Omar was back with more and did another four albums in the next four years; Bamboozled 2006, On The Jimmy Reed Hiway (with Jimmie Vaughn) 2007 (with an episode on Austin City Limits - see Photos/Videos section), Chapel Hill (with Nalle, Omar and Magic Slim) 2008 and then in 2009 with Big Town Playboy.
2011 finds Omar tighter, funkier than ever and slated with a great new release in 2012. But Omar always loves to play live; “I still do 150-160 shows a year, and with travel days that adds up to a lot of time away from home. It always seems like we’re on a plane headed somewhere.”
Be certain to check Omar's calendar - he will be playing somewhere close laying down that beautiful sound we have all come to love and appreciate.
Title track from the album "Big Town Playboy" released in 2009.
Omar Kent Dykes(Vocals, Guitar), Lou Ann Barton(Vocals), Jimmie Vaughan(Guitar, Vocals), Gary Clark, Jr.(Guitar, Harmonica), Derek O'Brien(Guitar), James Cotton(Harmonica), Lazy Lester(Harmonica), Ronnie James(Bass), Wes Starr(Drums)
Omar Kent Dykes(Vocals, Guitar), Lou Ann Barton(Vocals), Jimmie Vaughan(Guitar, Vocals), Gary Clark, Jr.(Guitar, Harmonica), Derek O'Brien(Guitar), James Cotton(Harmonica), Lazy Lester(Harmonica), Ronnie James(Bass), Wes Starr(Drums)
Oscar "Buddy" Woods *1895
Oscar "Buddy" Woods (c. 1895 – December 14, 1955)[1][2] was an American Texas blues guitarist, singer and songwriter.
Woods, who was an early blues pioneer in lap steel, slide guitar playing, recorded thirty-five tracks between 1930 and 1940. He recorded solo and as part of the duo, the Shreveport Home Wreckers, and with a six/seven piece group, the Wampus Cats. Early in his career he backed Jimmie Davis on some of his recordings. Woods's best known song was "Lone Wolf Blues", from which came his billing as 'The Lone Wolf'.[1]
Life and career
He was born around Natchitoches, Louisiana, United States, with the birth year variously listed as somewhere between 1892 and 1900. He relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana around 1925, where he started to work as a street musician and played for tips at juke joints.[1] Various sources claim that he learned the rudiments of playing a bottleneck slide guitar after watching an Hawaiian music ensemble, who toured Louisiana in the early part of the 1920s.[3] Woods teamed up with another guitar player, Ed Schaffer, and played billed as the Shreveport Home Wreckers at The Blue Goose Grocery and Market, which was a speakeasy in Shreveport.[4] In May 1930, the duo recorded for Victor Records in Memphis, Tennessee.[1]
In May 1932, the Shreveport Home Wreckers backed Jimmie Davis on four sides recorded in Dallas, Texas. They also recorded another two tracks on their own, and the released single saw them billed as 'Eddie and Oscar'. The significance of this mixed-race recording session spilled over into a joint tour - a unique sociological situation at that time in the South.[1]
Woods next recorded for Decca in March 1936 in New Orleans.[1] The tracks included Woods best known piece, "Lone Wolf Blues," and his first take of the self-penned "Don't Sell It, Don't Give It Away."[3] The releases sold well, and by the time Woods recorded again in October 1937, the Shreveport Home Wreckers had swelled in numbers to become the Wampus Cats. They backed both Woods, and a female singer and pianist, Kitty Gray,[5] on several tracks recorded in 1937 and the following year for Vocalion.[1]
In October 1940, Woods made his final five track recording for the Library of Congress.[1] Following the session, John Lomax wrote: "Oscar (Buddy) Woods, Joe Harris and Kid West are all professional Negro guitarists and singers of Texas Avenue, Shreveport.. The songs I have recorded are among those they use to cajole nickels and dimes from the pockets of listeners."[6] Local records suggest that Woods continued to live in Shreveport, and after his recording career was over, he played again as a street musician and at dances.[1]
Woods died in Shreveport in December 1955.[1]
Style and legacy
Woods played his guitar flat on his lap, in a similar manner to the Hawaiians, using a broken bottleneck slide technique. Lead Belly also used a slide technique, but held his guitar in the normal manner. It is suggested that the popularity of slide guitar playing in the Mississippi delta at that time, may have arisen from the appearance of Hawaiian musicians at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.[7][8]
The Allmusic music journalist, Uncle Dave Lewis, noted of Woods, "in the style of lap steel, bottleneck blues slide guitar; some experts believe he may have been the primary force behind the creation of this whole genre".[1]
Woods guitar playing techiques were passed onto his protégé, Black Ace, who was approximately fifteen years younger than Woods, and had played with Woods around Shreveport.[6][7] The compilation album mentioned below, included both Woods and Black Ace tracks.[2]
The Shreveport Home Wreckers track, "Flying Crow Blues", was recorded in 1932. Robert Johnson used one set of its lyrics, almost word for word, for the final verse of his song, "Love in Vain" (1937).
Papa Charlie Jackson *1885 +1938
Papa Charlie Jackson (* um 1885 in New Orleans; † 1938 in Chicago) war ein früher US-amerikanischer Blues-Musiker. Er spielte eine Banjo-Gitarre und die Ukulele. Seine ersten Aufnahmen entstanden 1924. Die Einzelheiten seines Lebens liegen größtenteils im Dunkeln, doch ist er wahrscheinlich um 1885 in New Orleans geboren und 1938 in Chicago gestorben.
