1
 Contents 
Preface by Lamont Jack Pearley 4 
A Word From The Author 7 
 
🎵 
 
 
Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry​ ​ ​9 
Willie Dixon 12 
John Lee Hooker 15 
Sonny Boy Williamson II 20 
Elizabeth Cotten 23 
Honey Boy Edwards 25 
Mississippi John Hurt 28 
Barbeque Bob 31 
Buddy Moss 33 
Bessie Smith 36 
Washboard Sam 41 
Furry Lewis 43 
Johnny Shines 51 
Precious Bryant 53 
Bo Carter 55 
Mississippi Joe Callicott 58 
Sam Chatmon 61 
Big Bill Broonzy 62 
Hacksaw Harney 65 
Lonnie Johnson 67 
Frank Stokes 73 
Big Joe Williams 75 
Memphis Minnie 78 
Mississippi Fred McDowell 82 
Blind Willie Johnson 85 
Tommy McLennan 87 

2
 Robert Johnson 90 
Lead Belly 95 
Bukka White 98 
Son House 100 
Mance Lipscomb 104 
Tommy Johnson 106 
Reverend Gary Davis 108 
Blind Willie McTell 112 
Othar Turner 116 
Blind Blake 119 
Blind Lemon Jefferson 124 
Sleepy John Estes 127 
Lightnin’ Hopkins 129 
Charley Patton 132 
R.L. Burnside 135 
Skip James 139 
Howard Armstrong 143 
Jerry Ricks 145 
John Dee Holeman 147 
John Cephas 149 
John Jackson 151 
Muddy Waters 153 
Ma Rainey 160 
 

 
 
 
 

3
 Preface  
 
As an ethnographer, applied folklorist, and black traditional music practitioner, the work 
produced is rewarded by meeting, speaking with, and becoming friends with many black 
American blues, old-time, and songster musicians. I have interviewed many historians, 
documentarians, and enthusiasts of many ethnicities. The many journeys and spiritual 
travels seems to always land at the roots, which is the blues. In early days, those who’ve made this pilgrimage 
to the land of the blues people would gather at University campus’, or record collector shops. They’d stand or 
sit around in groups at a time, taking turns playing old vinyl, talking for hours about their perspective of 
music styles, techniques, and even the life of the blues people. They would also trek to folk festivals, revivals, 
coffee houses and bars to witness the living legend and testimonies of blues men and women that migrated 
northwest, northeast and west from the life of sharecropping for their opportunity to perform and entertain. 
There were many levels of blues people musicians. Those of the T-Bone Walker and Big Bill Bronzy vien 
that played big venues, and those like Furry Lewis who worked full-time and played locally until the blues 
revival reached out to him and others like him to play festivals. At that time, the late 1950’s through the 1960’s, 
many of the blues forefathers and mothers were still alive. Audiences were able to experience them in person, 
talk with them, and even learn a lick or two. 
Now, since many have passed on, and these same blues enthusiasts have taken their 
congregation to online platforms, many still images of blues performers from yesterday 
circulate on the internet. There’s been many debates about the authenticity of the images, 
as well as if said images are even the people they are thought to be. That’s where  
the importance of Corey Harris’ book comes into play. With everything online, 
and a plethora of fans yearning for the story and images of the blues people, this book 
gives you the blues people, and that sense of being able to hold a physical book. At the 
same time, it transmits the importance of the tradition, and the people the tradition 
comes from. The story of the blues people is the backbone of America’s history, and 
from it rumbles a sound, a cry that’s celebratory as well as troublesome. It’s the 
voice of a people. 
The blues as a musical expression is unique as it is the song of the black American 
experience. It is the sounds, moans, hollers, and vernacular of specific people, The 
Blues people. It is the free man's expression, the enslaved man's story, the preacher man's 
Doctrine and the oral documentation of those classified as "black" in the Americas. More 
than a chord progression on a beat-up or expensive guitar, it is the voice of black folk, 
aka, 'The Blues People!" As a descendant and active participant of what I like to call 
African American Traditional music, I that cannot stress enough the importance of this 
book. We must do more than celebrate and revere our forefathers and mothers. What 
they went through to tell the story we hear today, connecting the generations and 
addressing through song, dance, and style, the experience of 'black' on this soil before, 
during, and after slavery, Jim Crow and the robbery of land; this calls for us to make 
sure we not only keep their name, but their expression alive. We must never relinquish our 
birthright and heritage. The roots of American music, pop or otherwise, come from the 

4
root of America's riches. These are the same people who suffered under free labor laws, unscrupulous 
business practices, and the blatant disregard of human life. 
Through the coffle gang (the line of chained prisoners that walked for hours a 
day), lead by the Georgia man to the nearest auction port to be sold, they carried with them 
songs, expressions, and stories of generations past, so that it could be passed down and 
continued by those born of the blues people. Free blacks that knew, or learned songs 
and games of our ancestors, who gracefully taught others in the immediate community 
the dances and language of great great great grandparents. For this reason, we must, 
as the children of blues people, as the offspring of the early migrations, hold dear to our 
story. Sing it from the heights of mountains and stages. Draw the images of those who 
bore a burden they knew yet wished we would not face. Take back, correct, and share 
our genealogical trajectory narratives on this land, never letting it go. The blues people's legacy is wealth 
beyond measure; no one will steal, no matter who learns it, exploits it, and prevents the children of it from 
worldly success. It is more significant than that. It relates to the stories of the Bible. It is the child of black 
spirituals and slave seculars. The ​“butt-necked”​ truth of America's sins is giving melanated people up as a way 
for invaders to protect their investments. We can never remove the spiritual and social disenfranchisement 
the blues people experienced and exposed. It is not downtrodden music. It is folk music because it is of the 
folk, so the honorable CoreyHarris, bluesman and scholar, ventured to produce such a historical record. It 
would be such a disservice if the blues people were to end up refaced, detached or removed from the 
Root. 
In the vein of our elder blues people, James Baldwin, Richard Ellis, and Zora Neale 
Hurston, The Blues People coffee table book transmits the blues people through a book with 
the portraits depicting the realities of blues and those who expressed them. Like the works of August Wilson, 
an ethnographic black folk narrative conveyer that built content around the blues expression which lives 
today, our ancestors will also live through this book. Though the first telling of our story came from the voice, 
portraits, paintings, and drawings were also the tools used to make sure our historical memoir never will be 
eradicated. With that, it is also to bring understanding to all those who appreciate this art form. As we 
celebrate our heritage and preserve our traditions, our work, our words are not meant to be used for division, 
but to give the protagonists' proper context of the Blues People's narrative. 
Let us all accept, love, and respect the descendants of blues people, as we do those of 
the early days who traveled through restricted places to share a little light, love, and 
entertainment. 
 
 
 

 
 
Lamont Jack Pearley 
African-American folklorist 
Bowling Green, Kentucky USA
 

5
 
 

Blues People: 
Legends Of The 
Blues 
 

6
 🎵🎶 Ever since I was a young boy, I 

remember hearing the blues…  

at house parties, on the jukebox in BBQ joints, at family reunions and gatherings. When I was twelve years 

old I started playing guitar, inspired by a Lightnin' Hopkins record my mother bought me in an Atlanta record 

shop. That same year, my folks took me to see B.B. King​ ​in concert and at the end of the show I went to the 

stage and got a free guitar pick from the Master himself! I was hooked. Little did I know that years later, I 

would be his opening act around the world, hearing him tell stories about growing up in Mississippi, the 

influence of his older cousin, bluesman Bukka White, and beginning his music career in Memphis.  

As the years went on, I was blessed to get to know a few more of the blues artists that I had always 

admired. Men like Honeyboy Edwards, who told me about the night that Robert Johnson died​ ​- he was 

there...or R.L. Burnside​ ​who talked to me about his early years in Chicago getting to know Muddy Waters and 

learning to play music. My elementary blues education started with family gatherings so many years ago, but 

touring and recording with these elders in the blues was my graduate school...and I am still learning!  

Though many of you may know me as a musician, this project is an opportunity for me to share my 

love for the traditional blues with you in an entirely different way - through art. I have always loved to draw, 
but recently I have been called to celebrate my blues heroes using pen and ink. Being descended from 
southern people myself- schoolteachers, preachers, gamblers, fiddle players, washerwomen, coal miners and 

sharecroppers, I feel a deep connection to these artists who sang the stories of the older generations...music 
that still speaks to us today.  
Each portrait brings me a little closer to the music that I have always loved, and I hope that it will do 

the same for you. Accompanying each illustration is a detailed biography of each artist as well as a 
discography; I also include my own personal remembrances of those artists whom I was blessed to meet 
personally.  

This book tells the story of the blues, the music of southern Black folk that is now loved and 
celebrated around the world. Performing, writing and recording roots music has been my life's work. I am 
pleased to share my love of the culture with you all! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed putting it 

together. Gratitude! 
 

Corey Harris, Charlottesville, VA 

7
 

 
Blues People:  
Legends Of The Blues 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

8
Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee  
(November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) 

Sonny Terry  
(October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986) 

Brownie McGhee hailed from Knoxville, TN and Sonny Terry came from 
Greensboro, GA. Both came from musical families and both lived with disabilities; 
Terry was blinded as a youth and learned to play harmonica from his father, while 
McGhee's uncle made him his first guitar after he was stricken with polio and lost 
the use of a leg. They recorded dozens of albums, touring heavily in the US and 
abroad between 1941 and 1980. The blues duo also appeared in film (with comedian 
Steve Martin for T
​ he Jerk)​ and on Broadway, being awarded a prestigious National 
Heritage Fellowship from the NEA in 1982. Terry passed away from natural causes 
in 1986, while McGhee continued to appear in film and onstage until succumbing to 
stomach cancer in 1996. Both giants in their own right, they came together to make 
some of the best traditional blues music of their time. Personally, it is said that they 
had a rocky relationship later in life, but when they performed together it was pure 
blues joy every single time. Brownie and Sonny are indisputably one of the greatest 
blues duos in the history of the music.  
 

9
  
Discography: 
 
1958 ​Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry Sing​, Folkways 
1958​ Backcountry Blues,​ Savoy 
1958 ​Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, F
​ antasy 
1958 ​Folk Songs of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, ​Roulette 
1960 B
​ lues and Folk,​ Prestige Bluesville 
1960 P
​ ick a Bale Of Cotton,​ W&G 
1960 D
​ own Home Blues,​ Prestige Bluesville 
1960 B
​ lues Is A Story,​ World Pacific 
1960 J
​ ust A Closer Walk With Thee,​ Fantasy 
1960 B
​ lues Is My Companion,​ Verve 
1961 ​Down Home Blues​, Sharp 
1961 ​Blues In My Soul,​ Prestige Bluesville 

10
1961 ​Blues All Around My Head​, Prestige Bluesville 
1962 S
​ houts and Blues​, Fantasy 
1962 B
​ rownie McGhee and Sonny Terry at the 2nd Fret,​ Prestige Bluesville 
1962 S
​ onny Terry and Brownie McGhee at Sugar Hill,​ Fantasy 
1965 S
​ ing and Play​, Society 
1965 A
​ t the Bunkhouse​, Smash 
1965 H
​ ome Town Blues,​ Mainstream 
1967 W
​ hoopin’ the Blues​, Capitol 
1968 ​Lightnin’ Hopkins, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee: Blues is Life​, Karussell 
1969 ​Brownie and Sonny,​ Everest  
1969 ​A Long Way From Home,​ Bluesway 
1972 ​Back to New Orleans, ​Fantasy 
1973 ​Blues Bash (with Big Joe Williams and Lightnin’ Hopkins),​ Olympic 
1975 ​Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry,​ Storyville 
1975 ​Back Country Blues​, Musidisc 
1977 Lunenberg Travelers: A Tribute to Leadbelly (with Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie), 
Tomato 
1977 ​Walk On,​ Bulldog 
1978 Y
​ ou Hear Me Talkin’,​ Muse 
1981 ​Hootin’, M
​ use 
1983 ​Jazz Heritage Series,​ MCA 
1984 W
​ alk On​, Astan 
1987 S
​ porting Life Blues​, JSP 
1990 T
​ he 1958 London Sessions​, Sequel  
1991 ​USA: Conversation With the River​, Network Medien 
1994 ​Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee​, Payless 
1994 ​Sun’s Gonna Shine,​ Tomato 
1995 T
​ he Giants of the Blues​, Madacy 
1997 G
​ oing Alone,​ The Blues Alliance 
1997 L
​ ive at the New Penelope Cafe​, Just A Memory 
1999 ​Backwater Blues​, Fantasy 
1999 ​Nothing But the Blues​, Southland  
2001​ Best of Country Blues,​ Fuel 
2003 ​Blues Legends in London,​ Silverline 
2004 K
​ ey to the Highway,​ Comet 
2013 B
​ lues Bash​, Essential Media Group 
2014 L
​ ondon 1958,​ Jasmine 
2015 B
​ lowin’ the Fuses,​ Airline 

11
 

Willie Dixon 
(July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) 
 
Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, this literal giant of the blues began singing in 
church as a young boy. His first introduction to the blues happened during his 
incarceration at a prison farm in his early teenage years. A few years later, he 
started singing bass with the Union Jubilee Singers, a local gospel group. In 1936 he 
moved to Chicago where he boxed and was even the sparring partner for the great 
Joe Louis for a brief time. He continued singing with various groups around the city 
and began playing bass and guitar. One of these groups, The Big Three trio, 
recorded for Columbia records. Dixon was drafted at the advent of WWII, but as a 
conscientious objector he refused to fight for a country where he had no rights; he 
subsequently spent 10 months in prison for his principled stance.  
After the war he continued playing bass, singing and performing. He was 
signed to Chess records in 1948 eventually working as a producer, staff songwriter, 
session musician and talent scout. A prolific writer of nearly 500 songs throughout 
his career, he entered his most productive period during the years between the late 
40s and early 60s, penning a multitude of tunes that became blues classics. 
Beginning in the mid 60s, also ran his own label, Yambo records until the mid 70s. 
As one of the key figures in the development of the Chicago blues sound, his songs 
were covered by many of his fellow blues musicians as well as the Rolling Stones. 
Though he suffered from declining health in the late 70s and into the 80s, he won a 
Grammy award in 1989 for his album, H
​ idden Charms.​ He passed away from heart 
failure at home in Burbank, CA. Few artists cast as long a shadow over 20th 
century Black music as did Willie Dixon. His music and legacy live on. 
 

12
  
 

13
Discography 
 
1960 W
​ illie’s Blues (with Memphis Slim), P
​ restige Bluesville 
1960 S
​ ongs of Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon​, Folkways 
1960 T
​ he Blues Every Which Way (with Memphis Slim)​, Verve 
1962 M
​ emphis Slim and Willie Dixon at the Village Gate, ​Folkways 
1962 M
​ emphis Slim and Willie Dixon Aux Trois Maillets, P
​ olydor 
1970​ I Am the Blues,​ Columbia 
1970 ​Victoria Spivey Presents The All Star Blues World of Maestro Willie Dixon and His 
Chicago Blues Band,​ Spivey 
1971 P
​ eace?​, Yambo 
1973 ​Catalyst,​ Ovation 
1976​ What Happened to My Blues​, Ovation 
1984 M
​ ighty Earthquake and Hurricane,​ Pausa 
1985 ​Willie Dixon with The Chicago Blues Allstars​, Pausa 
1986 ​One Of These Mornings (with J.B. Lenoir)​, JSP 
1988 ​Hidden Charms,​ Capitol  
1988 ​The Stanley Behrens Willie Dixon Project,​ Blue Baron 
1989 ​Ginger Ale Afternoon, V
​ arese Sarabande 
1990 T
​ he Big Three Trio, C
​ olumbia 
1995 W
​ illie Dixon and Johnny Winter with The Chicago All Stars,​ Magnum 
1998 ​Chicago All Stars Featuring Willie Dixon, ​Wolf 
2018 ​Live in Chicago 1984,​ Floating World 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

14
John Lee Hooker  
(August 22, 1917 (?) – June 21, 2001) 
 
 
The man who became known as King of the Boogie was born into a large 
Mississippi sharecropping family, possibly Tutwiler, Tallahatchie County. Other 
sources have cited the vicinity of Clarksdale, while birth years between 1912 and 
1920 have been suggested. Census records from 1920 indicate that he was born in 
1912. John Lee Hooker was the youngest of eleven children born to William Hooker 
and Minnie Ramsey. He and his siblings were homeschooled, being only permitted 
to listen to religious songs. In 1921 his parents separated and the following year his 
mother married a blues singer named William Moore from Shreveport, Louisiana 
who taught his distinctive, droning style to his new stepson. Moore was also 
reputed to have been well-acquainted with Charlie Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson 
and Blind Blake, who may have visited their home at one time or another. He also 
learned from his sister's boyfriend, Tony Hollins, who gave him his first guitar. It 
said that he first learned the songs, “Crawling Kingsnake” and ‘Catfish Blues” from 
Hollins. At fourteen years old he ran away from home, never to see his mother or 
stepfather again.  
The nearby blues mecca of Memphis beckoned him, where he performed on 
Beale Street and at the New Daisy theater. Before long he relocated to Cincinnati, 
where he spent seven years before moving to Detroit in 1943. Working at the Ford 
Motor company by day, he frequented the bustling clubs of Hastings street at night. 
He distinguished himself as one of the few guitar players in a city known for its 
pianists and soon became one of the motor city’s most popular artists. Around this 
time he switched to the electric guitar. In 1948 he was still working as a janitor 
when his original song, “Boogie Chillen”, became a bona fide hit for Los 
Angeles-based Modern records. In fact, it was the biggest selling ‘race’ record of the 
year. Between the years 1948 and 1951 he had several other hits on the label. 
Though functionally illiterate, he was a prolific lyricist, adapting traditional blues 
verses and composing much of his own material. He often changed his name to 
elude the constraints of recording contracts, doing what he had to do to survive in 
an unfair music industry. Like most Black musicians of his era, he was heavily 
exploited by white-owned record companies and earned little royalties from record 

15
sales, instead receiving one-time cash payments after each session. The need to 
make a living meant that he recorded under a variety of pseudonyms: Johnny Lee, 
Texas Slim, the Boogie Man, Delta John, Johnny Williams and Birmingham Sam.  
His idiosyncratic beat and penchant for changing chords at the drop of a 
dime made it difficult for other musicians to follow him. Around this time he often 
toured and recorded with Jamaican-born bluesman, Eddie Kirkland, one of many 
musicians whom he influenced with his unique sound. Later recording for 
Chicago’s Black-owned Vee-Jay label, he had hits with “Boom Boom” and “Dimples”. 
He toured Europe in 1962 with the American Folk Blues Festival; two years later 
“Dimples” became a hit in England, a full eight years after it’s initial release in the 
U.S. During this period he began collaborating with rock musicians, culminating in 
a 1970 release with Canned Heat, ​Hooker ‘n Heat​, which reached number 78 on the 
Billboard 200 charts. During the early part of this decade, he collaborated with 
other rock musicians, notably Steve Miller, Elvin Bishop and Van Morrison. His 
star continued to rise with his appearance in the popular 1980 film, T
​ he Blues 
Brothers,​ with comedians Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and a host of other Black 
music luminaries such as Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. In 1989 he recorded 
The Healer​ with Bonnie Raitt and Carlos Santana for which he earned a Grammy 
award. He continued in the vein of star-studded collaboration albums to great 
success, including M
​ r. Lucky, Chill Out,​ and D
​ on’t Look Back.​ Once a runaway 
turned manual laborer, he invested his considerable income in real estate in his 
adopted home state of California. In late 2000 I was scheduled to appear in a PBS 
documentary produced by Martin Scorcese featuring Mr. Hooker, but unfortunately 
it was not to be. He passed away in his sleep on June 21, 2001. His status as an 
icon of American music is secure. The King of The Boogie will never be forgotten. 

16
  
  

17
Discography 
 
1959 S
​ ticks McGhee and John Lee Hooker​, Audio Lab 
1959 I​ ’m John Lee Hooker,​ Veejay 
1959 T
​ he Country Blues of John Lee Hooker​, Riverside 
1960 T
​ ravelin’,​ Veejay 
1960 T
​ hat’s My Story: John Lee Hooker Sings the Blues,​ Riverside 
1960 S
​ ings Blues​, King 
1960 H
​ ouse of the Blues​, Chess 
1961 ​Plays and Sings the Blues​, Chess 
1961 ​The Folk Lore of John Lee Hooker,​ Veejay 
1962 B
​ urnin’,​ Veejay 
1962 J
​ ohn Lee Hooker Sings the Blues​, Crown 
1962 J
​ ohn Lee Hooker, G
​ alaxy 
1963 O
​ n Campus,​ Veejay 
1963 T
​ he Big Soul of John Lee Hooker,​ Veejay 
1963 T
​ he Great John Lee Hooker​, Crown 
1963 D
​ on’t Turn Me From Your Door: John Lee Hooker Sings His Blues,​ ATCO 
1964 ​Burnin’ Hell​, Riverside 
1964 C​oncert at Newport,​ Veejay 
1965​ There’s Good Rockin’ Tonight! (with Lightnin’ Hopkins)​, Storyville 
1966 I​ t Serve You Right to Suffer,​ Impulse 
1966 T
​ he Real Folk Blues​, Chess 
1966 .​ ..And Seven Nights,​ Verve Folkways 
1967 L
​ ive At the Cafe Au-Go-Go, ​Bluesway 
1967 U
​ rban Blues​, Bluesway  
1968 ​John Lee Hooker,​ Everest 
1968 ​Live At Sugarhill,​ Galaxy 
1969 N
​ o Friend Around​, Advent 
1969 S
​ imply the Truth​, Bluesway 
1969 T
​ hat’s Where It’s At, ​Stax 
1970 ​I Wanna Dance All Night, ​America 
1970 ​I Feel Good,​ Carson 
1970 ​If You Miss ‘Im...I Got ‘Im (with Earl Hooker)​, Bluesway 
1970 ​Get Back Home In the USA​, Black and Blue 
1970 ​On the Waterfront,​ Wand 
1970 ​The Real Blues​, Tradition Everest 
1971 ​Endless Boogie,​ ABC 

18
1971 ​Anywhere - Anytime - Anyplace, ​United Artists 
1971 ​Hooker ‘N Heat (with Canned Heat)​, Liberty 
1972 ​Live At Soledad Prison​, ABC 
1972 ​Never Get Out These Blues Alive, A
​ BC 
1973​ Born in Mississippi, Raised Up In Tennessee​, ABC 
1973​ Kabuki Wuki,​ Bluesway 
1973 ​John Lee Hooker’s Detroit Vintage Recordings, 1948-1952,​ United Artists 
1973 ​In Person​, Dynasty 
1974 F
​ ree Beer and Chicken​, ABC 
1978 ​The Cream,​ Tomato 
1978 ​Live and Well​, Ornament 
1978 ​Live in 1978,​ Lunar #2  
1979 S
​ ittin’ Here Thinking,​ Muse 
1979​ Hooked On the Blues, E
​ verest 
1980 ​Alone Volume 1​, Labor 
1981 ​Hooker N’ Heat - Canned Heat and John Lee Hooker Live At the Fox Venice Theater, 
Rhino 
1982 ​Still Alone: Live in New York Vol. 2​, MMG 
1986 ​Jealous,​ Pausa 
1987 ​Travelin’​, Veejay 
1989 ​Alone​, Tomato 
1989 ​I’ll Play the Blues For You (with Albert King),​ Tomato 
1989​ The Healer, Chameleon 
1990 L
​ ive At Sugar Hill Vol. 2,​ Ace 
1991 ​More Folk Blues/The Missing Album,​ MCA/Chess 
1991 ​Mr. Lucky,​ Silvertone 
1992 B
​ oom Boom​, Point Blank/Charisma  
1994 ​The Rising Sun Collection​, Just A Memory 
1995 C
​ hill Out​, Virgin/Pointblank 
1997 D
​ on’t Look Back​, Pointblank 
2000 ​The Unknown John Lee Hooker 1949 Recordings​, Flyright  
2002 ​Live At Sugar Hill Vol. 2​, Fantasy 
2003 ​Face to Face,​ Eagle 
2015 ​Canned Heat with John Lee Hooker - Carnegie Hall 1971​, Cleopatra 
2020​ Live At Montreux 1983 & 1990​, Eagle Rock Entertainment 
 
 
 

19
Sonny Boy Williamson II a.k.a Alex "Rice" Miller  
(December 5, 1912? - May 24, 1965) 
 
Born into a sharecropping family in Glendora, MS, he farmed with his family 
until the early 1930s when he began traveling around Mississippi and Arkansas, 
crossing paths with Big Joe Williams, Elmore James, Robert Johnson and Robert Jr. 
Lockwood. In 1941 radio station KFFA in Helena, Arkansas hired him to play the 
King Biscuit Time show alongside Lockwood. By the end of the decade he moved to 
West Memphis Arkansas, where he began his own radio show on KWEM. Around 
this time he married Howling Wolf's sister and taught him how to play harp. He cut 
his first record for Trumpet in 1951, later recording for Chess records where he cut 
nearly 70 sides between 1956 and 1964.  
He first traveled to Europe in 1962 where he exerted a tremendous influence 
upon the nascent rock and blues scene. In the final year of his life he resumed his 
gig with the King Biscuit Time show, this time with Houston Stackhouse and Peck 
Curtis. He passed away in his sleep in Helena and is buried on New Africa road 
near Tutwiler, Mississippi. His stature as one of the greatest and most influential 
blues harmonica players and singers can never be diminished. 
 