Jackson trat in den frühen 1920ern in Medizinshows rund um Chicago auf. Seine Aufnahmen Papa's Lawdy Lawdy Blues und Airy Man Blues (Paramount August 1924) waren die ersten Aufzeichnungen eines männlichen Blues-Interpreten. Sein erfolgreichstes Stück dürfte Salty Dog Blues (Paramount Mitte 1926) sein. Er machte auch Aufnahmen mit Ida Cox, Hattie McDaniel und Ma Rainey.
In den späten 1920ern erreichte seine Popularität ihren Höhepunkt. Mit Blind Blake nahm er Papa Charlie and Blind Blake Talk About It (ein Stück in zwei Teilen) auf. Später wechselte Jackson von Paramount Records zu Okeh und machte mit Big Bill Broonzy Aufnahmen, welche aber nie veröffentlicht wurden.
Papa Charlie Jackson (November 10, 1887 – May 7, 1938)[1] was an early American bluesman and songster who accompanied himself with a banjo guitar, a guitar, or a ukulele. His recording career began in 1924.[2] Much of his life remains a mystery, but his draft card lists his birthplace as New Orleans, Louisiana, and his death certificate states that he died in Chicago, Illinois on May 7, 1938.[3]
Career
Born William Henry Jackson,[4] he originally performed in minstrel and medicine shows.[5] From the early 1920s into the 1930s, Jackson played frequent club dates in Chicago, and was noted for busking at Chicago's Maxwell Street Market.[2] In August 1924, he recorded the commercially-successful "Airy Man Blues" and "Papa's Lawdy Lawdy Blues" for Paramount Records. One of his following tracks, "Salty Dog Blues", became his most famous song. Among his recordings are several in which he accompanied classic female blues singers such as Ida Cox, Hattie McDaniel, and Ma Rainey.[2]
Blues writer Bruce Eder says that Jackson achieved "a musical peak of sorts in September of 1929 when he got to record with his longtime idol, Blind (Arthur) Blake, often known as the king of ragtime guitar during this period. 'Papa Charlie and Blind Blake Talk About It' parts one and two are among the most unusual sides of the late '20s, containing elements of blues jam session, hokum recording, and ragtime".[3] A few more recordings for the Paramount label followed in 1929 and 1930.[5] In 1934 he recorded for Okeh Records, and the following year he recorded with Big Bill Broonzy.[5] Altogether, Jackson recorded 66 sides during his career.
Legacy
Jackson was an influential figure in blues music, the first self-accompanied blues musician to make records.[3] He was one of the first musicians of the "Hokum" genre,[6] which uses comic, often sexually suggestive lyrics and lively, danceable rhythms.[7] He wrote or was the first to record several songs that became blues standards, including "Spoonful" and "Salty Dog".[8] Nonetheless, he has received little attention from blues historians.[6]
Jackson's "Shake That Thing" was covered by Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions in 1964. "Loan Me Your Heart" appeared on The Wildparty Sheiks eponymous album in 2002. The Carolina Chocolate Drops recorded "Your Baby Ain't Sweet Like Mine" on their Grammy Award winning 2010 album, Genuine Negro Jig, and often played the song in interviews after its release.
In 1973 Jackson's song "Shake That Thing" was briefly featured in the Sanford and Son episode, "The Blind Mellow Jelly Collection". Fred, played by Redd Foxx, could be seen dancing and singing to it at the beginning of the episode.
Trixie Smith *1895
Trixie Smith (* 1895 in Atlanta, Georgia; † 21. September 1943 in New York City) war eine US-amerikanische Blues-Sängerin.
Nach ihrem Studium in Alabama zog Trixie Smith 1915 nach New York. Sie arbeitete in Minstrel-Shows und im T. O. B. A. Circuit. 1922 machte sie ihre ersten Aufnahmen für Black Swan Records, darunter My Man Rocks Me With One Steady Roll, angeblich die erste Aufnahme, die den Ausdruck "Rock and Roll" erwähnt. Im gleichen Jahr gewann Smith den ersten Blues-Wettbewerb im Inter-Manhattan Casino in New York mit ihrem Stück Trixie's Blues.
1923 folgten weitere Aufnahmen für Black Swan. 1924–25 machte Smith mit dem Fletcher Henderson Orchestra Aufnahmen für Paramount Records. Sie trat in Musik-Revuen und Broadway-Shows auf. Zwischen 1932 und 1938 spielte sie in vier Filmen mit. Ihre letzte Aufnahmen hatte sie in den Jahren 1938 und 1939.
Als Trixie Smith 1943 in New York starb, war sie weitgehend in Vergessenheit geraten.
Trixie Smith (1895 – September 21, 1943) was an African-American blues singer, recording artist, vaudeville entertainer, and actress. She made four dozen recordings.
Biography
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Smith came from a middle class-background.[1] She attended Selma University in Alabama before moving to New York around 1915.[2] Smith worked in minstrel shows and on the TOBA vaudeville circuit, before making her first recordings for the Black Swan label in 1922.