20
  
 

21
Discography 
 
1959 D
​ own And Out Blues,​ Checker 
1963 P
​ ortraits in Blues,​ Storyville 
1963 T
​ he Blues of Sonny Boy Williamson,​ Storyville 
1964 ​Sonny Boy Williamson and Memphis Slim,​ Disques Vogue 
1965 S
​ onny Boy Williamson and the Yardbirds​, Mercury 
1965 T
​ he Real Folk Blues, C
​ hess 
1966 M
​ ore Real Folk Blues​, Chess 
1968 ​Don’t Send Me No Flowers,​ 1968 
1969 B
​ ummer Road,​ Chess 
1972 ​Rock Generation Vol. 9​, BYG 
1972 ​Face and Places Vol. 2 (with the Animals), B
​ YG 
1975 ​It’s King Biscuit Time,​ Arhoolie 
1979 F
​ inal Sessions 1963-1964,​ Blue Night 
1989 ​Clownin’ With the World (with Willie Love)​, Alligator 
1990 K
​ eep It To Ourselves, ​Alligator 
1991​ Goin’ In Your Direction (with B.B. King, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup and Willie Love)​, 
Trumpet 
1995​ In Europe​, Evidence 
1990 T
​ he Yardbirds and Sonny Boy Williamson The Complet​e Crawdaddy Recordings​, Get Back 
2007 ​The Unissued 1963 Blues Festival,​ Weton-Wesgram 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

22
Elizabeth Cotten  
(Jan 5, 1893 - June 29, 1987) 
 
Born into a musical family in Carrboro, North Carolina, she developed a 
distinctive left-handed fingerpicking style, playing the melody with her thumb and 
the bass lines with her fingers. She began playing banjo at seven and was playing 
entire songs the next year. Forced to quit school to work as a domestic at age nine, 
two years later she bought her first guitar on which she played a variety of blues, 
rags and dance tunes. By her early teens she had already written what would 
become her signature song, "Freight Train". When she was 17 years old she married 
Frank Cotten, and soon became a mother to a baby girl. By this time she gave up the 
guitar entirely to devote all her time to family and church. 
By chance she met and began working for the family of the legendary folk 
musicians, Mike and Pete Seeger. Mike Seeger told me himself that it was several 
years before the family was aware​ t​ hat their humble house servant was a master of 
guitar and banjo. All those years of hearing the family play and she never even 
mentioned it! Once the cat was out of the bag, Cotten began playing the guitar 
again, marking the start of a brand new career by cutting her first record, 
Folksongs and Instrumentals with Guitar​. She won a Grammy award in 1984 and 
continued to tour and record well into her 80s. She passed away three years later in 
Syracuse, NY. A heroine of the folk and blues scene, her rank as one of the greatest 
traditional fingerstyle guitarists is secure. 
 

23
  
Discography 
 
1958 ​Folksongs and Instrumental With Guitar, ​Folkways 
1967 V
​ ol. 2 Shake Sugaree,​ Folkways 
1979 A
​ t the New Morning Blues Festival Live in Geneva ‘79,​ Spielgelei 
1979 V
​ ol. 3 When I’m Gone, ​Folkways 
1983 ​Live!,​ Arhoolie 
  
 

24
David “Honeyboy” Edwards  
(Jun 28, 1915 - Aug 29, 2011) 
 
This elder right here represented the pioneer generation of bluesmen and 
women who were born before the advent of radio, electricity, and the recording 
industry. They played strictly acoustic music. In his time the blues came from the 
land and the Black folk who worked it. These men and women played the blues 
because they had to, to escape the economic prison called sharecropping, penal 
farms, widespread lynchings and the terrorism used to control any ambitions they 
might otherwise have had. The blues was their daily reality, deeper than any show 
or mere entertainment. I ran into Mr. Edwards many times at blues festivals over 
the years and once we even shared a meal together. He always remembered me and 
was humble and kind. Talking to him was an education. He began his career as a 
teenager playing with Big Joe Williams, and later toured with Charley Patton, 
Tommy Johnson and Johnny Shines. Honeyboy told me himself about the death of 
Robert Johnson...he was there.  
He enjoyed a long career beginning with Alan Lomax recording him for the 
Library of Congress in 1942. He first recorded commercially for ARC in 1951, and 
continued to record sporadically throughout that decade and into the 1960s. His 
first full-length LP, ​ I’ve Been Around,​ was released in 1978 by Trix records. Ever 
the road warrior, he kept on touring and recording, releasing an album for Earwig 
in 1981. In 1997 he published his autobiography, T
​ he World Don’t Owe Me Nothing: 
The Life and Times of Delta Bluesman Honeyboy Edwards​. Published by Chicago 
Review Press, the book chronicles in vivid detail his Mississippi childhood and early 
musical adventures in the American South. Between 1996 and 2000 he received 
eight W.C. Handy/Blues Music Award nominations; he won in 2005 and 2007. In 
2010 he received a Grammy lifetime achievement award. He retired in July, 2011 
and passed away at his home on August 29, 2011. If life is a long-distance race, he 
was an undeniable winner, keeping the blues flame alive in everything he did. The 
blues ha​s ​many luminaries, but if you don't know Honeyboy Edwards then you 
don't really know the blues.  
 

25
  
 
 
Discography 
 
1969 B
​ lues Jam in Chicago Vol. 1, ​Blue Horizon 
1969 B
​ lues Jam at Chess,​ Blue Horizon 
1970 ​Blues Jam in Chicago, Vol. 2, B
​ lue Horizon 

26
1976 B
​ lues Blues Blues​, Roots 
1978 ​I’ve Been Around,​ Trix 
1979 M
​ ississippi Delta Bluesman,​ Folkways 
1981 ​Old Friends Together for the First Time (with Sunnyland Slim, Walter Horton, Kansas 
City Red and Floyd Jones)​, Earwig 
1989 ​White Windows​, Blue Suit 
1992 D
​ elta Bluesmen​, Earwig 
1997 C
​ rawlin’ Kingsnake​, Testament 
1997 T
​ he World Don’t Owe Me Nothing,​ Earwig 
1999 D
​ on’t Mistreat A Fool,​ Genes 
1999 S
​ hake ‘Em On Down,​ APO 
2007 ​Roamin’ and Ramblin’,​ Earwig 
2007 ​Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas​, Blue Shoe Project 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

27
“Mississippi” John Smith Hurt 
(March 3, 1892 - November 2, 1966) 
 
Born in Carroll county and raised in Avalon, he began playing the guitar at 
age nine, performing for parties and dances throughout his youth. He recorded 
“Frankie” for Okeh in 1928 which sold moderately well. The company went out of 
business during the Great Depression of the 1930s and Hurt returned to farming 
until his 'rediscovery' in the 1960s folk revival. He recorded again and performed 
extensively, even appearing on T
​ he Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. H
​ urt 
influenced players across many genres and his soft spoken nature endeared him to 
all. His melodious, upbeat music was more reminiscent of Piedmont and Texas 
songsters than the hard Delta blues of his home state. His music cast such a long 
shadow that no repertoire is complete without including at least one John Hurt 
song. He passed away from a heart attack in 1966, but his legacy lives on. 

28
  
 
 
Discography 
78 RPM records on Okeh, 1928: 
Frankie/Nobody’s Dirty Business 
Stack O’ Lee/Candy Man Blues 
Blessed Be the Name/Praying On the Old Camp Ground 
Blue Harvest Blues/Spike Driver Blues 
Louis Collins/Got the Blues (Can’t Be Satisfied) 
Ain’t No Tellin’/Avalon Blues 
 

29
 
1963 F
​ olk Songs and Blues​, Piedmont 
1964​ Worried Blues,​ Piedmont 
1966 T
​ oday!,​ Vanguard 
1967 T
​ he Immortal Mississippi John Hurt​, Vanguard 
1971 ​The Best of Mississippi John Hurt​, Vanguard 
1972 ​Last Sessions, V
​ anguard 
1975 ​Volume One of A Legacy, ​Rebel 
1980 ​Monday Morning Blues,​ Flyright 
1982 ​The Candy Man​, Intermedia 
1982 ​Avalon Blues Vol. 2,​ Heritage 
1986 ​Shake That Thing,​ Blue Moon 
1988 ​Country Blues Live (with Robert Pete Williams, John Jackson, Sleepy John Estes and 
Yank Rachel),​ Document 
1988 ​Volume 3: Sacred and Secular, ​Heritage 
1989 ​Avalon Blues (Library of Congress Sessions), ​Flyright 
1994 ​Memorial Anthology​, Edsel 
1996 S
​ atisfied...Live​, Javelin 
1997 M
​ emorial Anthology Volume 2​, Edsel 
2002 ​Make Me A Pallet,​ Hallmark 
2004 D
​ .C. Blues: The Library of Congress Recordings Vol 1, V
​ arese Sarabande 
2005 ​D.C. Blues: The Library of Congress Recordings Vol 2​, Varese Sarabande 
2011​ Discovery: The Rebirth of Mississippi John Hurt,​ Spring Fed  
2015 ​Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James - Live at WTBS Cambridge MA October 1964, 
DOL 
2018 R
​ emastered From the Archives​, Red Bank 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

30
Barbeque Bob  
(September 11, 1902 – October 21, 1931) 
 
Born Robert Hicks to a farming family in rural Walnut Grove, GA, he learned 
to play guitar from the mother of his childhood friend, Curley Weaver. Though he 
began playing the 6 string guitar, by 1924 he had switched to the 12 string guitar, 
playing in the streets and clubs of Atlanta while working in a barbeque restaurant. 
He cut his first recording in 1927 which sold well; he would go on to record 68 songs 
for Columbia Records in his short career. He was notable for his lyricism and 
originality. In one of his most famous tunes he sang, "so glad I'm brownskin, 
chocolate to the bone" - an early expression of Black pride in blues song. He was a 
founding member of the Georgia Cotton Pickers alongside his childhood friend 
Curley Weaver on second guitar and a young Buddy Moss on harmonica, recording 
his last recordings with them in December, 1930. He passed away the following year 
from tuberculosis and pneumonia. He was only 29 years old, but his place as a 
founding father of Atlanta and Georgia blues will always be secure. His music lives 
on! 
 

31
  
 
Discography 
 
1991​ Complete Recorded Works Vol. 2 (1928-1929),​ Document 
1991 C
​ omplete Recorded Works Vol. 3 (1929-1930)​, Document 
1991 C
​ omplete Recorded Works Vol. 1 (1927-1928)​, Document 
1992 ​Chocolate to the Bone​, Yazoo 
2000 ​Pass the Biscuits,​ Orchard 
2001 B
​ arbeque Bob: The Essential​, Classic Blues 

32
2002 B
​ arbeque Blues,​ P-Vine 
2015 B
​ arbeque Bob: Greatest Hits,​ MondoTunes 
2015 T
​ he Rough Guide to Blues Legends: Barbecue Bob,​ World Music Network 
 
 
 
 
 

Eugene "Buddy" Moss  

(January 16, 1914 – October 19, 1984) 
 
Born in Jewel, Georgia to a large sharecropping family, he began his career 
playing harmonica at local parties and at sixteen years old he began busking on the 
streets of Atlanta. Soon after he met Barbeque Bob and Curley Weaver who invited 
Moss to join their group, The Georgia Cotton Pickers, with whom he recorded four 
sides for Columbia in 1930. Barbeque Bob passed away the following year, and by 
1933 Moss was playing the guitar, performing locally with Blind Willie McTell. 
Between 1933 and 1935 he recorded several sides for ARC, which outsold every other 
artist on their roster. In 1935 he teamed up with Josh White for another session, 
but his career was curtailed the following year when he was convicted and 
sentenced to prison for murdering his wife. Following the death of Blind Boy Fuller 
in 1941, Fuller's manager, J.D. Long, along with Columbia records, petitioned the 
authorities to release Moss that same year.  
He enjoyed a brief recording comeback with Sonny Terry and Brownie 
McGhee, but with the start of WWII the government began rationing shellac, 
greatly reducing the number of recordings issued. Furthermore, the musicians 
union instituted a recording ban for all members in 1942. Though the popularity for 
country blues had waned, Moss continued to perform in Virginia, North Carolina 
and his native Georgia throughout the 1940s. He was overlooked by the blues revival 
of the 1960s, but a chance reunion with Josh White in 1964 led to renewed interest 
in his music. Through the remainder of the decade and into the 1970s he performed 
regularly, most notably at the Newport Folk Festival and the National Folk 
Festival. He passed away in Atlanta in 1984. One of the best selling artists of his 
day, he might have enjoyed even greater popularity if not for his time in prison. 
Though he is still not as well known as his contemporaries, the artistry of his music 
has stood the test of time. 

33
  

34
Discography 
 
1967 ​Atlanta Blues Legend​, Biograph 
1968 ​Georgia Blues Volume Two,​ Kokomo 
1982 ​Georgia Blues 1930-1935​, Travelin’ Man 
1984 ​Red River Blues: 1930-1941,​ Travelin’ Man 
1988 B
​ uddy Moss: 1933-1935​, Document 
1993 C
​ omplete Recordings, Vol. 1: 1933,​ Document 
1992​ Complete Recordings Vol. 2: 1933-1934​, Document 
1992 ​Complete Recorded Works, Vols. 1-3,​ Document 
1996​ Buddy Moss: 1930-1941,​ Travelin’ Man 
2002 B
​ uddy Moss: The Essential, Document 
2011​ Atlanta Blues: His 23 Greatest Songs, ​Blues Classics/Wolf 
2015 T
​ he George Mitchell Collection,​ Big Legal Mess 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

35
Bessie Smith  
(April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) 
 
Known as the 'Empress of the Blues', she was born in Chattanooga, TN, 
where as a child she first began performing on the streets with her older brother. In 
1912 she auditioned and was hired as a dancer with the Stokes troupe featuring Ma 
Rainey, who had a profound influence on young Bessie. By 1913, Smith was already 
perfecting her own stage show and soon became the biggest star on the T.O.B.A, the 
Theatre Owners Booking Association (a.k.a. Tough on Black Asses by many artists) 
circuit. In 1923 she signed with Columbia records and quickly became the biggest 
selling artist of the 1920s, travelling with a large entourage of musicians and chorus 
members, often in her own personal railcar. Though she was derided by some as 
being too 'rough' (Harry Pace’s and W.E.B. DuBois' Black Swan Records refused to 
sign her), her music celebrated independence and freedom in a time where most 
Black women were expected to live a life of conformity and servitude as domestics, 
cooks and washerwomen. She also sang about the daily injustices suffered by Black 
people, making her the first recorded blues protest singer. She recorded 168 sides 
for Columbia, often accompanied by jazz legends such as Louis Armstrong, 
Coleman Hawkins, Fletcher Henderson, and James P. Johnson. 
The advent of sound in films in the late 1920s and the onset of the Great 
Depression signaled the end of vaudeville. She continued performing on tour, in 
film, and even on Broadway. She transitioned easily into the new style of the swing 
era, recording with giants of the genre such as Jack Teagarden, Chu Berry, Buck 
Washington and even Benny Goodman. Constantly on the road, she died from 
injuries suffered in a horrific car accident in Clarksdale, Mississippi. At her funeral 
in Philadelphia, 10,000 people came out to pay their respects to the original 
Empress of the Blues. There will never be another Bessie Smith. She was a real 
blues superstar. 
 
 

36
  
 
 
 
 
 
 

37
Discography 
 
78 RPM records on Columbia, 1923-1931: 
 
Gulf Coast Blues 
Down Hearted Blues 
Aggravatin’ Papa 
Beale Street Mama 
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home 
Oh Daddy Blues 
Keeps On A Rainin’ All Time 
Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do 
Outside Of That 
Mama’s Got the Blues 
Bleeding Hearted Blues 
Midnight Blues 
Yodeling Blues 
Lady Luck Blues 
If You Don’t, I Know Who Will 
Nobody In Town Can Bake A Jelly Roll Like My Man 
Jail House Blues 
Graveyard Dream Blues 
Who, Tillie, Take Your Time 
My Sweetie Went Away 
Cemetery Blues 
Any Woman’s Blues 
St. Louis Gal 
Sam Jones’ Blues 
I’m Going Back to My Used to Be 
Far Away Blues 
Mistreatin’ Daddy 
Chicago Bound Blues 
Frosty Mornin’ Blues 
Easy Come Easy Go Blues 
Eavesdropper Blues 
Haunted House Blues 
Boweavil Blues 
Moonshine Blues 
Sorrowful Blues 
Rocking Chair Blues 
Frankie Blues 
Hateful Blues 
Pinchbacks, Take ‘Em Away 
Ticket Agent, Easy Your Window Down 
Louisiana Low Down Blues 
Mountain Top Blues 
House Rent Blues 
Work House Blues 

38
Rainy Weather Blues 
Salt Water Blues 
Bye Bye Blues 
Weeping Willow Blues 
Dying Gambler’s Blues 
Sing Sing Prison Blues 
Follow the Deal On Down 
Sinful Blues 
Reckless Blues 
Sobbin’ Hearted Blues 
Love Me Daddy Blues 
Woman’s Trouble Blues 
Cold In Hand Blues 
St. Louis Blues 
Yellow Dog Blues 
Soft Pedal Blues 
Dixie Flyer Blues 
You’ve Been A Good Ole Wagon 
Careless Love 
He’s Gone Blues 
I Ain’t Goin’ to PLay No Second Fiddle 
Nashville Woman’s Blues 
I Ain’t Got Nobody 
J.C. Holmes Blues 
My Man Blues 
Nobody’s Blues But Mine 
Florida Bound 
New Gulf Coast Blues 
I’ve Been Mistreated And I Don’t Like It 
Red Mountain Blues 
Lonesome Desert Blues 
Golden Rule Blues 
What’s the Matter Now? 
I Want Every Bit of It 
Jazzbo Brown From Memphis Town 
Squeeze Me 
Hard Driving Papa 
Money Blues 
Baby Doll 
Them Has Been Blues 
Lost Your Head Blues 
Gin House Blues 
One and Two Blues 
Honey Man Blues 
Hard Time Blues 
Young Woman’s Blues 
Back Water Blues 
Preachin’ The Blues 
Muddy Water 

39
After You’ve Gone 
Send Me to The ‘Lectric Chair 
Them’s Graveyard Words 
There’ll Be A Hot Time In the Old Town Tonight 
Alexander’s Ragtime Band 
Trombone Cholly 
Lock and Key Blues 
A Good Man Is Hard to Find 
Mean Old Bed Bug 
Mean Mistreater 
Homeless Blues 
Dyin’ By the Hour 
Foolish Man Blues 
I Used to Be Your Sweet Mama  
Thinkin’ Blues 
I’d Rather Be Dead And Buried In My Grave 
Pickpocket Blues 
Empty Bed Blues Pt. 1 
Empty Bed Blues Pt. 2 
Put It Right Here 
Spider Man Blues 
It Won’t Be You 
Standin’ In the Rain Blues 
Devil’s Gonna Get You 
Yes Indeed He Do 
Washerwoman’s Blues 
Please Help Me Get Him Off My Mind 
My And My Gin 
Slow And Easy Man 
You Ought to Be Ashamed 
You’ve Got to Give Me Some 
I’m Wild About That Thing 
Kitchen Man 
I’ve Got What It Takes 
Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out 
Take It Right Back 
It Makes My Love Come Down 
He’s Got Me Goin’ 
Dirty No Gooder’s Blues 
Wasted Life Blues 
Don’t Cry Baby 
You Don’t Understand 
New Orleans Hop Scop Blues 
Keep It to Yourself 
Blues Spirit Blues 
Worn Out Papa Blues 
Moan Moaner’s Blues 
On Revival Day 
 

40
 
78 RPM records on Okeh, 1933: 
 
Do Your Duty 
Take Me For A Buggy Ride 
Gimme A Pigfoot (And A Bottle Of Beer) 
 
 
 
 
 

Washboard Sam 
(July 15, 1910 - November 6, 1966) 
 
Born Robert Clifford Brown in Tennessee, he moved to Memphis as an 
adolescent, sometimes playing street corners with Sleepy John Estes and Hammie 
Nixon. A few years later he moved to Chicago and ended up backing a number of 
artists such as Memphis Slim and Big Bill Broonzy. He first recorded in 1935 and 
enjoyed commercial success for the next decade before retiring in the early 1950s to 
work as a Chicago police officer. He made a brief comeback in the early sixties, 
playing and recording mainly in Chicago. He passed away from heart disease in 
1966. Washboard Sam showed the world that the blues can be played on anything. A 
master percussionist, he was one of the foundational figures of both Memphis and 
Chicago blues. His genius lives on in his music. 
 

41
  
Discography 
 
1953​ Big Bill Broonzy and Washboard Sam​, Chess 
1971 F
​ eeling Lowdown​, RCA Victor 
1971 W
​ ashboard Sam: 1935-1947,​ Story Of the Blues 
1992 ​Rockin’ My Blues Away,​ RCA 
1992​ Harmonica and Washboard Blues (1937-1940), B
​ lack & Blue 
1994 C
​ omplete Recorded Works Vol. 2 (1937-1938),​ Document 
1994 C
​ omplete Recorded Works Vol. 6​, Document 
1994 C
​ omplete Recorded Works Vol. 9 (1939-1940),​ Document 
1994 C
​ omplete Recorded Works Vol. 7​, Document 
1994 C
​ omplete Recorded Works Vol. 3 (1938)​, Document 
1994 C
​ omplete Recorded Works Vol. 5,​ Document 

42
1994 C
​ omplete Recorded Works Vol. 1 (1935-1949)​, Document 
1996 ​The Legendary​, Collector’s Edition 
1997 ​Washboard Blues 1935-1941​, EPM 
2000 ​Washboard Sam 1946-1947,​ Best of Blues/Wolf 
2001 T
​ he Essential​, Classic Blues 
2008 ​She Belongs to The Devil​, Acrobat Music 
2012 ​Brother In Blues,​ Fourmatt 
2014 ​The Washboard Sam Collection: 1935-1953​, Acrobat Music 
2019 ​Diggin’ My Potatoes, ​El Toro 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Walter "Furry" Lewis  

(March 6, 1899 – September 14, 1981) 
 
Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, and raised in Memphis, he began playing in 
local taverns, at parties and on street corners around 1908. The legendary W.C 
Handy invited Lewis on several engagements early in his career; on tour he likely 
crossed paths with Bessie Smith, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Texas Alexander. By 
1922 Lewis became tired of traveling and took a day job as a street sweeper, a 
position which he held for over 40 years. He cut his first records for Vocalion in 
Chicago in 1927 and again in Memphis in 1929, resulting in the classics "Kassie 
Jones", "Judge Harsh Blues", and traditional, pre-blues songs like "John Henry" and 
"Stack-o-Lee". He withdrew from touring and recording soon after, coming out of 
retirement in the folk blues revival of the 1960s. Never changing his traditional 
style, he achieved near stardom in the 1970s. The Rolling Stones invited him twice 
to be their opening act, he performed on T
​ he Tonight Show​ Starring Johnny 
Carson, and ​Playboy m
​ agazine interviewed him for a profile. He even appeared in a 
Burt Reynolds movie (​W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings,​ 1975). By the end of the 
seventies his health had begun to decline and he lost his vision due to cataracts. He 
passed away in Memphis in 1981 from heart failure. A legendary bluesman and 
storyteller, he was the only artist of his generation to achieve near celebrity status, 

43
all while staying true to his roots. Many artists since have covered his material, but 
there will never be another Furry Lewis.

 
 
 
 
 
 

44
Discography 
 
78 RPM on Vocalion, 1927-1929: 
 
Why Don’t You Come Home Blues/Mean Old Bedbug Blues 
Rock Island Blues/Everybody’s Blues 
Jellyroll/Mr. Furry’s Blues 
Good Looking Girl Blues/Billy Lyons and Stack O’ Lee 
Black Gypsy Blues/Creeper’s Blues 
 
 
78 RPM on Victor, 1928: 
Mistreatin’ Mama/ Furry’s Blues 
 
 
1960 F
​ urry Lewis,​ Folkways 
1961 B
​ ack On My Feet Again​, Prestige Bluesville 
1961​ Done Changed My Mind​, Prestige Bluesville 
1968 ​The 1968 Memphis Country Blues Festival (with Bukka White, Rev. Robert Wilkins, et 
al)​, Blue Horizon 
1969 ​Presenting the Country Blues​, Blue Horizon 
1969 ​On The Road Again (with Bukka White and Gus Cannon)​, Adelphi 
1970 ​When I Lay My Burden Down (with Fred McDowell)​, Biograph 
1970 ​Furry Lewis in Memphis​, Saydisc Matchbox 
1971 B
​ eale Street Blues​, Barclay 
1971 L
​ ive At The Gaslight At The Au Go Go​, Ampex 
1971 O
​ ld Original Tennessee Blues (with John Estes and Will Shade),​ Revival  
1972 T
​ he Alabama State Troupers (with Don Nix, Jeannie Green et al),​ Elektra 
1972 A
​ t Home With Friends (with Bukka White)​, ASP 
1973 ​The Fabulous Furry Lewis,​ Southland  
1999​ Blues Magician​, Lucky Seven 
2000 ​Take Your Time (with Lee Baker Jr.)​, Adelphi/Genes 
2003 ​Good Morning Judge,​ Fat Possum 
2003 ​Heroes Of The Blues: The Very Best of Furry Lewis,​ Shout! Factory 
2004 P
​ arty At Home: Recorded in Memphis in 1968​, Arcola 
2007 T
​ he Complete Blue Horizon Sessions​, BMG 
2013 H
​ is Greatest Hits​, Hifi Hits 
 
 
 
 

45
 
 
 
 

Blind Boy Fuller 

(July 10, 1904 or 1907 - February 13, 1941) 
 
He was born Fulton Allen to a large sharecropping family of ten siblings in 
Wadesboro, North Carolina. His mother died when he was young and he moved 
with his father to Rockingham, where he would learn to play guitar. He started 
losing his eyesight in his mid-teens, becoming completely blind by 1928. Soon after, 
he began playing street corners and house parties in Danville, Virginia as well as 
Winston Salem and Durham. His biggest influences were records by Blind Lemon 
Jefferson and the music of fellow Durham resident and his guitar teacher, the great 
Rev. Gary Davis. It was with his teacher that he first recorded in 1935 for the 
American Recording Company; he went on to cut 120 sides for several labels over 
the next five years. He was jailed from 1938 to 1940, the year of his last recording 
session. He passed away in Durham the next year from kidney disease. Along with 
Blind Blake and Buddy Moss, he was one of the biggest selling blues artists of his 
time whose influence can still be heard in the Piedmont region and around the 
world. He was hands down one of the greatest and most influential bluesmen who 
ever lived. 
 

46
  
Discography 
 
78 RPM records on ARC/Vocalion, 1935-1937: 
 
Baby I Don’t Have To Worry (with Rev. Gary Davis, gtr) 
I’m A Rattlesnakin’ Daddy (with Davis) 
I’m Climbin’ On Top Of The Hill (with Davis) 
Ain’t It A Cryin’ Shame (with Davis) 
Rag Mama Rag (with Davis, gtr and Bull City Red, washboard) 

47
Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind (with Davis, gtr and Bull City Red, wb) 
Evil Hearted Woman (with Bull City Red) 
My Brownskin Sugar Plum 
Somebody’s Been Playing With That Thing 
Log Cabin Blues 
Homesick and Lonesome Blues 
Walking My Troubles Away 
Black And Tan 
Keep Away From My Woman 
Baby You Got To Do Better 
Big Bed Blues 
Truckin’ My Blues Away 
She’s Funny That Way 
Cat Man Blues 
When Your Gal Packs Up And Leaves 
Mama Let Me Lay It On You 
If You Don’t Give Me What I Want (with Floyd Council, gtr and Bull City Red, wb) 
Boots and Shoes (with Floyd Council, gtr) 
Truckin’ My Blues Away No. 2 (with Bull City Red, wb) 
Sweet Honey Hole (with Bull City Red) 
Untrue Blues (with Bull City Red) 
Tom Cat Blues 
My Baby Don’t Mean Me No Good 
Been Your Dog 
My Best Gal Gonna Leave Me 
Wires All Down 
Let Me Squeeze Your Lemon 
Death Alley 
Mamie 
New Oh Red! (with Floyd Council, gtr and Bull City Red, wb) 
If You See My Pigmeat 
Stingy Mama 
Why Don’t My Baby Write To Me 
Someday You’re Gonna Be Sorry 
You Never Can Tell 
Put You Back In Jail 
Walking And Looking Blues 
Bulldog Blues 
Break Of Day Blues 
Oh Zee Zas Rag (with Bull City Red, wb) 
Throw Your Yas Yas Back In Jail 
Snake Woman Blues 
Mojo Hidin’ Woman 
Steel Hearted Woman 
Ain’t No Gettin’ Along 
Careless Love 
New Louise Louise Blues 
Mistreater You’re Gonna Be Sorry (with Sonny Terry, harmonica) 
Bye Bye Baby Blues (with Sonny Terry) 

48
Looking For My Woman No. 2 (with Sonny Terry) 
Shaggy Like A Bear 
Ten O’Clock Peeper (with Floyd Council) 
Hungry Calf Blues 
Too Many Women Blues 
Oozin’ You Off My Mind (with Floyd Council) 
Shake That Shimmy (with Floyd Council) 
Heart Ease Blues (with Floyd Council) 
I’m Going To Move To The Edge Of Town (with Sonny Terry) 
Pistol Slapper Blues (with Sonny Terry) 
Mean And No Good Woman (with Sonny Terry) 
Georgia Ham Mama (with Sonny Terry) 
Piccolo Rag 
Funny Feelin’ Blues 
Painful Hearted Man 
You’ve Got To Move It Out 
Mama Let Me Lay It On You 
Meat Shakin’ Woman 
I’m A Good Stem Winder 
What Smells Like Fish (with Bull City Red) 
She’s A Truckin’ Little Baby (with Bull City Red) 
Jivin’ Woman Blues (with Bull City Red) 
You’re Laughing Now (with Sonny Terry) 
Stop Jivin’ Me Mama (with Bull City Red)  
Longtime Trucker (with Sonny Terry) 
Big House Bound (with Sonny Terry) 
Flyin’ Airplane Blues (with Bull City Red and Sonny Terry) 
Get Your Yas Yas Out (with Bull City Red) 
Jitterbug Rag (with Bull City Red) 
Screamin’ And Crying’ Blues 
Blacksnakin’ Jiver 
I Don’t Care How Long (with Sonny Terry, harmonica) 
You’ve Got Something There (with Bull City Red, wb and Sonny Jones, gtr) 
Baby Quit Your Lowdown Ways 
It Doesn’t Matter Baby 
Blackbottom Blues 
I Crave My Pig Meat (with Bull City Red)  
Big Leg Woman Gets My Pay (with Bull City Red) 
I’m A Stranger Here (with Sonny Terry) 
Red’s Got The Piccolo Blues (with Bull City Red and Sonny Jones) 
I Want Some Of Your Pie (with Bull City Red and Sonny Terry) 
Jivin’ Big Bill Blues (with Sonny Terry) 
Woman You Better Wake Up (with Sonny Terry) 
 
 
78 RPM records on ARC/Okeh, 1940: 
 
Step It Up And Go (with Bull City Red) 

49
Worn Out Engine Blues 
Blue And Worried Man (with Bull City Red and Sonny Terry) 
Passenger Train Woman 
Shake It Baby (with Bull City Red) 
Somebody Been Talkin’ (with Bull City Red and Sonny Terry) 
Three Ball Blues (with Sonny Terry) 
Little Woman You’re So Sweet  
Harmonica Stomp (with Bull City Red and Sonny Terry) 
Good Feelin’ Blues (with Bull City Red and Sonny Terry) 
You Can’t Hide From The Lord (with Bull City Red and Sonny Terry) 
Twelve Gates To The City (with Bull City Red and Sonny Terry) 
Crooked Woman Blues 
I Don’t Want No Skinny Woman (with Bull City Red and Sonny Terry) 
Bus Rider Blues (with Bull City Red and Sonny Terry) 
You’ve Got To Have Your Dollar (with Sonny Terry) 
Lost Lover Blues (with Bull City Red) 
Thousand Woman Blues 
Bye Bye Baby (with Sonny Terry) 
When You Are Gone 
No Stranger Now (with Sonny Terry, harmonica and Oh Red, washboard) 
Must Have Been My Jesus (with Sonny Terry and Oh Red) 
Jesus Is A Holy Man (with Sonny Terry and Oh Red) 
Precious Lord (with Brownie McGhee, vocal, Jordan Webb, harmonica and Oh Red, wb) 
Night Ramblin’ Woman  
Forty-Four Whistle Blues (with Sonny Terry) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

50
Johnny Shines 
(April 26, 1915 – April 20, 1992) 
 
Born and raised in Memphis, his mother taught him to play guitar at an early 
age. In 1932 he moved to Hughes, Arkansas to work in agriculture and met Robert 
Johnson, with whom he traveled and performed for two years. He continued 
performing and in 1941 settled in Chicago, where he worked construction and 
played local bars. He recorded in 1946 and again in 1950 but the material went 
unreleased. He recorded for JOB records in 1952, but the recordings sold poorly and 
Shines returned to working construction full time. He recorded again for Vanguard 
in 1966, and the release of these recordings sparked renewed interest in his music. 
In 1969 he moved to Alabama and continued playing both locally and 
internationally. He performed often with Robert Jr. Lockwood in the 60s and 70s 
before suffering a stroke in 1980. In the nineties he appeared in the documentary 
film, The Search for Robert Johnson. His last album, B
​ ack to the Country,​ won a 
W.C. Handy award. He passed away in Tuscaloosa in 1992 and was inducted into the 
Blues Hall of Fame that same year. One of the last of the great Delta bluesmen, 
Shines' career spanned the decades before and after WWII, proving that real blues 
has no expiration date. He never gave up. 
 

51
  
 
Discography 
 
1968 ​Last Night’s Dream​, Warner Bros 
1969 ​Johnny Shines (with Big Walter Horton),​ Shout!/Testament 
1970 ​Standin’ At The Crossroads,​ Shout! 
1972 C
​ hicago Blues Festival, B
​ lack and Blue 
1972 S
​ itting On Top Of The World​, Biograph 
1974 C
​ ountry Blues, X
​ tra 
1974​ Johnny Shines,​ Advent 
1975 ​Too Wet To Plow​, Blues Alliance 
1976 ​Johnny Shines​, Shout!/Hightone 
1978 ​Hey Ba-Ba-Re-Bop​, Rounder 
1980 H
​ angin’ On, R
​ ounder 
1980 D
​ ust My Broom​, Flyright 
1991 T
​ raditional Delta Blues, B
​ iograph 

52
1991 J
​ ohnny Shines and Robert Lockwood, P
​ aula 
1991 B
​ ack To The Country,​ Blind Pig 
1992 ​Mr. Cover Shaker,​ Biograph 
1994 M
​ asters Of Modern Blues, ​Biograph 
1996 ​Worried Blues Ain’t Bad,​ Blues Alliance 
1998 ​1915-1992, ​Wolf 
1999 ​One Half Mile From Hell,​ Genes 
2002 E
​ vening Shuffle: The Complete JOB Recordings, 1952-1953, ​West Side 
2002 T
​ akin’ The Blues Back South​, Black and Blue 
2003 ​Heritage Of The Blues:Skull And Crossbones Blues​, Shout!/Hightone 
2003 ​Johnny Shines With Phillip Walker​, P-Vine 
2003 ​Live At Yuhbin Hall 1975​, Bourbon 
2005​ Live In Europe 1975​, Document 
2008 ​Sunnyland Slim and Johnny Shines: The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions​, Blue 
Horizon 
2014 ​Live in 1970: Acoustic And Electric,​ Rockbeat 
2018 H
​ otter Than A Bulldog Spittin’ In A Polecat’s Eye: Live 1975 (with Mable Hillery)​, 
American Music Productions 
2019 ​The Blues Came Falling Down: Live 1973,​ Omnivore 
 
 
 
 
 

Precious Bryant  
(January 4, 1942 - January 12, 2013) 
 
Born in Talbot county, Georgia to a musical family of nine, she had learned to 
play guitar by age nine, taught by her father and uncle, blues musician George 
Henry Bussey. As a girl she sang in church, and listened to country blues as well as 
traditional Georgia fife and drums. In 1965 she dropped out of high school, got 
married and began playing for tips wherever she could, playing both original and 
traditional songs. First recorded in 1969, it wasn't until 1983 that she performed at 
her first big event, the Chattahoochee Folk festival in Columbus, GA. She continued 
to perform live and went on to release two studio albums, F
​ ool Me Good​ (2002) and 
The Truth​ (2005) before passing away from congestive heart failure in 2013. I was 
fortunate enough to meet her before she transitioned, and found her to be as sweet 

53
and kind to the people she met as she was dangerous on the guitar. Along with Ma 
Rainey and Ida Cox, she ranks as one of the great Georgia blues women. She lives on 
through her music. 
 

 
 
Discography 
 
2002 F
​ ool Me Good​, Terminus 
2005 ​The Truth​, Terminus 
2005 ​My Name Is Precious​, Music Maker 
2012 ​Gran’mas I’ve Never Had​, Moi J’connais 
 
 
 

54
 
 

Bo Carter  
(June 30, 1893 – September 21, 1964) 
 
Born in Bolton, Mississippi with the name Armenter, he was a member of the 
famous Chatmon family. He and his brothers first learned music from their father, 
the formerly enslaved Henderson Chatmon. He first recorded in 1928 backing Alec 
Johnson, and before long began recording solo. As one of the most well-known 
artists of the 1930s, he cut 110 sides of mostly original material. A lot of his material 
was what was known as ‘hokum’, x-rated and double entendre lyrics that elicited 
laughter, blushes and gasps from some listeners. Not only a writer and performer, 
he also managed the family band, The Mississippi Sheiks, as well as several other 
regional acts. Known for his versatility, he performed for his own community as 
well as white audiences. He became partially blind in the 1930s but continued to 
farm and perform with his brothers. In the 1940s he retired from the music 
industry and moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he passed away from a cerebral 
hemorrhage in 1964. Blues wouldn't be the same without Bo Carter. He was simply a 
giant of Mississippi music and an American treasure. 
 

55
  
 
 
 
Discography 
 
78 RPM records on Okeh, 1930-1932: 
 
Cracking Them Things/Back To MIssissippi (with the Mississippi Sheiks) 
What Kind Of Scent Is This/I’ve Got A Case Of Mashin’ It 
Pin In Your Cushion/I Love That Thing 
Howlin’ Tom Cat Blues/Sorry Feeling Blues 
I’m An Old Bumble Bee/I’ve Got The Whole World In My Hand 
Grinding Old Fool/Jake Leg Blues 

56
Last Go Round/So Long Baby, So Long 
 
78 RPM records on Bluebird, 1934-1940: 
 
Sweet Maggie/Sales Tax (with the Mississippi Sheiks) 
Banana In The Fruit Basket/Pin In Your Cushion 
Old Shoe Blues/Let Me Roll Your Lemon 
Please Warm My Weiner/She’s Gonna Crawl Back Home To You 
Blue Runner Blues/Fifty-Fifty With Me 
All Around Man/Cigarette Blues 
T Baby Blues/Erie Train Blues (with Milton Sparks) 
Let’s Get Drunk Again/Ways Like A Catfish 
Your Biscuits Are Big Enough For Me/Trouble In Blues 
Policy Blues/My Baby 
Pussy Cat Blues/Worried G Blues 
The Ins And Outs Of My Gal/Don’t Mash My Digger So Deep 
Fat Mouth Blues/You Better Know Your Business 
Ain’t Nobody Got It/Rolling Blues 
Ants In My Pants/Ram Rod Daddy,​ Vocalion 
 
 
1968 ​Greatest Hits 1930-1940,​ Yazoo 
1972 T
​ wist It Babe 1931-1940,​ Yazoo 
1979 ​Banana In Your Fruit Basket: Red Hot Blues 1931-1936,​ Yazoo 
1982 ​The Best Of Bo Carter Vol. 1 1928-1940​, Earl Archives 
1987 ​1931-1949​, Old Tramp 
1988 1​ 928-1938​, Document 
1989 ​The Rarest Bo Carter Vol. 1930-1938​, Document/Earl Archives 
1991 C
​ omplete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Vol. 1-5 1928-1931,​ Document 
2000 ​Bo Carter’s Advice​, Catfish 
2001 T
​ he Essential​, Classic Blues 
2011 ​Bo Carter And The Mississippi Sheiks,​ JSP 
2014​ St. Charles Blues(with Sonny Boy Nelson),​ Nehi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

57
Mississippi Joe Callicott  
(October 10, 1899 – May 1969) 
 
This farmer, bluesman and songster was born in the hill country town of 
Nesbit. He first recorded backing Garfield Akers on second guitar in 1928. He 
recorded another 78 for Brunswick in 1930 and withdrew from the scene until 1967, 
when George Mitchell recorded him. He enjoyed a brief comeback until his death 
two years later. His singing and playing represented the best of the traditional blues 
from northern Mississippi. His compositions, such as the funky "You Don't Know 
My Mind" and the plaintive "Fare Thee Well" are timeless classics that have 
influenced scores of blues and rock musicians. 
 

58
59
Discography 
 
78 RPM record on Brunswick, 1930 
Fare Thee Well Blues/Traveling Mama Blues 
 
1968 ​The Memphis Country Blues Festival (with Bukka White, Furry Lewis, et al)​, Blue 
Horizon 
1969 ​Presenting The Country Blues​, Blue Horizon 
1970 ​Deal Gone Down​, Revival 
2003 ​Ain’t A Gonna Lie To You​, Fat Possum 
 
 
 
 
 

Sam Chatmon 
(January 10, 1897 – February 2, 1983) 
 
Born Vivian Chatmon in Mississippi to a well known musical family, he 
began playing guitar at three years old. In his youth he played regularly with the 
family string band, entertaining white and Black audiences with a repertoire of 
ballads, rags, and popular dance tunes of the day. He also played banjo, mandolin 
and harmonica. His two brothers, Bo Carter and Lonnie Chatmon played guitar and 
fiddle with the Mississippi Sheiks, a legendary blues ensemble that recorded and 
enjoyed considerable popularity. In the 1930s he first recorded with the Sheiks; he 
also performed at social functions and on local street corners for spare change. In 
the 1940s he withdrew from actively pursuing a music career, and worked on 
plantations near Hollandale. In 1960 he recorded again for Arhoolie records, 
sparking renewed interest in his music. He toured extensively in the 1960s and 
1970s, playing many of the largest festivals in the US and Canada including the New 
Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival, and the Smithsonian Folklife festival in 
Washington DC. He passed away in Mississippi in 1982. Sam Chatmon was a 
walking encyclopedia of the blues who endured throughout the decades to be 
celebrated as a true elder statesman, one of the last exponents of traditional 
acoustic blues. He was a true Mississippi icon who will never be forgotten. 
 