Amongst these were "My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)" (1922),[3] written by J. Berni Barbour, of historic interest as the first secular recording to reference the phrase "rock and roll".[4] Her record inspired various lyrical elaborations, such as "Rock That Thing" by Lil Johnson and "Rock Me Mama" by Ikey Robinson. Also in 1922, Trixie Smith won first place and a silver cup in a blues singing contest at the Inter-Manhattan Casino in New York, sponsored by dancer Irene Castle, with her song "Trixie's Blues," singing against Alice Leslie Carter, Daisy Martin and Lucille Hegamin.[5] She is most remembered for "Railroad Blues" (1925), a song that featured one of Smith's most inspired vocal performances on record, and "The World Is Jazz Crazy and So Am I" (1925). Both songs feature Louis Armstrong on cornet. She was a highly polished performer, and her records include several outstanding examples of the blues on which she is accompanied by artists such as James P. Johnson, and Freddie Keppard.[6] She recorded with Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra for Paramount Records in 1924–25.
As her career as a blues singer waned, mostly she sustained herself by performing in cabaret revues, and starring in musical revues such as New York Revue (1928) and Next Door Neighbors (1928) at the Lincoln Theatre in Harlem.[7] Smith also appeared in Mae West's short-lived 1931 Broadway effort, The Constant Sinner. Two years later, Smith was elevated to the stage of the Theatre Guild for its production of Louisiana.[8]
She appeared in four movies: God's Step Children (1938), Swing! (1938), Drums o' Voodoo (1934), and The Black King (1932). Two of these films were directed by Oscar Micheaux.[9] She appeared at John H. Hammond's "From Spirituals to Swing" concert in 1938, and recorded seven titles during 1938–1939. Most of her later recordings were with Sidney Bechet for Decca in 1938. In 1939 she cut "No Good Man" with a band including Red Allen and Barney Bigard.[10]
Trixie Smith died in New York in 1943, after a brief illness, aged 48.
Biography
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Smith came from a middle class-background.[1] She attended Selma University in Alabama before moving to New York around 1915.[2] Smith worked in minstrel shows and on the TOBA vaudeville circuit, before making her first recordings for the Black Swan label in 1922.
Amongst these were "My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)" (1922),[3] written by J. Berni Barbour, of historic interest as the first secular recording to reference the phrase "rock and roll".[4] Her record inspired various lyrical elaborations, such as "Rock That Thing" by Lil Johnson and "Rock Me Mama" by Ikey Robinson. Also in 1922, Trixie Smith won first place and a silver cup in a blues singing contest at the Inter-Manhattan Casino in New York, sponsored by dancer Irene Castle, with her song "Trixie's Blues," singing against Alice Leslie Carter, Daisy Martin and Lucille Hegamin.[5] She is most remembered for "Railroad Blues" (1925), a song that featured one of Smith's most inspired vocal performances on record, and "The World Is Jazz Crazy and So Am I" (1925). Both songs feature Louis Armstrong on cornet. She was a highly polished performer, and her records include several outstanding examples of the blues on which she is accompanied by artists such as James P. Johnson, and Freddie Keppard.[6] She recorded with Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra for Paramount Records in 1924–25.
As her career as a blues singer waned, mostly she sustained herself by performing in cabaret revues, and starring in musical revues such as New York Revue (1928) and Next Door Neighbors (1928) at the Lincoln Theatre in Harlem.[7] Smith also appeared in Mae West's short-lived 1931 Broadway effort, The Constant Sinner. Two years later, Smith was elevated to the stage of the Theatre Guild for its production of Louisiana.[8]
She appeared in four movies: God's Step Children (1938), Swing! (1938), Drums o' Voodoo (1934), and The Black King (1932). Two of these films were directed by Oscar Micheaux.[9] She appeared at John H. Hammond's "From Spirituals to Swing" concert in 1938, and recorded seven titles during 1938–1939. Most of her later recordings were with Sidney Bechet for Decca in 1938. In 1939 she cut "No Good Man" with a band including Red Allen and Barney Bigard.[10]
Trixie Smith died in New York in 1943, after a brief illness, aged 48.
Trixie Smith was born in 1895 in Atlanta and move to New York in 1915 where she performed on the traveling African American vaudeville circuit. She made her first recordings for Black Swan in 1922 after winning a prestigious blues singing contest at the Manhattan Casino in New York.
Smith didn't record after 1925 until 1938, when she headed an all-star jazz group including Sidney Bechet and others on one recording session. But she continued to perform in musical revues, on Broadway and in several films. She died in 1943
Lyrics:
I'm so high and so dry,
I'm sailin' in the sky,
Just smoke some gage,
Come around babe,
Jack, I'm mellow.
I'm so high and so dry,
I'm way up in the sky,
The world seems light
And I'm so right,
Jack, I'm mellow.
I'm going to put my nickel in a slot machine
And play my solid sender,
I'm going to strut, peck and Suzie-Q,
Have alone a bender,
I'm so high and so dry,
I'm sailin' in the sky,
I got my roach around
And I can't come down,
Jack, I'm mellow.
I'm so high and so dry,
I'm sailin' in the sky,
Just smoke some gage,
Come around babe,
Jack, I'm mellow.
I'm so high and so dry,
I'm way up in the sky,
The world seems light
And I'm so right,
Jack, I'm mellow.
Smith didn't record after 1925 until 1938, when she headed an all-star jazz group including Sidney Bechet and others on one recording session. But she continued to perform in musical revues, on Broadway and in several films. She died in 1943
Lyrics:
I'm so high and so dry,
I'm sailin' in the sky,
Just smoke some gage,
Come around babe,
Jack, I'm mellow.