60
  
 
Discography 
 
1972 T
​ he Mississippi Sheik​, Blue Goose 
1977​ Hollandale Blues, ​Albatros 
1979 ​Sam Chatmon’s Advice​, Rounder 
1980 S
​ am Chatmon and His Barbeque Boys, ​Flying Fish 
1999 ​1970-1974​, Flyright 
2006 ​Blues When It Rains,​ Dynamic 
2013 N
​ obody But Me/Nobody’s Gonna Hurt You,​ Popcorn 
 
 

61
Big Bill Broonzy 
(June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) 
 
Born Lee Conley Bradley to a large family of seventeen children, he was 
raised near Pine Bluff, where he began playing a homemade fiddle at the age of ten. 
He entertained at social and church functions as a duo with a friend who played 
homemade guitar. By 1915 he was working as a sharecropper, but a drought the next 
year ruined his fortunes. He fought in Europe for two years during WWI, settling in 
Chicago in 1920. Switching from the fiddle, he learned to play guitar from Papa 
Charlie Jackson and spent the next decade playing numerous rent parties and 
social gatherings. He cut his first record for Paramount in 1927 and continued 
recording for a variety of labels throughout the 1930s and 40s as his popularity 
grew. He continued to develop as a songwriter, and was in high demand as a 
composer; he copyrighted over 300 songs during his lifetime, many of which 
became blues standards. His star continued to rise and in 1951 he toured Europe 
and was well received; later tours would bring him to Africa. In 1957 he became one 
of the founding members of Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. He passed 
away the next year from throat cancer. Though he had a short life, Big Bill Broonzy 
was a musical giant who made his mark on the blues and beyond. He will never be 
forgotten. 
 

62
63
 
Discography 
 
78 RPM records and singles: 
 
1927 B
​ ig Bill’s Blues/House Rent Stomp,​ Paramount 
1930 S
​ tation Blues,​ Paramount 
1930 S
​ aturday Night Rub​, Perfect 
1930 I​ Can’t Be Satisfied, P
​ erfect 
1932 ​Mistreatin’ Mama,​ Champion 
1934 A
​ t The Break Of Day,​ Bluebird 
1934 C
​ .C. Rider, M
​ elotone 
1935 ​Midnight Special,​ Vocalion 
1935 ​Bricks In My Pillow,​ ARC 
1936 ​Matchbox Blues,​ ARC 
1937 M
​ ean Old World,​ Melotone 
1937 L
​ ouise Louise Blues,​ Vocalion 
1938 N
​ ew Shake ‘Em On Down,​ Vocalion 
1938 N
​ ight Time Is The Right Time,​ Vocalion 
1939 ​Just A Dream, V
​ ocalion 
1939 ​Too Many Drivers​, Vocalion 
1940 ​You Better Cut That Out​, Okeh 
1940 ​Lonesome Road Blues,​ Okeh 
1940 ​Rockin’ Chair Blues,​ Okeh 
1941 A
​ ll By Myself,​ Okeh 
1941 K
​ ey To The Highway,​ Okeh 
1941 W
​ ee Wee Hours,​ Okeh 
1941​ I Feel So Good​, Okeh 
1942 ​I’m Gonna Move To The Outskirts of Town​, Okeh 
1945 P
​ lease Believe Me,​ Hub 
1945 W
​ hy Did You Do That To Me​, Hub 
1951 H
​ ey Hey, M
​ ercury 
 
 
1951​ In Concert​, Raretone 
1952 B
​ lues,​ Sceptre 
1953​ Big Bill Broonzy and Washboard Sam​, Chess 
1954 F
​ olk Blues​, Emarcy 
1955 ​Big Bill Broonzy Sings​, Essential Media/Period 

64
1956 ​Big Bill Broonzy Sings Folk Songs,​ Smithsonian Folkways 
1956 ​In Paris,​ Vogue 
1957 ​Country Blues​, Smithsonian Folkways 
1957 ​The Historic Recordings​, Southland 
1958​ Blues By Broonzy,​ Emarcy 
1959 ​Blues With big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee​, Folkways 
1960 T
​ he Bill Broonzy Story,​ Verve 
1961 T
​ he Last Session Pt. 2 and 3​, Verve 
2000 ​Trouble In Mind​, Smithsonian Folkways 
2002 ​On Tour In Britain 1952: Live In England And Scotland​, Jasmine 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Richard "Hacksaw" Harney 

(July 16, 1902 - December 25, 1973) 
 
Though his church deacon father had given up music, he taught his children 
to play. Originally from Marvel, Arkansas, he was playing music on the street 
corners of Greenville, Mississippi by the age of twelve. He farmed for a while, 
relocating to Cincinnati for a time in the early 1920s to play bass in a jazz band. 
Moving back to the Mississippi Delta, he employed himself as a piano tuner and 
repairman. He was reported to be an admirer of Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charley 
Patton, though his own jazzy approach had much more in common with East coast 
and Piedmont styles. He influenced Robert Johnson, whom he played with 
regularly. Though a speech impediment kept him from singing, he was widely 
renowned for his expert musicianship on several instruments. He formed a guitar 
duo with his brother that ended abruptly with the latter's death by stabbing, 
effectively ending Harney's professional musical career. He was still working as a 
piano tuner and repairman when he was rediscovered in 1969. He spent the next 
few years touring and playing before succumbing to stomach cancer in 1973. 
 

65
  
Discography 
 
78 RPM records for Columbia, 1928: 
Twelve Pound Daddy/Little Rock Blues (with Pearl Dickson) 
The Crowing Rooster/Leaving Home Blues (with Walter Rhodes) 
 
 
1972 ​Sweet Man​, Adelphi 
 
 
 

66
Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson   
(February 8, 1899 – June 16, 1970)  
 
Born in New Orleans to a family of musicians, this highly influential jazz and 
blues guitarist was a multi-instrumentalist who played piano, violin and mandolin 
since his youth. His entire family, except his brother James, died in the 1918 
influenza epidemic. He settled in St. Louis, playing riverboats and orchestras with 
his brother on piano. In 1925 he entered a contest and won a recording contract 
with Okeh, cutting approximately 130 sides between 1925 and 1932, which sold well. 
During this time he recorded with Victoria Spivey and Texas Alexander; he also 
toured with Bessie Smith. In 1927 and 1928 he recorded with both Louis Armstrong 
and Duke Ellington, showcasing a style that later heavily influenced Django 
Reinhardt, Charlie Christian and B.B. King. He is hailed as the pioneer of the 
single-string guitar solo and is also credited as being the first to play electric violin. 
In 1929 he began working with white jazz guitarist Eddie Lang, marking the first 
time that a white and Black musician recorded together as equal partners. He later 
moved to Chicago, performing and recording for Bluebird and Decca. Ever the 
innovator, he recorded in the new rhythm and blues style that became hugely 
popular after WWII. He scored a hit in 1948 with his cover of "Tomorrow Night", 
which sold three million copies. He enjoyed a resurgence during the folk and blues 
revival of the 1960s, touring and recording in Europe. He moved to Toronto in 1965 
and in 1969 he suffered a serious car accident from which he never fully recovered. 
He died of a stroke in 1970. An expert jazz/blues singer and composer, Lonnie 
Johnson will always be remembered as the creator of the guitar solo. All guitarists, 
regardless of genre, owe him a huge debt for his tremendous contribution.  
 

67
  

68
Discography 
 
78 RPM records 1926-1970: 
 
Okeh releases: 
Mr. Johnson’s Blues/Falling Rain Blues 
There’s No Use Of Lovin’/Baby Please Tell Me 
Baby You Don’t Know My Mind/A Good Happy Home 
I Have No Sweet Woman Now/Lonnie’s Got The Blues 
Sweet Woman You Can’t Go Wrong/St. Louis Cyclone Blues 
Southbound Water/Back Water Blues 
Mean Old Bed Bug Blues/Roaming Rambler Blues 
Sweet Woman, See For Yourself/Ball And Chain Blues 
Playing With The Strings/Stompin’ Em Along Slow 
Kansas City Blues/Tin Can Alley Blues 
Bitin’ Fleas Blues 
Blues In G/Away Down In The Alley Blues 
A Broken Heart Never Smiles/Wrong Woman Blues 
Stay Out Of Walnut Street Alley/Broken Levee Blues 
Blues Ghost Blues/Life Saver Blues 
Sweet Potato Blues/Bed Bug Blues Part 2 
It Feels So Good (with Spencer Williams) 
Two Tone Stomp/Have To Change Keys To Play These Blues (with Blind Willie Dunn) 
When You Fall For Someone That’s Not Your Own/Careless Love 
You Can’t Give A Woman Everything She Needs/From Now On Make Your Whoopee At 
Home 
You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now (with Victoria Spivey) 
Death Is On Your Track/I Want A Little Some O’ That What You Got 
I’m So Tired Of Living All Alone/Low Land Moan 
Monkey And The Baboon/Wipe It Off (with Clarence Williams) 
Don’t Drive Me From Your Door/I Got The Best Jelly Roll In Town Part 2 
She’s Making Whoopee In Hell Tonight/Death Valley Is Just Halfway To My Home 
You Had Too Much/Don’t Wear It Out (with Violet Green) 
The Dirty Dozen/She Don’t Know Who She Wants (with Clarence Williams) 
Toothache Blues (with Victoria Spivey) 
Hot Fingers/Blue Deep Rhythm Stomp (with Clarence Williams) 
New Black Snake Blues Part 1 and 2 
No More Troubles Now/Sam, You Can’t Do That To Me 
Crowing Rooster Blues/Way Down That Lonesome Road 
Sun-Down Blues/Baby Please Don’t Leave Home No More 
 
 
Decca releases: 
Man Killing Broad/Got The Blues From The West End 
Hard Times Ain’t Gone No Where/Something Fishy (Don’t Lie To Me) 
New Falling Rain Blues 
Friendless And Blue/Devil’s Got The Blues 

69
Laplegged Drunk Again/Blue Ghost Blues 
I Ain’t Gonna Be Your Fool/Mr. Johnson Swing 
It Ain’t What You Usta Be/I’m Nut Over You (But You Just A Teaser) 
Swing Out Rhythm 
 
RCA Victor releases: 
I Did All I Could/Crowing Rooster 
In Love Again/Get Yourself Together 
My Love Is Down/Somebody’s Got To Go 
Lonesome Road/Watch Shorty 
 
 
Bluebird releases: 
Why Women Go Wrong/She’s Only A Woman 
Get Yourself Together/Don’t Be No Fool 
Be Careful/I’m Just Dumb 
Somebody’s Got To Go/She Ain’t Right 
Lazy Woman Blues/In Love Again 
He’s A Jelly Roll Baker/When You Feel Low Down 
From 20 To 44/The Last Call 
Heart Of Iron/The Devil’s Woman 
Fly Right, Baby/Rambler’s Blues 
Lonesome Road/Baby, Remember Me 
Watch Shorty/Someday Baby 
My Love Is Down/Somebody’s Got To Go 
 
Disc releases: 
I’m In Love With Love/Tell Me Why 
Solid Blues/Rocks In My Bed 
Keep What You Got/Why I Love You 
Drifting Away Blues/In Love Again 
Blues In My Soul/Blues For Everybody 
How Could You Be So Mean/My Last Love 
 
King releases: 
I Am So Glad/Working Man’s Blues 
So Tired/Tell Me Little Woman 
In Love Again/I Want My Baby 
Bewildered/I Know Its Love 
Pleasing You (As Long As I Live)/Feel So Lonesome 
You Take Romance/I Found A Dream 
She’s So Sweet/Don’t Play Bad With My Love 
You’re Mine You/My My Baby 
Blues Stay Away From Me/Confused 
I’m So Afraid/Trouble Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues 
Nothin’ Clickin’ Chicken/I’m So Crazy For Love 
When I’m Gone/Little Rockin’ Chair 
Me And My Crazy Self/My Mother’s Eyes 

70
Fallin’ Rain Blues/Goodnight Darling 
Happy New Year Darling/Back Water Blues 
Nobody’s Loving Me/Nothing But Trouble 
You Can’t Buy Love/Just Another Day 
I’m Guilty/Can’t Sleep Anymore 
Tomorrow Night/What A Woman 
Lonnie Johnson Sings 
Love Me Tonight/Brenda 
Blues Stay Away From Me 
Lucky Dreamer 
Drunk Again/Jelly Roll Baker 
You Only Want Me When You’re Lonely/It Was All In Vain 
 
Melodisc releases: 
Blues In My Soul/Keep What You Got 
Blues For Everybody/In Love Again 
 
Prestige Bluesville releases: 
Don’t Ever Love/You Don’t Move Me 
I’ll Get Along Somehow/Memories Of You 
 
Parlophone: 
Lonnie’s Blues 
Jenny’s Ball/Two Tone Stomp (with Eddie Lang and Mamie Smith) 
A Handful Of Riffs/Bullfrog Moan (with Eddie Lang) 
 
Rama releases: 
Tomorrow Night/What A Woman 
Stick With It Baby/Will You Remember 
 
Federal releases: 
Friendless Blues/What A Real Woman 
 
Brunswick: 
This Is The Blues Vol. 3 
 
Harmony releases​: 
It Feels So Good/Furniture Man Blues 
 
Paradise releases: 
Lonesome Day Blues/Tell Me Baby 
Tomorrow Night/Dizzy Dazzy 
 
Aladdin releases: 
How Could You/Love Is The Answer 
 

71
 
Vogue releases: 
Happy New Year, Darling/Little Rocking Chair 
 
 
1947​ Blues​, Disc 
1958 L
​ onesome Road,​ King 
1960 B
​ lues By Lonnie Johnson, ​Original Blues Classics 
1960 B
​ lues And Ballads (with Elmer Snowden)​, Fantasy/OBC 
1960 B
​ lues, Ballads and Jumping Jazz Vol. 2​, Original Blues Classics 
1960 L
​ osing Game,​ Prestige Bluesville 
1961 I​ dle Hours (with Victoria Spivey)​, Prestige Bluesville 
1962 ​Woman Blues (with Victoria Spivey)​, Prestige Bluesville 
1962 ​Another Night To Cry,​ Original Blues Classics 
1964 P
​ ortraits In Blues (with Otis Spann),​ Storyville 
1964 T
​ hree Kings And The Queen (with Victoria Spivey, Big Joe Williams et al)​, Spivey 
1965 ​The Queen And Her Knights (with Victoria Spivey, Memphis Slim et al),​ Spivey 
1965 ​Stompin’ At The Penny,​ Legacy/Sony Music 
1982 M
​ r. Trouble Blues And Ballads,​ Folkways 
1982 T
​ ears Don’t Fall No More Blues And Ballads, F
​ olkways 
1990 S
​ teppin’ On The Blues,​ Columbia 
2000 ​The Unsung Blues Legend: The Living Room Session​, Blues Magnet 
2008 ​Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson​, Range 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

72
 
Frank Stokes 
(Jan 01, 1887 (?) - Sep 12, 1955) 
 
` Born in Tennessee and raised in Tutwiler Mississippi, this "father of the 
Memphis Blues", learned to play guitar in his hometown and in nearby Hernando, 
the home of guitarists Jim Jackson, Dan Sane, Elijah Avery (of Cannon's Jug 
Stompers), and Robert Wilkins. A professional Blacksmith, Stokes regularly 
traveled to Memphis to play music on Beale St In the mid 1910s, he toured with the 
Doc Watts medicine show as a blackface performer, songster, comedian and buck 
dancer. Throughout the early to mid 1920s, he entertained his own community as 
well as local white audiences, playing a combination of early and pre-blues songs, 
folk tunes, and contemporary popular material.  
He teamed up with Dan Sane, performing as the Beale Street Sheiks, signing 
with Paramount in 1927. Their witty lyrics and highly danceable duets influenced a 
young Memphis Minnie in her work with her husband, Kansas Joe McCoy. In 1928 
The Sheiks recorded several sides for Victor while continuing to entertain at local 
parties, fish frys and on street corners. In 1929 he made his last recordings for the 
label with fiddler Will Batts, though their old-timey music had begun to fall out of 
favor with the younger generations.  
Stokes continued playing live, touring with Ringling Bros Circus and 
appearing at tent shows in the 1930s and 1940s. Later he moved to Clarksdale, 
Mississippi where he sometimes traveled to nearby Memphis to play with Bukka 
White. He passed away after suffering a stroke in 1955. After his death he was 
inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of fame. Frank Stokes represented the link 
between the younger blues generations and the vaudeville minstrel music of the late 
19th century. He left an indelible mark on the music that can never be erased. 
 

73
  
Discography 
 
78 RPM records on Victor 1928-1929: 
Stop That Thing/Nehi Mama Blues 
I Got Mine/How Long 
Mistreatin’ Blues/It Won’t Be Long Now 
Bedtime Blues/Downtown Blues 
‘Taint Nobody’s Business 
Frank Stoke’s Dream/Memphis Rounder’s Blues 
 
 
1955​ King Of The Blues (with Furry Lewis, Jim Jackson, Ishman Bracey),​ “X” 
1968 W
​ ith Dan Sane and Will Batts,​ Roots 

74
1977 ​Creator Of The Memphis Blues,​ Yazoo 
1984 ​1927-1929 The Remaining Titles,​ Matchbox 
1990 T
​ he Victor Recordings In Chronological Order 1928-1929​, Document 
1995 ​Furry Lewis and Frank Stokes: Beale Street Blues,​ Orbis 
2005 T
​ he Best Of Frank Stokes,​ Yazoo 
2010​ Downtown Blues, ​Monk 
 
 
 
 
 

Joseph Lee "Big Joe" Williams 

(October 16, 1903 – December 17, 1982) 
 
Born near Crawford, MS, the future "King of the nine string guitar" traveled 
widely as a boy, playing music across the south. In the 1920s he toured with the 
legendary Rabbit Foot Minstrels. He signed with Bluebird in 1935, recording his 
original compositions "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Crawling King Snake", both of 
which became blues classics. A teenage Muddy Waters accompanied him on 
harmonica throughout his shows in Mississippi; Williams also recorded with other 
blues legends such as Robert Nighthawk and Sonny Boy Williamson. He played a 
major role in the 1950s and 1960s folk revival and even encouraged a young Bob 
Dylan to move away from strictly traditional material and to perform original 
compositions. In the 1960s and 1970s he toured Europe and Japan and continued 
working the blues and coffeehouse where he enjoyed immense popularity. Williams 
passed away in Mississippi in 1982. Short on flash and miles long on substance, Big 
Joe Williams was a giant of the blues whose compositions thrilled listeners and 
influenced generations of blues musicians.  
 

75
  
 
Discography 
 
78 RPM records 1935-1956 
 
Bluebird: 
Little Leg Woman/Somebody’s Been Borrowing That Stuff 
49 Highway Blues/Stepfather Blues 
Rootin’ Ground Hog/I Won’t Be Hard In Luck No More 
Break Em On Down/Please Don’t Go 
Someday Baby/Highway 49 
Somebody’s Been Worrying/Vitamin A 
 
Columbia: 
Stack Of Dollars/Mellow Apples 
His Spirit Lives On/Good Mr. Roosevelt (with James McCain) 
Wild Cow Moan/Baby Please Don’t Go 
Don’t You Leave Me Here/King Biscuit Stomp 
P Vine Blues/I’m A Highway Man 
Banta Rooster Blues/House Lady Blues 

76
 
Trumpet: 
Over Hauling Blues/Whistling Pines 
Mama Don’t Allow Me/Delta Blues 
She Left Me A Mule/Bad Heart Blues 
 
Vee Jay: 
Goin’ Back/My Baby Left 
 
Singles 1960-2006: 
 
Collector: 
A Man Sings The Blues Vol. 1 and 2 
 
RCA Victor: 
Treasury of Jazz 
  
Cry: 
A Tribute To Martin Luther King/The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King 
 
XX: 
Mama Don’t Allow Me 
 
Fat Possum: 
The George Mitchell Collection 
 
Central: 
I’m So Blue/Walking With Me Baby 
 
Delmark: 
On The Highway 
 
 
1993 ​Delta Blues: 1951 (with Willie Love and Luther Huff),​ Alligator 
2007 ​Baby Please Don’t Go​, Swingtime 
 
 
 
 
 
 

77
 
 
 

Memphis Minnie 
(June 3, 1897 - August 6, 1973) 
 
This blues genius was born Lizzie Douglas in Walls, Mississippi and raised in 
Tennessee. She learned to play banjo and guitar early, leaving home at age 13 to 
play on Beale street in Memphis. She hit the road in 1916, playing throughout the 
southern states with the Ringling Bros. circus until 1920. In 1929 she and her 
husband, Joe McCoy, signed with Columbia records and over the next four years 
released several songs until their divorce. She moved to Chicago where she 
continued to perform, tour and record for several labels. In 1941 she scored her 
biggest hit, "Me and My Chauffeur Blues". Her career began to wane in the 1950s, 
and she retired in 1957. Now in declining health, she suffered two strokes which 
effectively ended her career. In 1973 she passed away in a Memphis nursing home. 
One of the most popular and skilled country blues artists of her day, she was 
ladylike and feminine, but feared no man. As bluesman Johnny Shines recalled 
about her, "Any men fool with her she'd go for them right away. She didn't take no 
foolishness off them. Guitar, pocket knife, pistol, anything she get her hand on 
she'd use it". She was a force to be reckoned with.  
 

78
  
 
 
 
 
 

79
Discography 
78 RPM records, 1923-1953: 
Columbia: 
When The Levee Breaks/That Will Be Alright (with Kansas Joe) 
I Want That/Bumble Bee (with Kansas Joe) 
Mean Mistreater Blues/I’m So Glad 
Shout The Boogie/Three Times Seven Blues 
Fish Man Blues/Lean Meat Won’t Fry 
Lonesome Shark Blues/It’s Hard To Please My Man 
Western Union/You’ve Got To Get Out Of Here 
Daybreak Blues/Million Dollar Blues 
Tonight I Smile With You/Jump Little Rabbit (with Son Joe) 
Tears On My Pillow (with Son Joe) 
Please Set A Date/True Love (with Son Joe​) 
 
Regal: 
Why Did I Make You Cry/Kid Man Blues 
 
Checker: 
Broken Heart/Me And My Chauffeur 
 
Vocalion: 
I’m Talking About You/Bumble Bee 
What Fault You Find Of Me? (with Kansas Joe) 
I’m Gonna Bake My Biscuits/Mister Tango Blues 
Bumble Bee No. 2/I’m Talking About You No. 2 
New Dirty Dozen/New Bumble Bee 
Plymouth Rock Blues/I Called You This Morning (with Kansas Joe) 
Frankie Jean (That Trottin’ Fool) 
Minnie’s Lonesome Song/Ain’t Nobody Home But Me 
Joe Louis Strut/He’s In The Ring (Doing That Same Old Thing) 
Good Girl Blues/Georgia Skin Blues 
Hoodoo Lady/Ice Man 
Black Cat Blues/Haunted House 
Keep On Sailing/Hot Stuff 
It’s Hard To Be Mistreated/Man You Won’t Give Me No Money 
I Hate To See The Sun Go Down/Keep On Walking 
Good Biscuits/Keep On Eating 
New Caught Me Wrong Again/Walking And Crying Blues 
Poor And Wandering Woman Blues/Key To The World 
Low Down Man Blues/Bad Outside Friends 
Don’t Lead My Baby Wrong/Worried Baby Blues 
 
Bluebird: 
Selling My Pork Chops/Doctor Doctor Blues 
When The Sun Goes Down Part 2/Atlanta Town 

80
Caught Me Wrong Again/I’m A Gambling Woman 
Out In The Cold/Dragging My Heart Around 
If You See My Rooster/My Strange Man 
New Orleans Stop Time/When Somebody Loses 
Down In The Alley/Look What You Got 
Moonshine/My Baby Don’t Want Me No More 
Good Morning/I Don’t Want You No More 
Living The Best I Can/Wants Cake When I’m Hungry 
 
Decca: 
Sylvester And His Mule Blues/When You’re Asleep 
 
Okeh: 
My Butcher Man/Too Late 
Me And My Chauffeur Blues/Can’t Afford To Lose My Man 
This Is Your Last Change/Pigmeat On The Line 
My Gage Is Going Up/In My Girlish Days 
I’m Not A Bad Gal/It Was You Baby 
Black Rat Swing/Looking The World Over (with Little Son Joe) 
When You Love Me/Love Come And Go 
 
1964 B
​ lues Classics By Memphis Minnie​, Blues Classics 
1967 ​Early Recordings With Kansas Joe McCoy Vol. 2,​ Blues Classics 
1971 ​Love Changing Blues (with Blind Willie McTell)​, Biograph 
1973 1​ 934-1941​, Flyright 
1973 1​ 941-1949​, Flyright 
1977 ​Hot Stuff: 1936-1949​, Magpie 
1982 W
​ orld Of Trouble,​ Flyright 
1982 T
​ he Best Of Memphis Minnie Vol. 1: 1929-1938​, Earl 
1983 M
​ oanin’ The Blues,​ MCA 
1984​ In My Girlish Days: 1930-1935​, Travelin’ Man 
1988 ​I Ain’t No Bad Gal​, Portrait 
1996 L
​ et’s Go To Town,​ Orbis 
1997 ​Queen Of The Blues,​ Columbia 
1997 ​Me And My Chauffeur Blues 1935-1946 (with Little Son Joe)​, EPM Musique 
2000 ​Pickin’ The Blues (with Kansas Joe McCoy)​, Culture Press 
2003​ Me And My Chauffeur Blues​, Proper 
2007 ​Complete Recorded Works 1935-1941 In Chronological Order Vol. 1​, Document 
2008 ​Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe: Early Recordings 1929-1936,​ Autogram 

81
Mississippi Fred McDowell  
(January 12, 1906 - July 3, 1972) 
 
The father of the hill country blues was born in Tennessee where both his 
parents died when he was still a boy. He began playing guitar at 14 years old. He 
played at dances around his hometown and worked in agriculture until he moved to 
Memphis in 1926, where he worked numerous jobs and played for tips. Two years 
later he moved to Mississippi, where he picked cotton, farmed in the Delta and near 
the town of Holly Springs. He settled in Como around 1950, where he often 
entertained at local dances with harmonica player Johnny Woods. McDowell was a 
major influence on a younger generation of area bluesmen such as RL Burnside and 
Junior Kimbrough. Alan Lomax recorded him in 1959, leading to wider recognition 
and a recording career; he was a star of the folk blues revival in the 1960s, touring 
the US and Europe. Although he famously declared, "I do not play no rock and roll", 
he tutored singer and guitarist Bonnie Raitt on slide guitar, and the Rolling Stones 
covered his version of "You Got to Move'' in 1971. He passed away from cancer a 
year later. Fred McDowell will always represent the foundation of the hill country 
style. He lives on through his music and the scores of musicians he taught and 
influenced.  
 

82
  
 
Discography 
 
1965 ​Mississippi Blues, ​Black Lion 
1965 ​My Home Is In The Delta,​ Shout!/Testament 
1966 F
​ red McDowell, ​Mississippi 
1967 ​Blues Roll On​, Atlantic 
1967 ​Roots Of The Blues, ​Atlantic 
1969 I​ n London Vol. 2,​ Transatlantic 

83
1969 M
​ ississippi Fred McDowell​, Everest 
1969 M
​ ississippi Fred McDowell and His Blues Boys,​ Arhoolie 
1969​ I Do Not Play No Rock And Roll,​ Water 
1970​ Going Down South,​ Polydor 
1970​ In London, ​Sire 
1971 ​Eight Years Ramblin’,​ Revival 
1971 ​Live In New York, O
​ blivion 
1977 ​Mississippi Fred McDowell and Johnny Woods,​ Philo 
1977 ​Somebody Keeps Callin’ Me​, Mango 
1981 K
​ eep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning,​ Arhoolie 
1995 ​Live At The Mayfair Hotel​, Onyx Classics 
1996 S
​ teakbone Slide Guitar​, Tradition/Rykodisc 
1996 S
​ tanding At The Burying Ground, S
​ equel 
1997 ​First Recordings: The Alan Lomax Portrait Series,​ Rounder 
1997 ​Best Of The Blues Tradition Vol. 1,​ Tradition/Rykodisc 
1998 L
​ evee Camp Blues,​ Shout!/Testament 
1998 S
​ hake Em On Down,​ Culture Press 
1999 S
​ hake Em On Down​, Charly 
2000 ​Live At The Gaslight​, GRR 
2000 ​You’ve Got To Move, B
​ lues Factory 
2001 T
​ he Best Of Mississippi Fred McDowell, ​Arhoolie 
2002 ​Mama Says I’m Crazy,​ Fat Possum 
2003 H
​ eritage Of The Blues​, Hightone/Shout! 
2003 H
​ eroes Of The Blues: The Very Best Or Fred McDowell,​ Shout! Factory 
2004 ​Shake Em On Down​, Other People’s Music 
2005 D
​ rop Down Mama,​ Atlantic/Rhino 
2006 L
​ ondon Calling​, Snapper 
2007 ​An Introduction To Mississippi Fred McDowell, ​Fuel 2000 
2008 ​The Train I Ride,​ Grammercy 
2011 T
​ he Alan Lomax Recordings,​ Mississippi 
2011 D
​ own Home Blues 1959​, JSP 
2011 C
​ ome And Found You Gone: The Bill Ferris Recordings,​ Devil Down 
2011 L
​ ord Have Mercy​, Doxy  
2012 S
​ ail On, Little Girl Sail On​, 1201 Music 
2012 F
​ red McDowell Vol. 2​, Arhoolie 
2012 D
​ elta Blues​, Arhoolie 
2013 ​Amazing Grace/My Home Is In The Delta,​ Floating World 
2019 S
​ hake Em On Down: The Alan Lomax Recordings 1959​, Soul Jam 

84
Blind Willie Johnson  
(January 25, 1897 – September 18, 1945) 
 
Born in Pendleton and raised in Marlin, TX, the unmatched slide guitar 
genius began playing at five years old when his father gave him a cigar box guitar. 
Coming from a very religious family he knew while still a boy that he wanted to be 
an ordained minister. He lost his sight at seven years old when a wicked 
stepmother threw lye in his face. Little is known about his early years, but at some 
point he began playing on the street, often accompanied by Madkin Butler, another 
blind vocalist whose preaching and singing style greatly influenced Johnson. 
Already a well known evangelist, he began his recording career with Columbia 
records, cutting 30 songs between 1927 and 1930. His records sold well, even 
outselling Bessie Smith. He continued to play and preach throughout Texas in the 
1930s and 1940s, using Beaumont as his base. He passed away there in 1945. One of 
his greatest fans was the great Rev. Gary Davis, who years later recorded his own 
versions of some of Johnson’s songs. Blind Willle Johnson will always be 
remembered as one of the foremost masters of gospel slide guitar and singing. 
Nearly 80 years after his passing, hearing his music is still a religious experience. 
 

85
  
 
 
Discography 
 
78 RPM records on Columbia, 1928-1931 
I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole/Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed 
Mother’s Children Have A Hard Time/If I Had My Way I’d Tear This Building Down 
Dark Was The Night Cold Was The Ground/It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine 
Jesus Is Coming Soon/I’m Going To Run To The City For Refuge 
Lord I Just Can’t Keep From Crying/Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning 
Take Your Burden To The Lord And Leave It There/God Moves On The Water 
Can’t Nobody Hide From God/If It Had Not Been For Jesus 
You’ll Need Somebody On Your Bond/By and By I’m Going To See The King 
When The War Was On/Praise God I’m Satisfied 
John The Revelator/You’re Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond 
Let Your Light Shine On Me/God Don’t Never Change 
Sweeter As The Years Roll By/Take Your Stand 
The Soul Of A Man/Church, I’m Fully Saved Today 

86
  
1989 P
​ raise God I’m Satisfied, ​Yazoo 
1990 S
​ weeter As The Years Go By​, Yazoo 
1993 ​The Complete Blind Willie Johnson,​ Columbia/Legacy 
1995 ​Dark Was The Night: The Essential Recordings Of Blind Willie Johnson​, Indigo 
1998 D
​ ark Was The Night,​ Columbia/Legacy 
2003 S
​ oul Of A Man,​ Snapper 
2005​ Blind Willie Johnson And The Guitar Evangelists, J
​ SP 
2005 K
​ ing Of The Guitar Evangelists,​ Saga Jazz 
2007 ​Nobody’s Fault But Mine: Original Recordings 1927-1930​, Rev-Ola  
2009 I​ f I Had My Way, I’d Tear The Building Down,​ Monk 
2012 C
​ omplete Recorded Titles, Vol. 1 and 2,​ Document 
2013 ​The Rough Guide To Blind Willie Johnson,​ World Music Network 
2016 G
​ od Don’t Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson,​ Alligator 
2017 ​American Epic: The Best Of Blind Willie Johnson​, Third Man 
2019 J
​ esus Is Coming Soon​, Down At Dawn 
 
 
 
 
 

Tommy McLennan  
(Jan 4, 1905 - May 9, 1961) 
 
Born and raised in Durant, MS he began playing guitar there as a youth. He 
played often in Greenwood with the bluesman Robert Petway; he was also known to 
frequent Yazoo City. McLennan recorded a series of sides for Bluebird between 1939 
and 1942, displaying a raw delta guitar style and an expressive, gravel-tinged vocal. 
Several of his songs were later recorded by others, most notably Albert King who 
recorded "Crosscut Saw." Other titles for which McLennan is known are "Shake Em 
on Down'', “Deep Sea Blues” and "Bottle Up and Go". He often played in a drop-D 
tuning, which may hint at an association with or influence from Tommy Johnson. 
He was among the last of the rural blues guitarists to record for the major labels in 
Chicago; he didn't record again after the 1942 session. He died an alcoholic and 
derelict in Chicago in 1961. Although his recording career was short-lived, he 
influenced many other bluesmen, who adapted his songs to their own repertoire. 

87
Tommy McLennan was the real deal: raw, straight and uncut blues from the 
bottoms.  
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

88
Discography 
 
78 RPM records, 1939-1944 
 
Bluebird: 
Brown Skin Girl/Baby Please Don’t Tell On Me 
Whiskey Headed Woman/Bottle Up And Go 
New Highway 51/I’m Goin’ Don’t You Know 
Whiskey Head Man/New Sugar Mama 
Elsie Blues/Down To Skin And Bones 
She’s Just Good Huggin’ Size/My Little Girl 
My Baby’s Gone/It’s Hard To Be Lonesome 
Deep Sea Blues/It’s A Cryin’ Pity 
Mozelle Blues/Mr. So And So Blues 
Blues Trip Me This Morning/Bluebird Blues 
Travelin’ Highway Man/I’m A Guitar King 
Roll Me, Baby/Blue As I Can Be 
I Love My Baby/Shake It Up And Go 
 
Montgomery Ward: 
New Shake Em On Down/You Can Mistreat Me Here 
 
1968 C
​ rosscut Saw Blues​, Roots 
1975 ​Travelin’ Highway Man,​ Flyright 
1977 ​Tommy McLennan (Mississippi Blues)​, RCA 
1994 I​ ’m A Guitar King,​ Wolf 
1996 A
​ Guitar King 1939-1942,​ Blues Collection/EPM Musique 
1997 ​The Bluebird Recordings 1939-1942​, RCA 
2000 ​Cotton Pickin’ Blues​, Audio Book And Music Company Limited 
2002 ​Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Vol. 1: 1939-1940​, Document 
2002 ​Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Vol. 2: 1940-1942​, Document 
 
 
  
 
 
 

 
 
 

89
Robert Leroy Johnson  
(May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) 
 
In life, he was largely unknown outside of the musical circles of Mississippi 
and elsewhere in the South. After his passing he became known as the "King of the 
Delta Blues singers" through the tremendous influence of his guitar playing, singing 
and compositions on several generations of blues and rock musicians. He was born 
in Hazelhurst and lived in Memphis and later in the Delta region near Tunica and 
Robinsonville while still a youth. When he was 18, he married 16 year old Virginia 
Travis, but she died in childbirth around the same time that Son House moved to 
the area. Along with House, Charlie Patton and Willie Brown were also big 
influences. At this time, Johnson was known as a capable harp player but a 
mediocre guitarist, having been chased off the stage by House, who was at that time 
the big star of the area. He returned to Hazelhurst for two years, learning much 
from local bluesman Ike Zimmerman, who had a penchant for practicing in local 
graveyards. Returning to the Delta, Johnson amazed everyone with his mastery of 
the instrument; years later his remarkable progress was sensationalized by several 
writers who erroneously claimed that he had somehow “sold his soul to the devil”. 
Honeyboy Edwards recalled that Johnson was not just a blues player, but also 
played popular music and jazz. He could also play piano well. Johnson was literate 
and informed about current events of his time (he referenced Ethiopia, the 
Philippines and China in his classic song, “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom). 
He married Caletta Craft in 1931, settling in Clarksdale for a while, but she 
died in 1933. Johnson continued traveling and performing widely throughout the 
next six years, beginning his recording career with ARC in 1936. He did not live to 
hear most of the music he recorded; he died in Greenwood, MS only two years later. 
Honeyboy Edwards himself recounted to me that the night Robert died, saying that 
they were drinking in a juke joint in Greenwood, Mississippi whose owner 
suspected Johnson of flirting with his wife. She was also a server in the 
establishment. Johnson ordered a drink and when the woman brought the bottle to 
the table, Edwards noticed the seal had been broken. He told Robert not to drink it, 
but Johnson replied, “shut up, ni%#a, don’t tell me what to do.” An alternate 
version told by Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) has him knocking the bottle 
out of Johnson’s hand and being admonished by Johnson, who was said to have told 

90
the harp player, “don’t ever knock a bottle out of my hand.” When a second bottle 
appeared at the table, he drank it. Before long he was howling in pain and crawling 
around on the floor. We may never know which version of the passing of this 
mythical figure is true. Johnson died three days later at only 27 years old from 
suspected poisoning.  
Robert Johnson's musicianship and his compositions have today made him a 
household name. His influence can be heard in the music of Elmore James, Robert 
Jr. Lockwood (his protege), Johnny Shines and Muddy Waters. Though he remained 
unknown outside of southern Black communities for years after his passing, the 
recordings he left behind eventually influenced millions. His sound blended 
elements of jazz, blues, and popular music to arrive at a totally original style that is 
often imitated but never duplicated. He was a true blues legend. 
 

91
  
 
Discography 
 
78 RPM records on Vocalion, 1937-1939: 
 
Stones In My Passway/I’m A Steady Rollin’ Man 
Terraplane Blues/Kind Hearted Woman Blues 
Me And The Devil Blues/Little Queen Of Spades 
Stop Breakin’ Down Blues/Honeymoon Blues 
Preaching Blues (Up Jumped The Devil/Love In Vain Blues 
Cross Road Blues/Ramblin’ On My Mind 
Malted Milk/Milkcow’s Calf Blues 
Come On In My Kitchen/They’re Red Hot 
Hell Hound On My Trail/From Four Until Late 
Sweet Home Chicago/Walking Blues 
I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom/Dead Shrimp Blues 
32-20 Blues/Last Fair Deal Gone Down 

92
 
1961 K
​ ing Of The Delta Blues Singers, Columbia/Legacy 
1970 K
​ ing Of The Delta Blues Singers Vol. 2, Legacy/Sony Music 
1976 ​Legacy, Columbia 
1990 T
​ he Complete Recordings, L
​ egacy/Sony 
1990​ Delta Blues Vol. 1 and 2,​ Shadow 
1990 D
​ elta Blues: The Alternative Takes, ​Aldabra 
1996 A
​ ll Time Blues Classics,​ Music Memoria 
1996​ Love In Vain,​ Hallmark 
1997 ​King Of The Delta Blues The Complete Recordings,​ Legacy/Columbia/Sony Music 
1998 G
​ old Collection​, Gold/Retro Music 
1998 M
​ aster,​ Cleopatra 
1998 C
​ omplete Collection​, Prism Entertainment 
1999 D
​ elta Blues Legend: Masterworks Vol. 13​, Charly 
1999 S
​ teady Rollin’ Man, R
​ ecall 
2000 ​Genius Of The Blues,​ Definitive 
2000 ​Great, R
​ ed X 
2000​ Me And The Devil Blues​, Chrisly 
2000 ​Crossroad Blues, P
​ ast Perfect 
2001 R
​ obert Johnson​, Dressed To Kill 
2002 ​Crossroad Blues,​ Legacy 
2002 ​His Recorded Legacy: The 29 Songs​, Jasmine 
2002 ​Deal With The Devil Vol. 1 and 2​, Arpeggio 
2002 ​The Last Of The Great Blues Singers,​ Fabulous 
2002 ​San Antonio To Dallas: 1936-1937,​ Fremeaux 
2002 ​Contracted To The Devil, S
​ ony 
2003 M
​ e And The Devil Blues​, Hallmark 
2003​ Down At The Crossroad​, Indigo 
2003 M
​ artin Scorcese Presents The Blues: Robert Johnson, C
​ olumbia/Sony 
2003 R
​ obert Johnson And The Old School Blues, ​Metro 
2004 ​From Four Till Late​, Snapper 
2004​ Kings Of The Blues​, Castle Pulse 
2004 ​Complete Recordings Vol. 1,​ Universe 
2004 ​A Proper Introduction To Robert Johnson, P
​ roper  
2004 ​Presenting Robert Johnson​, Signature 
2004 ​Robert Johnson: Inspiring Eric​, Smith 
2004 ​This Is Mr. Johnson​, CBS 
2004 ​The Best Of Robert Johnson: Traveling Riverside Blues, ​Blues Forever 

93
2004 ​King Of The Delta Blues Vol. 2,​ Sony Music 
2004 ​The Ultimate Blues Legend​, Direct Source 
2004 ​The Story Of The Blues,​ Blues Alliance 
2004 ​Me And The Devil Blues​, Synergy 
2004 ​Robert Johnson​, Fruit Tree 
2004 ​Guitar And Bass,​ Sony Music 
2005 I​ ’m A Steady Rollin’ Man, ​Direct Source 
2005 U
​ p Jumped The Devil,​ Pizzazz 
2005 C
​ rossroad Blues,​ Pizzazz 
2006 S
​ tandin’ At The Crossroads,​ BMG 
2006 A
​ nthology,​ B.D. Jazz 
2007 ​The High Price Of Soul,​ Primo 
2007 ​Last Of The Great Mississippi Blues Singers,​ Complete Blues 
2007 ​Mississippi Blues Vol. 4​, Document 
2008​ The Blues Biography,​ United  
2008​ The Complete Collection, N
​ ot Now 
2011 T
​ he Complete Recordings: Centennial Collection,​ Columbia/Legacy 
2013 ​Robert Johnson And Friends,​ Not Now 
2015 ​The Complete Recordings, ​Soul Jam 
2019​ Crossroad Blues,​ Not Now 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

94
Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter 
(January 20, 1889 - December 6, 1949) 
 
Born Huddie William Ledbetter on a plantation near Mooringsport, LA, this 
master songster and composer became known as the "King of the 12 string guitar". 
His first instrument was the accordion. He was in his early twenties and living with 
his first wife in neighboring Harrison county, TX when he first became known for 
his guitar playing. He regularly entertained audiences in Shreveport and enjoyed 
considerable notoriety there. It was around this time that he left home to travel, 
playing guitar and working as a manual laborer. Between 1915 and 1939 he had 
several encounters with the law, leading to his incarceration in both Texas and 
Louisiana. Leadbelly was serving at the State Penitentiary in Angola, LA when he 
was first recorded by folklorist John Lomax and his son Alan in 1933 and 1934. It is 
said that as a result of their petitioning the governor, he was pardoned and released 
in the summer of 1934. He went on to work as a driver for John Lomax and soon 
began recording for the American Record Company. In New York, he gained fame 
among leftist circles and struck up a friendship with the novelist Richard Wright. 
In 1939 he returned to prison again for a brief stint. In the early forties he 
collaborated often with Woody Guthrie, Josh White, Pete Seeger, Brownie McGhee 
and Sonny Terry. Lead Belly continued to tour and record for a variety of labels 
and by 1949 was performing on a weekly radio show in New York city, "Folk Songs 
in America." He passed away later that year. Folk and blues singer, composer and 
guitar virtuoso, Huddie Ledbetter lived a hard life. His music, spanning the periods 
before and after the birth of the blues, was the soundtrack of his life. His influence 
is still felt today across all popular musical genres. He was a musical trailblazer 
whose legacy can never die. 