I'm so high and so dry,
I'm way up in the sky,
The world seems light
And I'm so right,
Jack, I'm mellow.
I'm going to put my nickel in a slot machine
And play my solid sender,
I'm going to strut, peck and Suzie-Q,
Have alone a bender,
I'm so high and so dry,
I'm sailin' in the sky,
I got my roach around
And I can't come down,
Jack, I'm mellow.
I'm so high and so dry,
I'm sailin' in the sky,
Just smoke some gage,
Come around babe,
Jack, I'm mellow.
I'm so high and so dry,
I'm way up in the sky,
The world seems light
And I'm so right,
Jack, I'm mellow.
Tommy Johnson *unbekannt 1896
Tommy Johnson (* 1896 in Terry, Mississippi; † 1. November 1956 in Crystal Springs, Mississippi) war ein einflussreicher US-amerikanischer Blues-Gitarrist und Sänger. Zusammen mit Son House und Charley Patton war er einer der führenden Musiker des Delta Blues vor Robert Johnson.
Leben
Johnson kam aus einer kinderreichen Familie von Farmern und begann 1910/1911 Gitarre zu spielen. Um 1912/1913 verließ er den Süden Mississippis mit seiner Lebensgefährtin (die gut doppelt so alt war wie er) und ließ sich in Cleveland, Mississippi, nahe der Dockery Plantation, nieder. Dort traf er auf Charley Patton und Willie Brown; beeinflusst von diesen, lernte er hier den Blues zu spielen. Um 1915 kehrte er als geübter Musiker wieder in seine Heimatgegend zurück, wo er den neuen Musikstil verbreitete und seinen eigenen Stil zunehmend verfeinerte. 1916 heiratete er und das Paar ging, gemeinsam mit Tommys Bruder LeDell, wieder zurück ins „Delta“,[Anm. 1] wo Johnson als Sharecropper arbeitete.
Zum Mythos Tommy Johnson gehört nicht nur seine Musik, sondern auch seine akrobatischen Auftritte, seine unzähligen Affären, sein schwerer Alkoholkonsum und nicht zuletzt durch die von ihm selbst in die Welt gesetzte Legende, dass er dem Teufel seine Seele verkauft habe, um den Blues richtig spielen zu können. Diese Legende ging später durch Son House auf Robert Johnson über.
1928 und 1930 nahm Tommy Johnson zwei Serien von Stücken auf. Einige seiner bekanntesten Songs sind der Cool Drink Of Water Blues (den Howlin' Wolf zu I Asked For Water (She Brought Me Gasoline) verarbeitete) und Maggie Campbell (basierend auf Charley Pattons „Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues“ und später von Robert Nighthawk adaptiert).
In seinen späteren Jahren machte sich sein langjähriger schwerer Alkoholismus negativ bemerkbar. Johnson hatte stets schwer getrunken. Dabei hatte er nicht einmal vor geliertem Brennspiritus zurückgescheut, der unter dem Markennamen „Sterno Canned Heat“ in Blechdosen ausgeliefert wird und den er – mit Wasser verdünnt – als billigen Schnapsersatz verwandte. Diesem „Getränk“ setzte Johnson in seinem Canned Heat Blues ein „Denkmal“.
Tommy Johnson starb 1956 durch einen Herzinfarkt bei einem Auftritt. 1986 wurde er in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen.
Rezeption
Zu den Blues-Größen, die von Tommy Johnson beeinflusst wurden, zählen Howlin’ Wolf, Robert Nighthawk, Otis Spann und zahllose andere. Besonders stark war sein Einfluss auf die Band Canned Heat, die sich nach einem seiner Stücke benannte und dessen Sänger Johnsons typischen Falsettgesang adaptierte. Auch das bekannteste Stück der Band, On The Road Again, basiert auf Johnsons Big Road Blues.
Tommy Johnson (1896 – November 1, 1956) was an influential American delta blues musician, who recorded in the late 1920s, and was known for his eerie falsetto voice and intricate guitar playing.[1]
Early life
Johnson was born near Terry, Mississippi, and moved around 1910 to Crystal Springs where he lived for most of his life.[2] He learned to play the guitar and, by 1914, was supplementing his income by playing at local parties with his brothers Major and LeDell. In 1916 he married and moved to Webb Jennings' Plantation near Drew, Mississippi, close to the Dockery Plantation. There he met other musicians including Charlie Patton and Willie Brown.[3]
Career
By 1920 he had become an alcoholic and itinerant musician, based in Crystal Springs but traveling widely around the South, sometimes accompanied by Papa Charlie McCoy. In 1928 he made his first recordings with McCoy for Victor Records.[2] The recordings included "Canned Heat Blues", in which he sang of drinking methanol from the cooking fuel Sterno.[2] The song features the refrain "canned heat, mama, sure, Lord, killing me." The blues group Canned Heat took their name from this song.[2] Johnson's "Big Road Blues" inspired Canned Heat's song, "On the Road Again". A significantly different version of the song appears as "Canned Heat" on the Big Road Blues album by K. C. Douglas.