95
  
 
 
Discography 
 
78 RPM records 
 
Victor, 1935-1936: 
All Out And Down/Packin’ Trunk 
Four Day Worry Blues/New Black Snake Moan 
Becky Deem, She Was A Gamblin’ Gal/Pig Meat Papa 
 
 

96
Musicraft, 1939: 
Negro Sinful Songs 
 
Victor, 1940-1942: 
The Midnight Special And Other Southern Prison Songs 
Sail On Little Girl, Sail On/Don’t You Love Your Daddy No More 
Alberta/T.B. Blues 
Easy Rider/Worried Blues 
Roberta/The Red Cross Store Blues 
New York City/You Can’t Lose-a Me Cholly 
Good Morning Blues/Leaving Blues 
I’m On My Last Go Round 
 
LPs: 
1963 ​A Lead Belly Memorial Vol. 2,​ Stinson 
1973 L
​ ead Belly Recorded In Concert: University of Texas, Austin, June 15, 1949,​ Playboy 
1991​ King Of The 12 String Guitar​, Sony/Legacy 
2000 ​Private Party November 21, 1948,​ Document 
2003 T
​ ake This Hammer, When The Sun Goes Down Series Vol. 5,​ RCA Victor/Bluebird 
2008 ​The Definitive Lead Belly, N
​ ot Now 
2017 ​American Epic: The Best Of Lead Belly​, Sony Legacy/Third Man 
 
Folkways Recordings (recorded 1941-1947) 
1989 L
​ ead Belly Sings Folk Songs 
1994​ Lead Belly’s Last Sessions 
1996 W
​ here Did You Sleep Last Night: Lead Belly Legacy Vol. 1 
1997​ Bourgeois Blues: Lead Belly Legacy Vol. 2 
1998 S
​ hout On: Lead Belly Legacy Vol. 3 
1999 L
​ eadbelly Sings For Children 
2004​ Folkways: The Original Vision (with Woody Guthrie) 
2015 Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection 
 
The Library Of Congress Recordings (1934-1943) Recorded By John And Alan Lomax 
1991 M
​ idnight Special​, Rounder 
1991 G
​ wine Dig A Hole To Put The Devil In​, Rounder 
1991 L
​ et It Shine On Me​, Rounder 
1994​ The Titanic​, Rounder 
1994​ Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,​ Rounder 
1995 ​Go Down Old Hannah,​ Rounder 
 
 

97
Booker T. “Bukka” Washington White 
(November 12, 1906 - February 26, 1977) 
 
This legendary bluesman was born near Houston, Mississippi. He got his 
start in music playing the fiddle at square dances. His mother forbade him to play 
what she called “that devil music” around the house, but his father eventually 
bought him a guitar. When he picked up the guitar at 14 years old, his biggest 
influence was Charley Patton. As a young man, White also had a brief career in 
sport, playing in the Nego baseball leagues and trying his hand at boxing for a time. 
He began his recording career in 1930, cutting 14 songs for Victor records, of which 
only two were released at the time. With the Depression era in full swing, he didn’t 
record until 1937 when he traveled to Chiago to record at the invitation of Big Bill 
Broonzy. That same year, he was convicted of shooting a man but headed back to 
Chicago while awaiting trial. He cut two more sides there, but was soon 
apprehended and returned to Mississippi to serve out his sentence at that state’s 
notorious Parchman Farm State prison . His signature song, “Shake Em On 
Down'', became a hit while he was incarcerated. John and Alan Lomax recorded him 
in prison for the Library of Congress in 1939. After his release in 1940 he settled in 
Memphis but briefly returned to Chicago, recording 12 new sides, many of which 
became genuine Delta blues classics such as “Parchman Farm Blues'', “Fixin’ To 
Die”, and “Aberdeen, Mississippi Blues”. Afterwards, White withdrew from the 
scene for more than twenty years. 
He was working in a tank factory in Memphis when John Fahey tracked him 
down in 1963, leading to a new career in the acoustic folk/blues revival. He 
continued to tour and record well into the seventies before his passing. When I first 
started touring with BB King in the 90s, he told me that Bukka was his second 
cousin; he lived with him for awhile in Memphis when he first came from 
Mississippi. B.B. said that he always had wanted to play slide but just couldn't get 
the hang of it; he eventually developed his famous vibrato style in his search for the 
singing sound that he first heard from Bukka’s National resonator guitar. Bukka 
White was the real roots!  
 

98
  
 
Discography 
 
1965 ​Sky Songs Vol. 1 & 2,​ Arhoolie 
1968 M
​ emphis Hot Shots,​ Blue Horizon 
1969 L
​ egacy of the Blue​s, Sonnet 

99
1969 M
​ ississippi Blues​, Water 
1972 B
​ lues Master Vol. 4,​ Blue Horizon 
1972 B
​ aton Rouge Mosby Street​, Blues Beacon 
1974​ Big Daddy​, Biograph 
1985 A
​ berdeen Mississippi Blues 1937-1940,​ Travelin’ Man 
1993 ​Shake ‘Em On Down,​ New Rose 
1994 1​ 963 Isn’t 1962​, Adelphi 
1994 T
​ he Complete Bukka White 1937-1940​, Columbia 
1995 ​Good Gin Blues,​ Drive 
2003 R
​ evisited,​ Fuel 2000 
2006 B
​ ukka White: The 1968 Memphis Country Blues Festival, B
​ MG/Sony Music 
 
 
 
 

Edward James 'Son' House, Jr 

(March 21, 1902 -October 19, 1988) 
 
This legendary singer and guitarist was born into a highly religious family in 
the small town of Lyons, Mississippi. Being "churchified" from an early age, he 
avoided listening to blues music altogether, favoring a life of farming and 
preaching. He left the area for a few years, living in Louisiana with his wife and her 
family until the marriage failed and he returned to the Mississippi Delta region. He 
continued preaching until he picked up a guitar after hearing one of his friends play 
the instrument using a bottleneck slide. In a very short period of time, he mastered 
a raw and percussive slide style and began singing professionally throughout the 
area. His heart-wrenching singing and highly emotional performances were 
legendary among local audiences at the time, though many of his former church 
associates did not approve at all. After killing a man in self defense and a short stint 
doing forced labor on a county farm, he began an association with the legendary 
Charley Patton, with whom he traveled often. In 1930 he recorded for Paramount 
records, but the titles sold poorly. He did not record again until Alan Lomax 
recorded him for the Library of Congress in 1941, at which time he was a genuine 
local star; he was a major influence on Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. In 1943 
House moved to Rochester, New York to work on the railroad there. He rarely 
played until 1964, when his 'rediscovery' in the folk blues revival led to invitations 

100
to play in the US and internationally. He retired in 1974 and passed away in Detroit 
in 1988. Far beyond entertainment, his music was a journey into the depths of a 
Black man's soul. Blues just doesn’t get any deeper than Son House. 
 

 
 
Discography 
 
78 RPM records on Paramount, 1930: 
Walking Blues 
My Black Mama parts I & II 
Preachin’ the Blues parts I & II 
Dry Spell Blues parts I & II 
Clarksdale Moan 

101
Mississippi County Farm Blues 
 
Library of Congress Recordings, 1941-1942: 
Levee Camp Blues 
Government Fleet Blues 
Walking Blues 
Shetland Pony Blues 
Fo’ Clock Blues 
Camp Hollers 
Delta Blues 
Special Rider Blues 
Low Down Dirty Dog Blues 
Depot Blues 
Key of Minor  
American Defense 
Am I Right or Wrong 
Walking Blues 
County Farm Blues 
The Pony Blues 
The Jinx Blues (No. 1) 
The Jinx Blues (No. 2) 
See That My Grave Is Kept Clean 
 
 
1962 ​Really! The Country Blues 1927-1933, ​Origin Jazz Library 
1963 ​The Mississippi Blues 1927-1940​, Origin Jazz Library 
1965 ​The Legendary Son House: Father of Folk Blues​, Columbia 
1966​ Living Legends (with Skip James, Bukka White, Big Joe Williams)​, Verve Folkways 
1967 ​Newport Folk Festival 1965,​ Vanguard 
1967 ​Mississippi Blues 1927-1942​, Roots 
1967 ​Mississippi Blues 1927-1941​, Belzona 
1968 S
​ on House and J.D. Short: Blues From the Mississippi Delta,​ Folkways 
1968 M
​ ississippi Moaners 1927-1942 (with Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Charley 
Patton and others)​, Yazoo 
1969 T
​ he Vocal Intensity of Son House: King of Mississippi Blues Singers​, Roots 
1970 S
​ on House: John the Revelator,​ Liberty 
1972 S
​ on House: The Legendary 1941-1942 Recordings In Chronological Sequence,​ Root 
1995 ​Son House: Delta Blues and Spirituals, ​Capitol  
1974 ​Son House: The Real Delta Blues, B
​ lue Goose 
1981 S
​ on House in Concert,​ Stack-O-Hits 
1987 S
​ on House Vol. I 1965-1970,​ Private 
1987 S
​ on House Vol. 2 1964-1974,​ Private 

102
1991 S
​ on House: Delta Blues - The Original Library of Congress Field Recordings 1941-1942, 
Biograph 
1992 ​Son House: Father of the Delta Blues,​ Columbia/Legacy 
1992 ​Son House: At Home The Legendary 1969 Rochester Sessions​, Document 
1994 S
​ on House: The Oberlin College Concert​, King Bee 
1998 S
​ on House: The Original Delta Blues​, SME 
1999 S
​ on House: Preachin’ the Blues, ​Catfish 
2000 ​Son House: Live At the Gaslight Cafe​, Document 
2000 ​Son House: Delta Blues, ​Arpeggio 
2002 ​Son House: Low Down Dirty Dog Blues,​ ABM 
2002 ​Son House Revisited​, Varese Sarabande 
2003 T
​ he Very Best of Son House: Heroes of the Blues Series​, Shout 
2003 M
​ artin Scorcese Presents the Blues: Son House​, Columbia/Legacy 
2003 S
​ on House: Delta Blues​, Biograph 
2004 ​Son House: New York Central Live!,​ SRI 
2005 S
​ on House: King of the Delta Blues​, Fuel 
2011 S
​ on House Seattle 1968​, Arcola 
2011 S
​ on House: Raw Delta Blues,​ Not Now Music 
2013​ Son House: Clarksdale Moan (1930-1942)​, The Devil’s Tune 
2016 S
​ on House: John the Revelator​, Easy Action 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

103
Mance Lipscomb  
(April 9, 1895 - January 30, 1976) 
 
Born Beau de Glen Lipscomb in Navasota, TX, he took the name Mance while 
still a youth. He began playing guitar early in life and learned a wide variety of 
music, from blues and ragtime to Tin Pan alley, pop and folk songs. He worked for 
most of his life as a tenant farmer and unlike many of his contemporaries, he did 
not record in the pre war blues era. He cut his first record, ​Texas Songster,​ in 1960 
for Arhoolie Records, the first of many. He was well received in the 1960's folk and 
blues revival, playing festivals and appearing in a documentary film by Les Blank, 
A Well Spent Life.​ He also published an autobiography which detailed his life in 
rural Texas. A well loved and respected local figure, he and his wife regularly hosted 
what they called "Saturday Night Suppers'' for the local community where his 
music was the main attraction. They also often took in and looked after 
underprivileged children from the area. In 1974 he suffered a stroke and passed 
away two years later in his hometown. The annual Navasota Blues festival is held in 
his honor. Not merely a blues man, he was a true songster, whose vast knowledge of 
twentieth century music brought joy to all who heard him play. He is a Texas legend 
and a national treasure. Long live the spirit of Mance Lipscomb! 
 

104
  
Discography 
 
1960 T
​ exas Sharecropper and Songster,​ Arhoolie 
1961 T
​ rouble In Mind​, Reprise 
1964 T
​ exas Songster Vol. 2​, Arhoolie  
1966 V
​ ol. 3 Texas Songster In A Live Performance​, Arhoolie 
1967 ​Mance Lipscomb Vol. 4, ​Arhoolie 
1969 M
​ ance LIpscomb Vol. 5,​ Arhoolie 
1974 ​Mance Lipscomb Vol. 6,​ Arhoolie 
1978 Y
​ ou’ll Never Find Another Man Like Mance​, Arhoolie 
1996 M
​ ama Don’t Allow,​ Magnum America 
1993 ​You Got to Reap What You Sow: Texas Songster Volume 2, ​Arhoolie 

105
 
 
 

Tommy Johnson 
(January 1896 - November 1, 1956) 
 
This legendary bluesman was born in Terry, Mississippi. He moved to 
Crystal Springs in his early teen years. He began playing guitar soon after, 
entertaining at local parties. In 1916 he relocated to Drew, near the legendary 
Dockery plantation, where he met fellow blues greats Willie Brown and Charley 
Patton. He traveled widely throughout Mississippi and Louisiana during most of the 
1920's, and in 1928 made his first recordings for Victor Records with Papa Charlie 
McCoy. This session included his hit, "Canned Heat blues" in which the now chronic 
alcoholic sang about drinking sterno cooking fuel. Johnson was also known for 
other compositions such as, "Big Road Blues" and "Cool Drink of Water Blues", both 
of which in time became blues classics. He recorded his last two sessions in August 
1928 for Victor and in March 1930 for Paramount. Though his recording career was 
short lived, he influenced many other artists over the years. The Mississippi Sheiks 
used the melody of "Big Road Blues" for their hit, "Stop and Listen," and Howling 
Wolf recorded his "I Asked for Water (And She Gave Me Gasoline)” based on 
Johnson's "Cool Drink of Water". A powerful singer and engaging performer, he was 
known for playing the guitar between his legs and tossing it in the air during his 
performances, tricks he may have picked up from Patton. His popularity continued 
throughout the 1930's and 1940's, performing in the Jackson area with Ishman 
Bracey and returning to the Delta in the autumn to pick cotton and play music. 
Johnson also lived in Bogalusa, Louisiana for a time. He continued teaching and 
performing into the 1950's before dying from a heart attack in 1956. He remains one 
of the greatest and most influential of the Mississippi Delta blues performers, with 
a yodeling and high-lonesome blues voice that could make the hair stand up on your 
neck. There will never be another Tommy Johnson! 
 

106
  
 
 
Discography 
 
78 RPM records 1928-1929: 
 
Victor: 
Cool Drink of Water 
Big Road Blues 
Bye-Bye Blues 
Maggie Campbell Blues 
Canned Heat Blues 
Lonesome Home Blues 
Louisiana Blues 

107
Big Fat Mama Blues 
 
Paramount: 
I Wonder to Myself 
Slidin’ Delta 
Lonesome Home Blues 
Morning Prayer Blues 
Boogaloosa Woman 
Black Mare Blues 
Ridin’ Horse 
Alcohol and Jake Blues 
I Want Someone to Love Me 
Button Up Shoes 
 
 
 
 
 

Reverend Gary Davis 

(April 30, 1896 - May 5, 1972) 
 
The unparalleled guitarist and singer was born in Laurens County, South 
Carolina. Though his mother bore eight children he was the only one to live to 
adulthood, with most of his siblings dying in infancy. He became blind early in life 
and was raised by his paternal grandmother due to extreme maternal neglect. 
When he was ten years old his father was killed in Birmingham, Alabama. He later 
moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where he sang and played guitar on the 
streets, being influenced by Willie Walker, Baby Brooks and Sam Brooks. Unlike 
most other blind street singers, Davis traveled extensively by himself, without the 
aid of a lead boy. He moved to Durham, North Carolina in the mid 1920's where he 
taught Blind Boy Fuller and often performed with Bull City Red. Around 1933 Davis 
converted to Christianity and he soon became an ordained minister. This had a 
profound effect on his playing and caused him to eschew, but not entirely abandon 
the blues. His recording career began in 1935 when he cut several songs for the 
American Record Corporation. By the mid 40's, the music scene in Durham began 
to slow down and Davis moved to New York City, where he taught lessons, 
preached, and played music on the streets of Harlem and around the city to support 
himself and his wife, Annie. These years were marked by considerable poverty and 

108
for a time he reluctantly accepted a welfare check to help make ends meet. He soon 
found real success in the folk revival of the 1960's, performing at the Newport Folk 
festival to rave reviews. The long list of his students and those whom he influenced 
included Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Grateful Dead, Taj Mahal, Larry 
Johnson, Stefan Grossman, Ernie Hawkins and Jorma Kaukonen. Royalties from a 
song credited to him and recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary allowed Davis to buy 
two houses and live comfortably for the first time in his life. He continued 
recording and performing right up until passing away from a heart attack in 1972. 
His reputation as one of the greatest blues, gospel and ragtime guitarists to have 
ever lived is secure. It simply doesn't get any better than Reverend Gary Davis! 
 

109
  
 
 
 

110
Discography 
 
78 RPM records 1935-1936: 
Perfect/Oriole/Conqueror/Romeo/Melotone (ARC’s ‘dime-store’ labels) 
You Got to Go Down/O Lord, Search My Heart 
I Am the True Vine/I Am the Light of This World 
Lord Stand By Me/I Saw the Light 
You Can Go Home/Twelve Gates To The City 
Cross And Evil Woman Blues/I’m Throwin’ Up My Hands 
I Belong to the Band Hallelujah/Great Change In Me 
I Am The True Vine/I Am The Light Of This World 
I Saw The Light/The Angel’s Message To Me 
 
with Blind Boy Fuller, vocals and Bull City Red, washboard: 
Black Woman and Poison Blues/Mississippi River  
Rag Mama/Baby You Got To Change Your Mind 
Now I’m Talkin’ About You (Bull City Red, guitar and vocal, prob. Davis 2nd guitar) 
 
1956 ​Reverend Gary Davis/Pink Anderson​, A
​ merican Street Songs, ​Riverside Records 
1960 H
​ arlem Street Singer,​ Prestige Bluesville 
1961 A
​ Little More Faith,​ Prestige Bluesville 
1962 ​Say No to the Devil, P
​ restige Bluesville 
1964 T
​ he Guitar and Banjo of Reverend Gary Davis, ​Prestige Folklore 
1965 ​Rev. Gary Davis and Short Stuff Macon, ​XTRA 
1968 T
​ he Reverend Gary Davis at Newport, ​Vanguard 
1968 B
​ ring Your Money, Honey!, F
​ ontana 
1971 ​Children of Zion: Reverend Gary Davis in Concert,​ Transatlantic  
1971 ​Volume 1 - New Blues and Gospel​, Biograph 
1971 ​Ragtime Guitar​, Transatlantic 
1971 ​Volume 2 - Lord I Wish I Could See,​ Biograph 
1972 B
​ lues and Ragtime,​ Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop 
1972 P
​ ure Religion,​ Biograph 
1973 O
​ , Glory,​ Adelphi 
1973 L
​ o, I Be With You Always, ​Sonnett/Kicking Mule 
1974 ​Let Us Get Together,​ Sonnet/Kicking Mule 
1976 ​Sun is Going Down​, Folkways  
1985 I​ Am A True Vine​, Heritage 
1990 A
​ t the Sign of the Sun 1962​, Heritage 
1991 P
​ ure Religion and Bad Company,​ Smithsonian Folkways 
1992 ​From Blues to Gospel​, Biograph 
1997 ​Live and Kickin’,​ Just A Memory 

111
2000 ​I Am the True Vine (At Home, 19674-1966)​, Shanachie 
2000 ​I Am the True Vine​, Catfish 
2001 D
​ emons and Angels,​ Shanachie 
2002 ​The Sun Of Our Life​, World Arbiter 
2003 I​ f I Had My Way: Early Home Recordings, ​Smithsonian Folkways 
2006 F
​ rom Blues to Gospel,​ Shout! Factory 
2008 ​Manchester Free Trade Hall, 1964,​ Document 
2009 L
​ ive At Gerde’s Folk City​, Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop 
2009 A
​ t Home And Church,​ Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop 
2012 A
​ n Afternoon With Reverend Gary Davis at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa,​ Document 
2020​ See What The Lord Has Done For Me,​ Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop 
 
Singles: 
 
1961​ I’m Glad I’m In That Number/You Got To Move, P
​ restige Bluesville 
 
 
 
 
 

Blind Willie McTell 

(born William Samuel McTier) 
May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959 
 
Born in Thomson, GA with congenital conjunctivitis, he lost his sight 
completely by adulthood. Both his parents and an uncle played the guitar, and 
gospel pioneer Thomas A. Dorsey was a close relative. He attended schools for the 
blind where he played harmonica and accordion, learning to read and write music 
in Braille. By his early teens he was playing 6-string guitar. His father left the 
family and his mother died in 1920. Soon after, he became an itinerant musician, 
developing his considerable musical skills playing medicine shows, carnivals and 
other outdoor venues in cities and towns across Georgia. In 1927 he began 
recording for Victor records in Atlanta, after which he concentrated on the 
12-string guitar. He continued recording throughout the remainder of the 1920's 
and 30's. In 1940 folklorist John Lomax recorded him for the Library of Congress. 
He was a favorite fixture on the streets of Atlanta, often playing and recording with 
fellow bluesmen Buddy Moss and Curley Weaver. McTell recorded his last session 

112
in 1956. Alcoholic and diabetic, he passed away only three years later. Had he lived 
only a few years longer, he surely would have been a major star of the folk blues 
renaissance of the 1960s that propelled many of his contemporaries to national and 
international prominence. Though he never had a major hit record, he was one of 
the few prewar bluesmen to continuously record and perform into the 1940's and 
50's. His song, "Statesboro Blues" eventually became a classic, being covered by the 
Allman Brothers band to great success. His influence can be heard in the works of 
artists such as Taj Mahal, Alvin Youngblood Hart and Jack White of the White 
Stripes. You can't talk about Georgia blues or ragtime without paying homage to 
Blind Willie McTell. 
 

113
  
 
 
Discography 
 
78 RPM records, 1927-1935: 
 

114
Stole Rider Blues 
Mr. McTell Got the Blues 
Writing Paper Blues 
Mama, Tain’t Long ‘For Day 
Three Women Blues 
Statesboro Blues 
Dark Night Blues 
Loving Talking Blues 
Atlanta Strut 
Kind Mama 
Travelin’ Blues 
Come Around to My House Mama 
Drive Away Blues 
Love Changing Blues 
Talking to Myself 
Razor Ball 
Southern Can is Mine 
Broke Down Engine Blues 
Low Rider’s Blues 
Georgia Rag 
Stomp Down Rider 
Scarey Day Blues 
Mama Let Me Scoop For You 
Rollin’ Mama Blues 
Lonesome Day Blues 
Searching the Desert For the Blues 
Savannah Mama  
B & O Blues no. 2 
Death Cell Blues 
Warm It Up to Me 
Runnin’ Me Crazy 
It’s A Good Little Thing 
Southern Can Mama 
Lord Have Mercy If You Please 
Don’t You See How This World Made A Change 
My Baby’s Gone 
Weary Hearted Blues 
Bell Street Blues 
Ticket Agent Blues 
Dying Gambler 
God Don’t Like It 
Ain’t It Grand to Be A Christian 
We Got To Meet Death One Day 
Your Time to Worry 
Hillbilly Willie’s Blues 
Cold Winter Day 
Lay Some Flowers On My Grave 
Kill It Kid 
River Jordan 

115
How About You 
It’s My Desire 
Hide Me In Thy Bosom 
Love Changing Blues 
Talking to You Mama 
 
with Alfoncy and Bethenea Harris (vocal), McTell (guitar) 1927-1931: 
Teasing Brown 
This Is Not The Stove to Brown Your Bread 
 
with Ruth Willis (vocal), 1931: 
Experience Blues 
Painful Blues 
Rough Alley Blues 
Low Down Blues 
Talkin’ To You Wimmin’ About the Blues 
Merciful Blues 
Tricks Ain’t Walking No More 
Early Morning Blues 
 
 
1961 L
​ ast Session​, Bluesville 
1966 B
​ lind Willie McTell​, Melodeon 
 
 
 
 
 

Othar "Otha" Turner  

(June 2, 1907 – February 27, 2003) 
 
I first got to know Mr. Turner by working on a Martin Scorcese 
documentary, ​Feel Like Going Home, ​ in 2001. We played together in New York City 
and at his home in Mississippi. I was already a big fan of his music and other 
giants like Napoleon Strickland, Sid Hemphill and his granddaughter Jessie Mae, so 
I felt really blessed to be able to play music with the Master. I even bought a signed 
fife from him, one of my most treasured possessions. This man was a living legend, 
a national treasure and a direct link to the African music of our ancestors. He 
graciously agreed to appear on a record called ​Mississippi to Mali​, but sadly he 
passed away only two weeks before the recording session. I drove out to Mississippi 

116
anyway, and it turned out that his granddaughter Shardé Thomas blessed the 
session and filled in for him. I dedicated the album to Mr. Turner because his spirit 
inspired me like few others have. His roots were so deep, they were bedrock! Solid. 
Real. African. A channel of the ancestors, his music will never die. Otha Turner 
lives!  
 