He recorded two further sessions, in August 1928, and for Paramount Records in December 1929. He did not record again, mistakenly believing that he had signed away his right to record. Some suggest he had been intentionally given this misimpression by some people at Paramount Records. This resulted in a legal settlement with The Mississippi Sheiks who had used Johnson's "Big Road Blues" melody in their successful "Stop and Listen". Johnson was party to the copyright settlement, but was too drunk at the time to understand what he had signed to.[4]
Johnson's recordings established him as the premier Delta blues vocalist of his day, with a powerful voice that could go from a growl to a falsetto. He was also an accomplished guitarist. His style influenced later blues singers such as Robert Nighthawk and Howlin' Wolf,[3] whose song "I Asked for Water (She Brought Me Gasoline)" was based on Johnson's "Cool Water Blues".[2] He was a talented composer, blending fragments of folk poetry and personalized lyrics into set guitar accompaniments to craft striking blues compositions such as "Maggie Campbell".[5]
To enhance his fame, Johnson cultivated a sinister persona. According to his brother LeDell, he claimed to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his mastery of the guitar.[3][6] This story was later also associated with Robert Johnson, to whom Tommy Johnson was unrelated. Tommy Johnson also played tricks with his guitar, playing it between his legs and behind his head, and throwing it in the air while playing.[2]
Johnson remained a popular performer in the Jackson area through the 1930s and 1940s, sometimes performing with Ishman Bracey.[2] He was highly influential on other performers, partly because he was willing to teach his style and his repertoire. Tommy Johnson's influence on local traditions is discussed by David Evans in Tommy Johnson and ''Big Road Blues. Tradition & Creativity in the Folk Blues.[7]
Death
He died of a heart attack after playing at a party in 1956.[2] He is buried in the Warm Springs Methodist Church Cemetery outside of Crystal Springs, Mississippi.[2] In 2001 a headstone was commissioned through the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund, a Mississippi non-profit corporation, by the family of Tommy Johnson and paid for by musician Bonnie Raitt. The large, granite memorial engraved with Johnson's portrait was not placed on Johnson's grave for several years afterward, however, due to an ongoing dispute between Tommy Johnson's family (led by his niece, Vera Johnson Collins), the owners of farm property encircling the cemetery, and the Copiah County Board of Supervisors in regard to a deteriorated road preventing access to the burial site. This issue was resolved in October 2012, when it was announced that the headstone would reach its final destination on October 26.[8] The headstone had been on public display in the Crystal Springs, Mississippi Public Library since being unveiled on October 20, 2001. On the night of Saturday, February 2, 2013, the headstone was desecrated, apparently smashed by a sledge hammer or some similar device.[9]
An annual Tommy Johnson Blues Festival is now held in Crystal Springs, on every third weekend in October. The inaugural edition was held in Jackson and Crystal Springs in 2006.[10]
In fiction
In the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), a character named Tommy Johnson is played by Chris Thomas King. This character describes selling his soul to the devil to play guitar. In the film, Tommy Johnson plays a number of songs originally recorded by blues musician Skip James, and also accompanies the Soggy Bottom Boys, a band consisting of the film's three main protagonists plus Johnson, on "Man of Constant Sorrow". The story of Tommy Johnson selling his soul to the devil was first told by Tommy Johnson's brother, LaDell Johnson, and reported by David Evans in his 1971 biography of Johnson.[6] This legend was subsequently transferred to the blues musician Robert Johnson.
Early life
Johnson was born near Terry, Mississippi, and moved around 1910 to Crystal Springs where he lived for most of his life.[2] He learned to play the guitar and, by 1914, was supplementing his income by playing at local parties with his brothers Major and LeDell. In 1916 he married and moved to Webb Jennings' Plantation near Drew, Mississippi, close to the Dockery Plantation. There he met other musicians including Charlie Patton and Willie Brown.[3]
Career
By 1920 he had become an alcoholic and itinerant musician, based in Crystal Springs but traveling widely around the South, sometimes accompanied by Papa Charlie McCoy. In 1928 he made his first recordings with McCoy for Victor Records.[2] The recordings included "Canned Heat Blues", in which he sang of drinking methanol from the cooking fuel Sterno.[2] The song features the refrain "canned heat, mama, sure, Lord, killing me." The blues group Canned Heat took their name from this song.[2] Johnson's "Big Road Blues" inspired Canned Heat's song, "On the Road Again". A significantly different version of the song appears as "Canned Heat" on the Big Road Blues album by K. C. Douglas.