Here are two short videos of me playing with Mr. Turner on his farm in Mississippi 
and in New York City:  
https://youtu.be/lx5B_RBzZg0 
https://youtu.be/tILvb8NOiKc 
 
 

117
  
 
 
 

118
Discography 
 
1997 ​Everybody Hollerin’ Goat​ (with The Rising Star Fife and Drum Band), Birdman 
1997 ​Twenty Miles, F
​ at Possum 
1997 ​For the Time Beyond​, Bottom Third 
2000 ​From Senegal to Senatobia​ (with the Afrosippi Allstars), Birdman 
 
EPs: 
1995 ​Field Recordings From Gravel Springs Mississippi​ (with the Rising Star Fife and Drum 
Band), Sugar Ditch 
 
 
 
 
 

Arthur Blake  
(approx 1896 to December 1, 1934) 
 
Commonly known as Blind Blake, he was one of the greatest guitarists who 
ever lived, but very little is known of his life. His death certificate lists Newport 
News, VA as his birthplace, though promotional materials from Paramount records 
cite Jacksonville, FL, a city where he spent a considerable amount of time over the 
years. It is also possible that he was a Gullah man (aka Geechee) with origins in the 
Georgia Sea Islands, judging from his dialect and local references made in one of his 
recordings. Between 1926 and 1932 he recorded 80 sides for Paramount which 
solidified his reputation as a blues and ragtime guitar genius, capable of playing in a 
variety of styles. His uptempo, highly syncopated approach to his instrument was 
reminiscent of ragtime piano. He spent time recording in Chicago and even lived 
there for a period of time, returning to spend the winters in Jacksonville. In the 
final year of his life he was living in Milwaukee, WI where he contracted a serious 
case of pneumonia. He died in 1934 as a result of a pulmonary hemorrhage. 
Virginia bluesman John Jackson recalled that in his day, a man wasn't really saying 
anything on the guitar unless he could play some Blind Blake. He was a giant of his 
time, influencing scores of guitarists. None other than the master Rev. Gary Davis 
declared his admiration for Blake's "sporting right hand." Even though nearly 90 

119
years have gone by since his passing, his greatness has never been diminished. His 
music will always represent the pinnacle of guitar picking in any style. 
He was a true original! 
 

 
 
Discography 
 
78 RPM records on Paramount, 1926-1932: 
 
Early Morning Blues 
West Coast Blues 
Skeedle Loo Doo Blues 
Come On Boys Let’s Do That Messin Around 
Stonewall Street Blues 
Too Tight 
Blake’s Worried Blues 
Tampa Bound 

120
Black Dog Blues 
Buck Town Blues 
Dry Bone Shuffle 
One Time Blues 
Bad Feeling Blues 
That Will Never Happen No More 
He’s In the Jailhouse Now 
Southern Rag 
Hard Road Blues 
Seaboard Stomp 
Wabash Rag 
You Gonna Quit Me Blues 
 
with Gus Cannon (banjo), Blake (guitar): 
Can You Blame the Colored Man 
Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home 
Madison Street Rag 
My Money Never Runs Out 
Jazz Gypsy Blues 
Brownskin Mama Blues 
Hey Hey Daddy Blues 
Goodbye Mama Blues 
C.C. Pill Blues 
Tootie Blues 
That Lovin’ I Crave 
Rumblin' And Ramblin' Boa Constrictor Blues 
Detroit Bound Blues 
Doggin’ Me Mama Blues 
Hot Potatoes 
Steel Mill Blues 
South Bound Rag 
Low Down Loving Rag 
Bootleg Rum Dum Blues 
Back Door Slam Blues 
Cold Hearted Mama Blues 
Panther Squall Blues 
No Dough Blues 
Search Warrant Blues 
Sweet Papa Low Down 
Notoriety Blues 
Walkin’ Across the Country 
Ramblin’ Mama Blues 
New Style of Lovin’ 
Hookworm Blues 
Slippery Rag 
Doing A Stretch 
Poker Woman Blues 
Too Tight Blues no. 2 

121
Georgia Bound 
Fightin’ the Jug 
Hastings Street 
Lonesome Christmas Blues 
Third Degree Blues 
I Was Afraid of That part 2 (with the Hokum Boys) 
Shake That Thing (with the Hokum Boys) 
Hometown Skiffle (with the Hokum Boys) 
A Blues 
Diddie Wah Diddie 
Police Dog Blues 
Guitar Chimes 
Blind Arthur’s Breakdown 
Chump Man Blues 
Ice Man Blues 
Pop It Stomp 
Fan Foot Woman 
Blue Getaway 
Papa Charlie Jackson and Blind Blake Talk About It (Jackson, banjo, Blake, guitar) 
Baby Blues Blues 
Cold Love Blues 
Keep It Home 
Sweet Jivin’ Mama 
What A Low Down Place the Jailhouse Is 
Ain’t Gonna Do That No More 
Hard Pushin’ Papa 
Playing Policy Blues 
Righteous Blues 
Rope Stretchin’ Blues part I and II 
Miss Emma Liza 
Dissatisfied Blues 
Night and Say Blues 
Sun to Sun 
Fancy Tricks (with Laura Rucker, vocal) 
Champagne Charlie Is My Name 
Depression’s Gone With Me Blues 
 
with Irene Scruggs (vocal), Blake (guitar): 
Stingaree Man Blues 
Itchin’ Heel 
You’ve Got What I Want 
Cherry Hill Blues 
 
with Charlie Spand (vocal), Blake (guitar): 
Soon This Morning  
Fetch Your Water 

122
 
with Daniel Brown (vocal), Blake (guitar): 
Beulah Land 
 
with Bertha Henderson (vocal), Blake (guitar): 
Terrible Murder Blues 
Lead Hearted Blues 
Let Your Love Come Down 
That Lonesome Rave 
Leavin’ Gal Blues 
 
with Elzadie Robinson (vocal), Blake (guitar): 
Pay Day Daddy Blues 
Elzadie’s Policy Blues 
 
with Ma Rainey (vocal), Blake (guitar): 
Little Low Mama Blues 
Grevin’ Hearted Blues 
Morning Hour Blues 
Weepin’ Woman Blues 
 
with Lila Patterson (vocal), Blake (guitar): 
Little Low Mama Blues 
Grievin' Hearted Blues 
 
with Leola B. Wilson (vocal), Blake (guitar): 
Ashley Street Blues 
Dyin’ Blues 
State Street Men Blues 
Wilson Dam 
Down The Country 
Black Biting Bee Blues 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

123
Blind Lemon (Henry) Jefferson  
(September 24, 1893 - December 19, 1929) 
 
He was born blind into a large sharecropping family near Dallas. A guitar 
virtuoso and soulful singer, the future star began playing local picnics and parties 
while he was still a teenager. Soon he was playing the streets of several East Texas 
towns, setting up in front of barbershops and on street corners. In the early 1910s 
he met and played with the legendary Leadbelly in Dallas; he taught a young T-Bone 
Walker and a young Lightnin' Hopkins in exchange for their services as guides. By 
the early 1920s he was earning enough to support himself solely through music. He 
first recorded two gospel songs for Paramount records in Chicago during the winter 
of 1925-1926. In March 1926 he recorded four more titles that were wildly successful. 
Between 1926 and 1929 he recorded nearly one hundred tracks, becoming one of the 
first male blues stars of the industry along with Lonnie Johnson. Prior to Jefferson, 
recordings of male blues singers accompanying themselves on solo guitar were 
unheard of. Indeed, the very first blues stars of the new 'race records' industry 
were women such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. The success of his recordings 
paved the way for bluesmen such as Charley Patton, Furry Lewis, Blind Blake and 
others. He owned a car and traveled widely at a time when most of the roads of the 
south were unpaved. He passed away in Chicago, reportedly of a heart attack after 
becoming disoriented during a snowstorm. He is buried in Wortham, TX in a 
cemetery that now bears his name. He is widely recognized as the 'Father of the 
Texas blues."  
 

124
  
Discography 
 
78 RPM records on Paramount, 1925-1929: 
 
I Want to Be Jesus in My Heart 
All I Want Is That Pure Religion 
He Rose From the Dead 
Where Shall I Be 
Got the Blues 
Booster Blues 
Dry Southern Blues 
Black Horse Blues 
Corinna Blues 
Jack O’ Diamonds 
Chock House Blues 
Beggin’ Back 
Old Rounder’s Blues 

125
Stocking Feet Blues 
Black Snake Moan 
Wartime Blues 
Shuckin’ Sugar Blues 
Booger Rooger Blues 
Rabbit Foot Blues 
Bad Luck Blues 
Match Box Blues 
Easy Rider Blues 
Rising High Water Blues 
Weary Dogs Blues 
Right of Way Blues 
Teddy Bear Blues (Take 2) 
Black Snake Dream Blues 
Hot Dogs 
Stuck Sorrow Blues 
Rambler Blues 
Cinch Bug Blues 
Deceitful Brownskin Blues 
Sunshine Special 
Gone Dead On Your Blues 
See That My Grave is Kept Clean 
One Dime Blues 
Lonesome House Blues 
Penitentiary Blues 
‘Lectric Chair Blues 
Worried Blues 
Mean Jumper Blues 
Balky Mule Blues 
Change My Luck Blues 
Prison Cell Blues 
Cannon Ball Moan 
Long Lastin’ Lovin’ 
Piney Woods Money Mama 
Low Down Mojo Blues 
Competition Bed Blues 
Lock Step Blues 
Hangman’s Blues 
Sad News Blues 
How Long, How Long 
Christmas Eve Blues 
Happy New Year Blues 
Maltese Cat Blues 
D.B. Blues 
Eagle Eyed Mama 
Dynamite Blues 
Disgusted Blues 
Peach Orchard Mama 
Oil Well Blues 

126
Tin Cup Blues 
Saturday Night Spender Blues 
Black Snake Moan #2 
Bed Springs Blues 
Yo, Yo Blues 
Mosquito Moan 
Southern Woman Blues 
Bakershop Blues 
Pneumonia Blues 
Long Distance Moan 
That Crawlin’ Baby Blues 
Fence Breakin’ Yellin’ Blues 
Cat Man Blues 
The Cheater’s Spell 
Bootin’ Me ‘Bout 
 
 
 
 
 

“Sleepy” John (Adam) Estes 

(January 25, 1899 or 1900 - June 5, 1977)  ​
 
One of the blues' greatest poets and a prolific songwriter, he was born in 
Ripley, TN. When he was fifteen his family moved to Brownsville, where he worked 
as a field hand and began playing local picnics and parties with friends Yank 
Rachell (mandolin) and Hammie Nixon (harmonica). He began recording in 1929 
and six years later he cut "Someday Baby", "Ain't Gonna be Worried No More", and 
"Drop Down Mama" for Memphis' Victor records, three of several Estes 
compositions that would become bonafide blues classics. He also cut records for 
Decca from 1935-1940. He recorded rarely afterwards, in 1941 and again briefly in 
1952, but otherwise continued scratching out a meager existence as a sharecropper 
near Brownsville. In 1962 two blues historians tracked him down, completely blind 
and living in poverty. He had been off the scene so long, many thought he had 
passed away. Estes began recording once again, this time for Delmark records and 
in 1964 he appeared at the Newport Folk Festival with his longtime cohorts Rachell 
and Nixon. A master songwriter, he composed many songs about his daily life and 
notable people in his community, belting out his always vivid descriptions and 
observations in his distinctive, pained, 'crying' vocal style. He continued touring 
throughout the sixties and seventies, to national and international acclaim. In 1977 

127
he suffered a stroke and died suddenly while preparing for a European tour. Sleepy 
John Estes was a real folk blues genius. 
 

 
Discography 
 
1962 ​The Legend of Sleepy John Estes,​ Delmark 
1964 ​Broke and Hungry​, Delmark 
1966 I​ n Europe,​ Delmark 
1969 E
​ lectric Sleep,​ Delmark 
1969 B
​ rownsville Blues, D
​ elmark 
2000 ​Blues Live​, Storyville 
2002 ​Newport Blues​, Delmark 
2002 ​Working Man’s Blues,​ Fabulous 
 
 

128
 
 

Samuel "Lightnin'" Hopkins  

(March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) 
 
Born in Centerville, TX, he was only eight years old when he first heard the 
legendary Blind Lemon Jefferson at a church picnic. Before long he accompanied 
Jefferson regularly, who taught him the fundamentals of country blues. A farm 
hand by profession, he moved to Houston in the late thirties to make a first, though 
unsuccessful attempt at breaking into the music scene there, returning to farm 
labor in his hometown before long. He returned in 1946 and was subsequently 
discovered by a talent scout for Aladdin records for whom he recorded his first 
sides in Los Angeles that same year. He continued to record prolifically, though he 
remained mostly active within Texas. This changed in 1960, when he played 
Carnegie Hall. leading to bigger engagements and even more renown. He became a 
top draw at festivals and a favorite of both blues and jazz listeners. Hopkins 
enjoyed a large following until the end of his life. 
I first heard Lightnin' Hopkins when I was twelve years old. Three years 
later my mother (born and raised in Texas) bought me his "Blues in the Bottle" 
record and I never looked at a guitar the same way again. He was my introduction 
to the real country blues and I spent hours trying to decipher his riffs and rhythms. 
Lightnin' Hopkins is quite simply a true Texas legend and a blues pioneer. You can't 
talk about blues in the Lone Star state without saying his name out loud! 
 

129
  
 
Discography 
 
1951 B
​ lues Train, ​Mainstream 
1959 ​Lightnin’ Hopkins, S
​ mithsonian Folkways 
1960 S
​ trikes Again, ​Collectables 
1960 C
​ ountry Blues, T
​ radition/Rykodisc 
1960 D
​ own South Summit Meetin’​, JDC  
1960 T
​ he Last of the Great Blues Singers, T
​ ime 
1960 L
​ ightnin’ and The Blues,​ Southern Routes 

130
1960 A
​ utobiography in Blues,​ Tradition/Rykodisc 
1961 ​Blues in My Bottle,​ Concord 
1961 ​Last Night Blues​, Original Blues Classics 
1961 ​Lightnin’,​ Original Blues Classics/Prestige/Elite  
1961 ​Sings the Blues, P
​ ea Vine  
1961 ​Walkin’ This Road By Myself,​ Bluesville 
1962 ​Lightnin’ Sam Hopkins and Spider Kilpatrick​, Arhoolie  
1962 ​Lightnin’ Strikes Back​, Collectables 
1962 ​Mojo Hand​, Collectables 
1962 ​Lightnin’ Hopkins and the Blues, I​ mperial 
1962 ​At Main Point,​ Prestige 
1962 ​How Many More Years I Got​, Fantasy 
1962 ​Blues/Folk vol. I and II,​ Time Music 
1962 ​Fast Life Woman, ​Verve 
1963 ​Lightnin’ and Co.​, Bluesville 
1963​ Goin’ Away,​ Original Blues Classics 
1963​ Smokes Like Lightnin’​, Original Blues Classics 
1963​ Sonny Terry and Lightnin’ Hopkins​, Bluesville 
1963 ​And the Blues, I​ mperial 
1964 ​Hopkins Bros: Lightnin’, Joel and Henry,​ Arhoolie 
1964 ​Swarthmore Concert,​ Original Blues Classics 
1964 ​Live at The Bird Lounge,​ Cleopatra 
1964 ​Down Home Blues, ​Bluesville 
1964 ​First Meeting,​ World  
1965 ​My Life in the Blues, P
​ restige 
1965 ​Lightnin’ Hopkins with his Brothers and Barbara Dane, ​Arhoolie 
1965 ​Hootin’ the Blues,​ Original Blues/Prestige Elite 
1965 ​Blue Lightnin’​, Jewel 
1965 ​Lightnin’, Sonny and Brownie,​ Society 
1966 L
​ ightnin Hopkins, ​Saga 
1966 S
​ ometimes I Believe She Loves Me,​ Arhoolie 
1966 S
​ oul Blues, ​Original Blues Classics 
1968 F
​ reeform Patterns, B
​ ellwether/Bellaire 
1968 G
​ otta Move Your Baby, P
​ restige 
1969 T
​ he Texas Blues Man, A
​ rhoolie 
1969 C
​ alifornia Mudslide (And Earthquake), ​Ace 
1969 T
​ he Great Electric Show and Dance, J
​ ewel 
1969 L
​ onesome Life, ​Collectables 

131
1970 ​Lightnin’ vol. I, P
​ oppy  
1970 ​In New York, C
​ andid 
1971​ The Blues​, Mainstream 
1971 B
​ lues is My Business,​ Edsel 
1971 D
​ irty Blues​, Mainstream 
1971 L
​ et’s Work Awhile​, Blue Horizon 
1972 ​The King of Dowling Street​, Pathe 
1972 ​Lightnin’ Hopkins, ​Trip 
1972 ​Lonesome Lightnin’​, Carnival  
1972 ​Sounder (film soundtrack)​, CBS 
1974 B
​ lues Giant, O
​ lympic 
1975 I​ n Berkeley, A
​ rhoolie 
1975 L
​ ow Down Dirty Blues​, Mainstream 
1976 ​All Them Blues​, DJM 
1983 S
​ trums the Blues,​ EMI 
1984 ​Electric Lightnin’​, P-Vine 
1986 B
​ ad Boogie​, Diving Duck 
 
 
 
 
 

Charley Patton 
(April [approximate] 1886/87- April 28, 1934) 
 
The blues would have existed without Charley Patton, but his music 
influenced the genre so much that it is nearly impossible to imagine what the 
twentieth century would have sounded like without him. Born in Hinds County, 
Mississippi, he moved with his family as a young boy 100 miles north to Sunflower 
County in the Delta region where he spent the most of his life. Much has been made 
of Patton’s mixed racial heritage, with some speculating that he was of Native 
American (Cherokee or Choctaw, variously) or European ancestry. Considered in 
light of the legacy of slavery in the American South, this in itself would not have 
been remarkable; indeed most Black people in the United States can trace at least 
some of their lineage to non-African origins. Whatever the case may be, Patton was 
not considered white, was subject to the oppressive Jim Crow laws, and lived as a 
Black man in majority Black communities. 

132
 He began playing music in and around the plantation of Will Dockery near 
the town of Ruleville. An early influence was Henry Sloan, whose style of music 
represented a very early form of what would later become the Delta blues. While 
living in the area, Patton influenced a younger generation of players including Son 
House, Willie Brown, Honeyboy Edwards, Robert Johnson, Howling Wolf and Pops 
Staples. By the time he had reached 19 years of age he was living the life of an 
itinerant musician and playing often out of state; he was popular throughout the 
southeastern United States and maintained a regular engagement in Chicago for 
several years. He even recorded in New York City towards the end of his life. 
Patton enjoyed immense popularity due to his booming voice, extensive repertoire 
and highly versatile musicianship. He gained much renown as a captivating 
showman, often playing the guitar behind his back, on his knees, beating it like a 
drum or twirling his instrument in the air in mid-performance. At only 5’5”, he 
was a small man, but he nonetheless possessed a booming voice in a time before 
electric amplifiers and microphones. Tennessee bluesman Sleepy John Estes 
recalled that Patton had the loudest voice he had ever heard. He was a bonafide 
star of his time, capable of entertaining audiences of all races and raising the roof 
with his highly rhythmic guitar playing and captivating stage presence.  
Though he first recorded for Paramount in 1929, his style was already fully 
formed by 1916 when he is reputed to have written “Pony Blues”, which became one 
of his most famous compositions. As a recording artist, he was for a time the 
highest selling bluesmen of his day, rivaling such stars as Blind Lemon Jefferson 
and Bessie Smith. He was also prolific. The more than 60 singles he cut between 
1929 and 1934 for Vocalion and Paramount have stood the test of time as 
cornerstones of not only Black music but American popular music in general. In 
1933 he settled down in Holly Ridge, Mississippi with his common-law wife Bertha 
Lee. He died from heart failure a year later. Any genealogy of blues, rock or 
popular music will undoubtedly be rooted in the music of Charley Patton. He is 
called 'the father of the Delta blues' but you might as well call him the father of 
twentieth century American music. 
 
 
 
 
 

133
 

Discography  
 
78 RPM records on Paramount, 1929-1930: 
Pony Blues 
Mississippi Boweavil Blues 
Screamin’ and Hollerin’ the Blues 
Down the Dirt Road 
Banty Rooster Blues 
Pea Vine Blues 
It Won’t Be Long 
Tom Rushen Blues 
A Spoonful Blues 
Shake It and Break It (But Don’t Let It Fall Mama) 
Prayer of Death, Part I and II 
Lord, I’m Discouraged 
I’m Going Home  
Elder Green Blues 

134
Mean Black Cat Blues 
Heart Like A Railroad Steel 
Hammer Blues 
Some Happy Day 
When Your Way Gets Dark 
Devil Sent the Rain 
You Gonna Need Somebody When You Die 
Circle Round the Moon 
Magnolia Blues 
Some of These Days I’ll Be Gone 
Mean Black Moan 
Green River Blues 
Jesus is A Dying Bed Maker 
Going to Move to Alabama 
High Water Everywhere, Part I and II 
I Shall Not Be Moved 
Runnin’ Wild Blues 
Jim Lee Blues, Part I and II 
Frankie and Albert 
Joe Kirby 
Moon Going Down 
Bird Nest Bound 
Some Summer Day 
Dry Well Blues 
 
With Son Sims (vocal), Charley Patton (guitar), November 1929: 
Come Back Corrinna 
Farrell Blues 
Be True, Be True Blues 
Tell Me Man Blues 
 
78 RPM records on Vocalion, January and February, 1934:: 
Jersey Bull Blues 
High Sheriff Blues 
Stone Pony Blues 
34 Blues 
Love My Stuff 
Revenue Man Blues 
Oh Death 
Troubled ‘Bout My Mother 
Poor Me 
Hang It On the Wall 
 
with Bertha Lee (vocal), Charley Patton (guitar): 
Yellow Bee 
Mind Reader Blues  
 

135
R.L. Burnside  
(November 23, 1926 – September 1, 2005) 
 
His first and biggest influence was his neighbor, the mighty Mississippi Fred 
McDowell, whom he began listening to while he was still a boy. He was also 
influenced by church singing as well as the fife and drum music of legends such as 
Othar Turner and Napoleon Strickland. In his adult years he learned from 
Lightnin' Hopkins and John Lee Hooker records. While in his late twenties he 
moved to Chicago where his cousin had married Muddy Waters, with whom he 
spent a lot of time. Three years later he returned to the south, living between 
Memphis, the Delta region and the hilly country where he was born and raised. 
Aside from a short stint at Parchmam farm State Penitentiary for murder, he 
worked as a tractor driver, sharecropper, commercial fisherman and truck driver 
until late in life, when his music finally began getting national and international 
recognition. 
I met Mr. Burnside in the early nineties and over the years we would tour 
together and we even played together a couple times. He was kind and easy going, 
with a sharp wit. This elder had jokes for days! He also had an elephant's memory; 
I'll never forget an 8 hour flight from Amsterdam to Memphis where he recited 
every known verse of 'The Signifying Monkey' and other epic poems nonstop. It 
was never a dull moment with R.L.!! My last memory of him was riding in the back 
of his old van on interstate 95 with his grandson Cedric Burnside and Paul Wine 
Jones, eating tomato sandwiches while they drank whiskey and Kenny Brown 
drove. Even in his success, R.L. was the same genuine, simple and kind man that he 
had always been. I am thankful to have known him and call him my friend. 
 