He recorded two further sessions, in August 1928, and for Paramount Records in December 1929. He did not record again, mistakenly believing that he had signed away his right to record. Some suggest he had been intentionally given this misimpression by some people at Paramount Records. This resulted in a legal settlement with The Mississippi Sheiks who had used Johnson's "Big Road Blues" melody in their successful "Stop and Listen". Johnson was party to the copyright settlement, but was too drunk at the time to understand what he had signed to.[4]
Johnson's recordings established him as the premier Delta blues vocalist of his day, with a powerful voice that could go from a growl to a falsetto. He was also an accomplished guitarist. His style influenced later blues singers such as Robert Nighthawk and Howlin' Wolf,[3] whose song "I Asked for Water (She Brought Me Gasoline)" was based on Johnson's "Cool Water Blues".[2] He was a talented composer, blending fragments of folk poetry and personalized lyrics into set guitar accompaniments to craft striking blues compositions such as "Maggie Campbell".[5]
To enhance his fame, Johnson cultivated a sinister persona. According to his brother LeDell, he claimed to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his mastery of the guitar.[3][6] This story was later also associated with Robert Johnson, to whom Tommy Johnson was unrelated. Tommy Johnson also played tricks with his guitar, playing it between his legs and behind his head, and throwing it in the air while playing.[2]
Johnson remained a popular performer in the Jackson area through the 1930s and 1940s, sometimes performing with Ishman Bracey.[2] He was highly influential on other performers, partly because he was willing to teach his style and his repertoire. Tommy Johnson's influence on local traditions is discussed by David Evans in Tommy Johnson and ''Big Road Blues. Tradition & Creativity in the Folk Blues.[7]
Death
He died of a heart attack after playing at a party in 1956.[2] He is buried in the Warm Springs Methodist Church Cemetery outside of Crystal Springs, Mississippi.[2] In 2001 a headstone was commissioned through the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund, a Mississippi non-profit corporation, by the family of Tommy Johnson and paid for by musician Bonnie Raitt. The large, granite memorial engraved with Johnson's portrait was not placed on Johnson's grave for several years afterward, however, due to an ongoing dispute between Tommy Johnson's family (led by his niece, Vera Johnson Collins), the owners of farm property encircling the cemetery, and the Copiah County Board of Supervisors in regard to a deteriorated road preventing access to the burial site. This issue was resolved in October 2012, when it was announced that the headstone would reach its final destination on October 26.[8] The headstone had been on public display in the Crystal Springs, Mississippi Public Library since being unveiled on October 20, 2001. On the night of Saturday, February 2, 2013, the headstone was desecrated, apparently smashed by a sledge hammer or some similar device.[9]
An annual Tommy Johnson Blues Festival is now held in Crystal Springs, on every third weekend in October. The inaugural edition was held in Jackson and Crystal Springs in 2006.[10]
In fiction
In the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), a character named Tommy Johnson is played by Chris Thomas King. This character describes selling his soul to the devil to play guitar. In the film, Tommy Johnson plays a number of songs originally recorded by blues musician Skip James, and also accompanies the Soggy Bottom Boys, a band consisting of the film's three main protagonists plus Johnson, on "Man of Constant Sorrow". The story of Tommy Johnson selling his soul to the devil was first told by Tommy Johnson's brother, LaDell Johnson, and reported by David Evans in his 1971 biography of Johnson.[6] This legend was subsequently transferred to the blues musician Robert Johnson.
Tommy Johnson - Big Road Blues
Tommy Johnson (1896 -- November 1, 1956) was an influential American delta blues musician, who recorded in the late 1920s, and was known for his eerie falsetto voice and intricate guitar playing.
Johnson was born near Terry, Mississippi, and moved around 1910 to Crystal Springs where he lived for most of his life. He learned to play the guitar and, by 1914, was supplementing his income by playing at local parties with his brothers Major and LeDell. In 1916 he married and moved to Webb Jennings' Plantation near Drew, Mississippi, close to the Dockery Plantation. There he met other musicians including Charlie Patton and Willie Brown.
By 1920 he had become an alcoholic and itinerant musician, based in Crystal Springs but travelling widely around the South, sometimes accompanied by Papa Charlie McCoy. In 1928 he made his first recordings with McCoy for Victor Records. The recordings included "Canned Heat Blues", in which he sang of drinking methanol from the cooking fuel Sterno. The song features the refrain "canned heat, mama, sure, Lord, killing me." The blues group Canned Heat took their name from this song. Johnson's "Big Road Blues" inspired Canned Heat's song, "On the Road Again". A significantly different version of the song appears as "Canned Heat" on the Big Road Blues album by K. C. Douglas.
He recorded two further sessions, in August 1928, and for Paramount Records in December 1929. He did not record again, mistakenly believing that he had signed away his right to record. This resulted in a legal settlement with The Mississippi Sheiks who had used Johnson's "Big Road Blues" melody in their successful "Stop and Listen". Johnson was party to the copyright settlement, but was too drunk at the time to understand what he had signed to.
Johnson's recordings established him as the premier Delta blues vocalist of his day, with a powerful voice that could go from a growl to a falsetto. He was also an accomplished guitarist. His style influenced later blues singers such as Robert Nighthawk and Howlin' Wolf, whose song "I Asked for Water (She Brought Me Gasoline)" was based on Johnson's "Cool Water Blues". He was a talented composer, blending fragments of folk poetry and personalized lyrics into set guitar accompaniments to craft striking blues compositions such as "Maggie Campbell".
To enhance his fame, Johnson cultivated a sinister persona. According to his brother LeDell, he claimed to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his mastery of the guitar. This story was later also associated with Robert Johnson, to whom he was unrelated. Tommy Johnson also played tricks with his guitar, playing it between his legs and behind his head, and throwing it in the air while playing.
Johnson remained a popular performer in the Jackson area through the 1930s and 1940s, sometimes performing with Ishman Bracey. He was highly influential on other performers, partly because he was willing to teach his style and his repertoire. Tommy Johnson's influence on local traditions is discussed by David Evans in Tommy Johnson and ''Big Road Blues. Tradition & Creativity in the Folk Blues.
He died of a heart attack after playing at a party in 1956. He is buried in the Warm Springs Methodist Church Cemetery outside of Crystal Springs, Mississippi In 2001 a headstone was commissioned through the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund, a Mississippi non-profit corporation, by the family of Tommy Johnson and paid for by musician Bonnie Raitt. The large, granite memorial engraved with Johnson's portrait has not been placed on Johnson's grave, however, due to a bitter, ongoing dispute between Tommy Johnson's family, led by his niece, Vera Johnson Collins, the owners of farm property encircling the cemetery, and the Copiah County Board of Supervisors. The headstone has remained on public display in the Crystal Springs, Mississippi Public Library since being unveiled on October 20, 2001. An annual Tommy Johnson Blues Festival is now held in Crystal Springs, on every third weekend in October.
[edit] In fictionIn the 2000 movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? there is a character named Tommy Johnson (played by Chris Thomas King) who sold his soul to the devil to play guitar. He plays accompaniment for the Soggy Bottom Boys (a band consisting of the film's three main protagonists plus Johnson) on "Man of Constant Sorrow". The character of Tommy Johnson in O Brother, Where Art Thou? is reminiscent of the real Tommy Johnson, who used to talk about how "he sold his soul to the devil" at a crossroads in return for making up songs and playing the guitar. The character plays a number of songs by blues musician Skip James. The character was not based on the better-known bluesman Robert Johnson, as some have speculated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5oVMdQW_x0
Charley Jordan *01.01.1890
Charley Jordan (* 1. Januar 1890 in Mabelville, Arkansas; † 15. November 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Sänger, Gitarrist und Songschreiber. Er wird dem St. Louis Blues zugerechnet.
Jordan nahm zahlreiche Stücke für Vocalion und Decca Records auf. Von den 1920ern bis in die 1940er arbeitete er mit so bekannten Bluesmusikern zusammen wie Peetie Wheatstraw, Roosevelt Sykes, Casey Bill Weldon, Memphis Minnie und Big Joe Williams. 1928 wurde er bei einer Schießerei am Rückgrat verletzt.
Charley Jordan starb 1954 an einer Lungenentzündung.
Charley Jordan (January 1, 1890[1] - November 15, 1954[2]) was a St. Louis blues singer, songwriter and guitarist, as well as a talent scout, originally from Mabelvale, Arkansas.[2] He was known for a unique style that drew on his rural roots.
Life and career
Jordan recorded numerous singles for Vocalion and Decca between 1930 and 1937, and also performed with some well-regarded bluesmen from the 1920s to the 1940s. Jordan recorded with Peetie Wheatstraw, Roosevelt Sykes, Casey Bill Weldon and Memphis Minnie. He had most of his biggest hits, including "Keep It Clean", in the early to mid-1930s. Later in that decade and into the 1940s, he worked frequently with Big Joe Williams.[2]
Spinal injury
In 1928 Jordan was shot in the spine, this was due to his extramusical career as a bootlegger. This gave him a long term disability and caused him to walk with crutches thereafter (which can be seen in the few photographs of Jordan available).
Jordan died of pneumonia in 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Life and career
Jordan recorded numerous singles for Vocalion and Decca between 1930 and 1937, and also performed with some well-regarded bluesmen from the 1920s to the 1940s. Jordan recorded with Peetie Wheatstraw, Roosevelt Sykes, Casey Bill Weldon and Memphis Minnie. He had most of his biggest hits, including "Keep It Clean", in the early to mid-1930s. Later in that decade and into the 1940s, he worked frequently with Big Joe Williams.[2]
Spinal injury
In 1928 Jordan was shot in the spine, this was due to his extramusical career as a bootlegger. This gave him a long term disability and caused him to walk with crutches thereafter (which can be seen in the few photographs of Jordan available).
Jordan died of pneumonia in 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri.
'Keep It Clean' CHARLEY JORDAN, Blues Legend
Funny Papa Smith ca 1885 bis 1940
John T. „Funny Papa“ Smith (auch Funny Paper Smith, The Howling Wolf, und Cool Papa Smith;[1] * zwischen 1885 und 1890 in Texas; † um 1940) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Musiker (Gesang, Gitarre) und Songwriter, der mit dazu beitrug, den Texas Blues in den späten 1920er- und 1930er-Jahren zu entwickeln und bekannt zu machen.[2][3]
Leben und Wirken
Smith, der aus dem östlichen Texas stammte, arbeitete als junger Mann im Lincoln Theater in New York City. Eine Zeit lang lebte er in Oklahoma; in den 1920er-Jahren heiratete er und spielte auf lokalen Tanzfesten, Jahrmärkten und in Juke Joints in Louisiana und Oklahoma, u. a. mit Thomas Shaw.[2] Er war als Songster häufig in der Region unterwegs, u. a. auch mit Texas Alexander und „Dennis Little Hat“ Jones.[1]
Juke Joint in Natchez, Louisiana
Im September 1930 nahm Smith seinen zweiteiligen Song „Howling Wolf Blues“ (Vocalion Records 1558) auf. Der Song, der zu seinem Markenzeichen wurde, wurde in dieser Zeit von mehreren Musikern (wie 1948 von Lightnin’ Hopkins[4]) gecovert, die meist aus Texas kamen. Robert Johnson soll bei „Hellhound on My Trail“ (1937) Anleihen bei Smith’ Song genommen haben.[5][6]
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Nach einer gesprochenen Einleitung
Well, here I am, got the blues about little old Victoria, the Howlin’ Wolf.
Guess I’ll drop a few lines.
singt Smith die erste Strophe:
I’m that wolf that everybody been tryin’ to find out where in the world I prowl
Nobody ever gets a chance to see me, but they all hear me when I howl.[7]
In der letzten Strophe heißt es:
(Looks, Seems) like God don't treat me like I’m a human kind.
Seems like he wants me to be a prowler and a Howlin’ Wolf all the time.[7]
Smith nannte sich Funny Papa (was von den Produzenten fälschlich auf den Schallplatten als Funny Paper wiedergegeben wurde) oder auch – nach dem Erfolg seiner gleichnamigen 78er – Howling Wolf,[8], circa zwanzig Jahre bevor Chester Burnett (1910-1976) unter diesem Namen Bekanntheit erlangte.[9] Unter eigenem Namen spielte Smith 1930/31 in Chicago insgesamt 18 Plattenseiten ein, wie „Heart Bleeding Blues“, „Good Coffee Blues“, „Hard Luck Man Blues“ und „Honey Blues“ (Vocalion 1633); darunter waren auch zwei Duette mit Magnolia Harris („Mama’s Quittin’ and Leavin“, Vocalion 1602 bzw. Melotone M12077) und zwei mit Desser Foster („Tell It to the Judge Nos. 1 & 2“, Melotone M12117).[10]
Der Gefängnishof des Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville in den 1870er-Jahren
Kurz nach seinen letzten Plattenaufnahmen in Chicago 1931 wurde Smith in einer Spielhölle in eine Schlägerei verwickelt, bei der ein Mann getötet wurde. Er wurde im Staatsgefängnis von Huntsville inhaftiert, was seine Karriere beendete. Seine letzten Aufnahmen entstanden im April 1935 in Fort Worth mit Bernice Edwards (Gesang, Piano) und Black Boy Shine (Piano), blieben aber zu Lebzeiten unveröffentlicht. J. T. Smith soll um 1940 gestorben sein.[1]
Würdigung
Nach Ansicht der Bluesforscher Alan B. Govenar und Jay F. Brakefield war Smith’ Leben und Karriere typisch für die Bluesgitarristen seiner Zeit, die im Raum Dallas tourten. „Obwohl sie alle mehr oder weniger von Blind Lemon Jefferson geprägt waren, entwickelten sie trotzdem ihre eigenen Idiosynkrasien“.[8]
Smith’ Gitarrenspiel war stilistisch von detaillierten melodischen Linien und repetitiven Bassriffs geprägt; für manche Kritiker war sein Spiel anspruchsvoller als das seiner Zeitgenossen, vor allem wegen seines alternierenden Daumen-Pickings. Andre Kritiker hielten jedoch fest, dass Smith die Tendenz hatte, auf einem verstimmten Instrument zu spielen.[2]
Für Teddy Doering ist J. T. Smith vor allem wegen seiner Songtexte bedeutsam; neben „Seven Sisters Blues“, in dem er von einer Reise nach New Orleans erzählt, sei vor allem der am 10. Juli 1931 aufgenommene „Fool’s Blues“ (Vocalion 1674) Smith’ Meisterwerk, das die „Desillusion der afroamerikanischen Bevölkerung illustriert“.[11] Zitiert wird dabei die Redewendung „God takes care of old folks and fools“. Zu Beginn des Songs stellt er in er anscheinend naiver Weise fest:
You know, I’m a single-handed-fool. An’ gettin’ old, too.
Well, they say, God takes care of ol’ folks an’ fools,
and I guess he will Here I am.
In einer weiteren Zeile ergänzt er: And now let’s see if this is true. In den folgenden Strophen, als er versucht herauszufinden, wie es um ihn bestellt ist, meint er: God, when I was born, wonder was there any mo' mercy left. Später bemerkt er:
Look like I’m laid off and cryin’ both day an’ night
Everybody talks about me an’ nobody don't treat me right.
Dann wird er bitter und kommt zu dem Schluss, in dem er im von „Trunkenheit, Unzucht, Schädlichkeit“ geprägten Lebenswandel eines Bluesmusikers „das Werk des Teufels“ sieht:[12] .People, it don't seem like(ly) to me that God takes care of ol’ folks and fools.[13]
But since I been born he must have changed the rules..:
You know this must be the devil I’m serving, I know it can't be Jesus Christ
Because I’m asked him to save me and look like he’s trying to take my life.[12]
In der letzten Strophe beschreibt er seinen Gesundheitszustand:
I got TBs, ill teeth, I got third degrees and Boll’s disease /
My health is gone now, left me with the sickness blues,
People, it don't seem to Me
That God takes care of old folks an fools.
There is very little detailed information about the background of John T. Funny Papa Smith. He was born in Texas, almost certainly between 1880 and 1890, and also spent time in both Louisiana and Oklahoma. He was an itinerant bluesman who travelled round the parties, fish fries and juke joints, often in the company of Texas Alexander and Dennis "Little Hat" Jones. He made nearly twenty recordings in a two year period 1930-1931. Amongst these was his trademark song "Howling Wolf Blues", and occasionally he was billed as The Howling Wolf. In some references to him he is called Cool Papa Smith and even Funny Paper Smith, the result of a record company error which culminated in the name being used on early recordings. Shortly after his last recording session in 1931 he was involved in a fight at a gambling joint and killed a man. He was sent to the Texas Penitentiary and his blues career was effectively over. He died some years later, possibly in 1940 or thereabouts.
J.T. "Funny Paper" Smith - Seven Sisters Blues Part 1
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