136
  
Discography 
 

1981 Sound Machine Groove, ​Vogue 

1981 Plays and Sings the Mississippi Delta Blues​, Swingmaster 

1987 Hill Country Blues​, Swingmaster 

1994 Bad Luck City​, Uni/Capricorn 

1994 Too Bad Jim​, Fat Possum 

1996 A
​ Ass Pocket of Whiskey, ​Matador 

1997 Mr. Wizard​, Fat Possum 

137
1997 Acoustic Stories​, M.C. Records 

1998 C
​ ome On In, F
​ at Possum 

1999 M
​ y Black Name a’ Ringin’, ​Genes 

2000 Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down, F

​ at Possum 

2001 ​Well, Well, Well, ​M.C.  

2001 ​Raw Electric 1979-1980,​ Inside 

2003 ​First Recordings, F

​ at Possum  

2004 ​A Bothered Mind, F

​ at Possum 

2010 ​King of the Hill Country Blues: Rollin’ and Tumblin’, W

​ olf 

2017 L
​ ong Distance Call: Europe 1982, ​Fat Possum 

Singles and EPs: 

1997 ​Georgia Women, S

​ ympathy For the Record Industry (7” single) 

1998 R
​ ollin’ and Tumblin’, F
​ at Possum 

1998 L
​ et My Baby Ride, ​Fat Possum (12” promo) 

1998 L
​ et My Baby Ride​, with T-Model Ford, Fat Possum (12” promo) 

1998 L
​ et My Baby Ride, ​Fat Possum (CD, single) 

2003 ​Burnside’s Darker Blues, ​Fat Possum (CD, EP) 

2008 T
​ he George Mitchell Collection vol. 26, ​Fat Possum (7” EP) 

 
 
 
 
 

138
Nehemiah Curtis 'Skip' James 
(June 9, 1902 – October 3, 1969) 
 
This son of a minister came from Bentonia, Mississippi and learned his 
guitar style from Henry Stuckey. He recorded a collection of stunning masterpieces 
on both guitar and piano for Paramount records in 1931. His hauntingly unique 
sound on the guitar in open D minor tuning influenced generations of blues, jazz 
and rock musicians. Even the great Robert Johnson copied James’ style in his song, 
'Hellhound on my Trail' and covered his “32-20 Blues.” Unfortunately, James’ 
records sold poorly, having been released at the start of the Great Depression. 
Disappointed in the music industry, James became an ordained Baptist preacher in 
1932 and moved to Dallas, Texas to preach and sing in a gospel group called the 
Dallas Jubilee singers. He would not record anything for the next thirty years. He 
re-emerged at the Newport Folk festival, making a huge impression on fans and 
critics and re-igniting his career. Scholars and record collectors were amazed that 
his skills were undiminished by the passage of so much time; he even composed 
new songs during this era. James played a central role in white America's 
discovery of southern, Black traditional blues and enjoyed considerable success 
touring and recording often before passing away in 1969. 
From the first time I heard his music, I knew it came from another planet. 
He was so different from all the other artists of his time. When I played his 
recordings for Ali Farka Toure, he declared confidently that this was music from 
Mali. He was shocked when I told him it was a Black man from Mississippi named 
Skip James who had never even set foot on the African continent! Like the elders 
used to say, "the roots of a tree cast no shadow." To listen to his music is to 
experience something deep and ancestral, a link to an African time and place long 
before the blues began. Ali Farka himself used to often say, "there are Blacks in 
America but there are no Black Americans." Listen to Skip James and you'll hear 
the African heart of the blues. He was a true blues original. 
 

139
  
Discography 
 
78 rpm records on Paramount Records, 1931: 
  
Cherry Ball Blues/Hard Time Killing Floor Blues 
22-20​ Blues/If You Haven’t Any Hay Get on Down the Road 
Illinois Blues/Yola My Blues Away 
How Long Buck/Little Cow and Calf is Gonna Die Blues 
Devil Got my Woman/Cypress Grove Blues 
I’m So Glad/Special Rider Blues 
Four O’Clock Blues/Hard Luck Child 
Jesus is A Mighty Good Leader/Be Ready When He Comes 
Drunken Spree/What Am I to Do 
 

140
1964 ​Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers​, ​Melodeon, Biograph 

1964 ​She Lyin’​',​ ​Adelp​hi

1966 T
​ oday, ​Vanguard 

1968 D
​ evil Got My Woman​, Vanguard 

1978​ I'm So Glad​, Vanguard 

1994​ Live: Boston, 1964 & Philadelphia, 1966​, Document 

1964 ​Skip's Piano Blues​, Genes 

1998​ Blues from the Delta​, with two previously unreleased recordings, Vanguard 

1994 ​The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James – 1930​, Yazoo 

1999​ The Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968​, Document 

1999​ Skip's Guitar Blues​, Genes 

2003​ Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased​ ​1967, ​Vanguard 

2003​ Hard Time Killing Floor Blues​, Biograph 

2003​ Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Skip James​, Shout! 

2003​ Hard Time​, Universe 

2005 ​Hard Time Killin’ Floor, Y

​ azoo 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

141
William Howard Taft Armstrong a.k.a. “Louie Bluie” 
(March 4, 1909-July 30, 2003) 
 
 
He was born in Dayton, Tennessee, the locale of the infamous Scopes 
“monkey trial” of 1925. He grew up in the mountain community of LaFollette, in 
the northeastern part of the state. Howard Armstrong was the middle son in a 
musical family of eleven; his father was also a musician but worked full-time in a 
steel mill to support the family. Typical of many steel towns, the community 
attracted a variety of ethnicities. As a young boy Armstrong was exposed to several 
languages and learned to sing in Polish, German, Italian and even Chinese. Always 
creative and full of ingenuity, he taught himself to play a fiddle that he built himself 
from an old goods box, stringing it with horsehair. He also studied art and design at 
the Tennessee State Normal School, playing cello in a local orchestra and fiddle in a 
jazz band.  
A few years later he joined Knoxville musicians Ted Bogan and Carl Martin 
to form the Tennessee Chocolate Drops, making their radio debut and recording 
their first sides on the Vocalion label in 1930. Like many Black performers of the 
era, they were highly versatile, mastering not only blues but also old-time jigs, 
waltzes, rags and vaudeville favorites as well as jazz, popular hits and Tin-Pan alley 
songs. Playing their own engagements as well as medicine shows, they toured 
throughout the Appalachian region for several years. They eventually made their 
way to Chicago, first playing for tips on the Southside and in the popular Maxwell 
Street area. The trio also played taverns in white immigrant areas where 
Armstrong’s language talents gave them an advantage with audiences. Performing 
at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago, they recorded two sides for Bluebird records 
the following year as Martin, Bogan and Armstrong. The advent of radio and the 
jukebox brought their career to a halt until the 1970s, when a rediscovery led to the 
trio appearing at coffee houses, festivals and college campuses. The group 
continued as a duo after Martin’s death in 1978, starring in the 1985 documentary 
Louie Bluie​ directed by Terry Zwigoff of Monty Python fame. The accompanying 
soundtrack introduced a whole new generation of fans to their incredible vintage 
music, winning the duo a W.C. Handy award from the Blues Foundation in 1995. In 
1996 Armstrong married his band’s drummer, Barbara Ward and settled down in 

142
Boston, Massachusetts. He continued touring right up to the end of his life, when 
he succumbed to complications from a heart attack at the age of ‘94.  
Mr. Armstrong was an accomplished jack of all trades: a jewelry maker and 
expert painter who also wrote and illustrated full length graphic novels where he 
drew highly detailed color images from memory of his life in Tennessee (sex scenes 
included!) and his travels in the southern US in the 1920s and 30s. He was also my 
friend and esteemed elder. I was blessed to run into him several times over the 
years and listen to him tell the history as it really was back in the days. He was 
intelligent, kind, humble, hip and creative. He was what I call a real downhome 
sophisticate. When someone said, “they don’t make them like that no more”, they 
must have been thinking of Howard Armstrong, the immortal “Louie Bluie.” 

143
  
 
Discography 
 
1995 ​Louie Bluie​, Blue Suit Records 

​ he Barnyard Dance​ (with ​Martin, Bogan & Armstrong)​, ​Rounder Records 

1973 T
 
 

144
Philadelphia Jerry Ricks 
(May 27, 1940 - Dec 10 2007) 
 
I met Jerry Ricks at a blues festival in the early 90's and he was always so 
supportive and encouraging to the young brothers like me. He knew what it was like 
to be the new blood on the scene. Coming from Philadelphia, he began playing guitar 
in local coffeehouses in the late 1950s. A few years later he worked as a booking 
agent for the Second Fret Coffeehouse where he played with several legendary blues 
giants such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Son House, Jesse Fuller, Lonnie Johnson, Mance 
Lipscomb, Elizabeth Cotten, and Mississippi John Hurt, with whom he also 
recorded an album in 1964. 
I learned so much about guitar playing whenever we spoke. He told me that 
all of the great players were masters of brushing the strings with their thumb while 
fingerpicking; they never used too much force, which in the end only leads to 
mistakes and even injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome. This had a huge effect on 
my playing. When I first traveled to Holland to play music, it was Jerry who 
encouraged me, even when I wasn't too sure of myself. He was and always will be 
my big brother in the blues. Rise in Power elder...you will never be forgotten! 
 

145
  
Discography 
 
1997 ​Deep In the Well​, Rooster Blues 
2000 ​Many Miles of Blues,​ Rooster Blues 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

146
John Dee Holeman 
(born April 4, 1929) 
 
Now in his early nineties, this resident of Durham, North Carolina is one of 
the very last of the original Piedmont blues generations. His playing and singing 
come from another time, when acoustic blues and ragtime, dancing and country 
suppers were still popular among rural Black folk. He is nothing less than a 
national treasure. He is one of our last living links to a bygone era. I’ve met Mr. 
Holeman a few times on the road over the years, and I have always loved listening 
to him play or talk about his long journey with the blues. Hearing him sing and play 
guitar, it is clear right away that his biggest influence is probably Blind Boy Fuller, 
though he has established his own unique sound in the many years he has been on 
the scene. Check out the video, B
​ lues Houseparty​ on YouTube for some special 
moments featuring John Dee, John Jackson, John Cephas, Phil Wiggins and others 
for some real downhome blues fellowship with some expert buck dancing by Mr. 
John Dee himself. Long live the blues! Long live John Dee Holeman! 
 

147
148
Discography 
 
1991 ​Bull City After Dark, ​Silver Spring 
1992 ​Piedmont Blues of Carolina,​ Inedit Music 
1999 B
​ ull Durham Blues,​ Music Maker 
2004 ​John Dee Holeman with Taj Mahal​, Music Maker 
2007 ​John Dee Holeman & the Waifs Band, ​Music Maker 
2009 Y
​ ou Got to Lose You Can’t Win All the Time,​ Music Maker 
 
 
 
 

Bowling Green John Cephas 

(Sept 4, 1930 - March 4, 2009) 
 
My first acoustic blues record that I bought featuring living blues artists was 
a Cephas and Wiggins album on Flying Fish records. Soon after they came to my 
school and I heard them live for the first time. I was an instant fan. I never 
dreamed that one day I would open up for them and eventually play music with 
them both! We became good friends. When he heard that I liked his guitar, Mr. 
Cephas contacted Taylor guitars and arranged for them to give me a new guitar. He 
even gave me a couple lessons. He was truly one of the most generous and kind 
people I have ever met. Born in Bowling Green, he began playing blues as a child, 
influenced by Blind Boy Fuller. A cousin taught him the basics of the Virginia 
Piedmont style. He worked as a carpenter, fisherman and sang gospel music in 
church. In the 1960s he began playing in the Washington, DC area with piano 
player Big Chief Ellis. In 1978 he formed Cepahs and Wiggins with Phil Wiggins 
and as they say, the rest is history. In 1987 John Cephas became a founding 
member of the DC Blues Society.   
He called me just a couple weeks before he passed, but I didn't know that 
would be the last time I would hear his voice. His music and spirit live on. Along 
with elders like John Jackson, Nat Reese, Jeff Scott and others, John Cephas kept 
the real Piedmont blues flame lit brightly. A few years later I was blessed to tour 
and record with harmonica master Phil Wiggins and he always took time to share a 

149
John Cephas story with me. It can be safely said that if you don't know Phil Wiggins 
then you don't know blues harmonica!  
Long respected as perennial touring and recording warriors, Cephas and 
Wiggins will surely go down in history as one of the greatest acoustic blues duos to 
ever grace a stage. 
 

 
 
 
 
Discography 
 
1981 L
​ iving Country Blues Vol. 1​, L&R Music 
1984 ​Sweet Bitter Blues​, Evidence 
1985 L
​ et It Roll: Bowling Green,​ Marimac 
1986 D
​ og Days Of August,​ Flying Fish 
1987 G
​ uitar Man​, Flying Fish 

150
1988 ​Walking Blues​, Marimac 
1992 ​Flip, Flop and Fly,​ Flying Fish 
1993 ​Bluesmen​, Chesky 
1996 C
​ ool Down​, Alligator 
1998 G
​ oin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad​, Evidence 
2002 ​Somebody Told The Truth​, Alligator 
2006 S
​ houlder To Shoulder,​ Alligator 
2008 R
​ ichmond Blues,​ Smithsonian Folkways 
 
 
 
 

John Jackson  
(February 24, 1924 - January 20, 2002) 
 
To know Mr. John Jackson was to love him. He was a musician's musician, a 
guitarist par excellence, a farmer, gravedigger, and family man from rural 
Rappahannock VA. Born in Woodville, VA, he learned to play guitar as a young 
boy, later moving to Fairfax, VA where he continued to play with his family and for 
various community events. By 1949 he had stopped playing music until his 
'rediscovery' by folklorist Chuck Perdue in the early 1960s which led to him 
resuming recording, this time for Arhoolie records. Mr. Jackson also toured Europe 
and the United States several times, playing major folk festivals. He came from the 
blues generation that worked the land, believed in honest, hard work and took pride 
in a job well done. To hear him talk in his lilting, musical accent was to hear a 
creole-like dialect that has nearly disappeared from rural Virginia. Indeed many 
people at first had a hard time understanding him, so far was his tongue from what 
some call 'standard English.' His legacy lives on in his nephew, Jeff Scott, who 
learned as a boy literally sitting on Mr. Jackson's knee at family gatherings. Though 
Jeff opted to make his career as a farmer, insurance agent and as a Virginia State 
Trooper, he plays in the same style as his uncle and can even reproduce his unique 
country accent. John Jackson's music, gentle manners and strong character made a 
positive mark on everyone he met. He was my friend and I was blessed to open up 
for him a few times. He always had an encouraging word for a young brother 
starting out in the blues. We love you Elder John Jackson! 

151
  
 

152
Discography 
1965 ​Blues And Country Dance Tunes From Virginia​, Arhoolie 
1966 J
​ ohn Jackson,​ Rounder 
1968 J
​ ohn Jackson Vol. 2​, Arhoolie 
1970 ​John Jackson In Europe,​ Arhoolie 
1979 ​Step It Up And Go​, Universal 
1983 D
​ eep In The Bottom,​ Rounder 
1988 ​Country Blues LIve! (with Robert Pete Williams, Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rache​l, 
Document 
1999 F
​ ront Porch Blues​, Alligator 
1999 C
​ ountry Blues & Ditties,​ Arhoolie 
2010 ​Rappahannock Blues​, Smithsonian Folkways 
 
 
 
 
 
 

McKinley Morganfield a.k.a. "Muddy Waters" 

(April 4, 1913 – April 30, 1983) 
 
This giant of twentieth century music grew up on the Stovall Plantation 
outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi. His grandmother raised him after his mother 
died when he was still a young boy: it was she who gave him the name, "Muddy" due 
to his love of playing in the waters of a nearby creek. Friends from school later 
added the name "Water" when he was a teen, around the time he began to play 
harmonica and perform locally. He famously accompanied the great Big Joe 
Williams on tours throughout the Delta region, though the latter soon fired him due 
to young Muddy's popularity with Williams' female fans. At seventeen years old he 
purchased his first guitar and began emulating local blues heroes Son House and 
Robert Johnson while driving a tractor on the Stovall Plantation to make ends 
meet. His big break came in 1941 when folklorist Alan Lomax recorded him for the 
Library of Congress; Lomax returned the next year to record him again. In 1943 
Muddy headed to Chicago determined to become a full-time, professional musician.  
 

153
 Soon he was opening up shows for the great Big Bill Broonzy who was at that 
time enormously popular in that city's Black community, which was full of 
newly-arrived southern Black folk hungry for some down home entertainment. 
Unsatisfied with the acoustic guitar, Muddy switched to electric in order to compete 
with the noisy audiences in the city's south side clubs. His first commercial 
recording opportunity came in 1946 when he cut some songs for Columbia Records; 
later that year he went back to the studio to record for Aristocrat records, later 
known as Chess records. Originally billed as ‘Muddy Water” (Chess added the ‘s’), 
by the end of the decade he was one of the most popular artists in Chicago. He 
continued to record with Chess in the 1950s, achieving commercial success with a 
string of hit singles. It was during this time that he began his association with 
Little Walter on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Otis Spann on piano and Elga 
Edmonds on drums. Together they became one of the most celebrated blues groups 
in history, cementing the Chicago sound and influencing generations of musicians 
to come.  
He toured England in 1958, making a huge impression on crowds who were 
up to this time only exposed to acoustic folk blues. His electrified slide guitar 
playing and energetic stage presence were a revelation, laying the foundation for 
generations of English rock and roll groups such as The Who, Led Zeppelin, The 
Rolling Stones and The Kinks who would later enjoy great success in America's 
much acclaimed "British invasion" of the 1960s. He continued to release albums 
and toured heavily, notably being nominated for a Grammy award for a live 
recording of his performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. In 1968, at the 
instigation of Chess records, he attempted crossover success with his E
​ lectric Mud 
album​, though many critics and fans did not like his revamped, overtly 
rock-inspired sound. Famously, even Muddy eventually denounced the effort, 
calling it "dogshit." The following decade saw Muddy return to his blues roots, 
which proved to be a great success with white fans, even though many Black 
listeners had since moved on to newer styles such as funk and R&B. He won his 
first Grammy award in 1972 for T​hey Call Me Muddy Waters,​ a collection of 
previously unreleased, traditional blues songs. He would go on to win six more 
Grammys, cementing his legendary status as a leading elder statesman of the blues 
and an American icon. Suffering from declining health, he died in his sleep at his 
home in Westmont, Illinois in 1983.  

154
 The blues had many stars and legends, but none were bigger or more 
influential than the great Muddy Waters, the humble sharecropper from Coahoma 
county, Mississippi who went on to change the world with his voice and guitar. 
 

 
 
 

155
 
Discography 
 
Singles: 
 
Aristocrat, 1948-1950 
Can’t Be Satisfied/Feel Like Going Home 
Train Fare Home/Sittin’ Here And Drinkin 
Gypsy Woman/Little Anna Mae (with Sunnyland Slim) 
Little Geneva/Canary Bird 
You’re Gonna Miss Me/Mean Red Spider 
Streamline Woman/Muddy Jumps One 
Rollin’ And Tumblin’ 
 
Chess, 1950-2010: 
Louisiana Blues/Evan’s Shuffle 
Rollin’ Stone/Walking Blues 
Sad Letter Blues/You're Gonna Need My Help 
Still A Fool/My Fault 
Long Distance Call/Too Young To Know 
Honey Bee/Appealing Blues 
Please Have Mercy/Looking For My Baby 
She Moves Me/Early Morning Blues 
All Night Long/Country Boy 
Standing Around Crying/Gone To Main Street 
Mad Love/Blow Wind Blow 
She’s All Right/Sad Sad Day 
Turn The Lamp Down Low/Who’s Gonna Be Your Sweet Man 
I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man/She’s So Pretty 
I’m A Natural Born Lover/Loving Man 
Just Make Love To Me/Oh! Yeh 
I’m Ready/I Don’t Know Why 
Sugar Sweet/Trouble No More 
I Want To Be Loved/My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble 
Mannish Boy/Young Fashion Ways 
Don’t Go No Farther/Diamonds At Your Feet 
I Got To Find My Baby/Just To Be With You 
Forty Days And Forty Nights/All Aboard 
I Live The Life I Love (I Love The Life I Live)/Evil 
Rock Me/Got My Mojo Working 
Good News/Come Home Baby (I Wish You Would) 
She’s Nineteen Years Old/Close To You 
She’ Got It/I Won’t Go On 
Clouds In My Heart/Ooh Wee 
Mean Mistreater/Walking Thru The Park 
Recipe For Love/Tell Me Baby 
Take The Bitter With The Sweet/She’s Into Something 

156
Tiger In Your Tank 
I Feel So Good 
Got My Mojo Working/Woman Wanted 
Read Way Back/I’m Your Doctor 
Look What You’ve Done/Love Affair 
Lonesome Room Blues/Messin’ With The Man 
You Need Love 
Tough Times/Going Home 
Muddy Waters Twist/You Shook Me 
Five Long Years/Twenty Four Hours 
Put Me In Your Lay Away/Still A Fool 
The Same Thing/You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had 
The Real Folk Blues Vol. 4 
My John The Conquer Root/Short Dress Woman 
My Dog Can’t Bark/I Got a Rich Man’s Woman 
I’m Ready 
Corine, Corina/Hoochie Coochie Man 
Birdnest On The Ground 
Let’s Spend The Night Together/I’m A Man 
Going Back To Memphis/Black Night 
Two Steps Forward/Making Friends 
Going Home/I Feel So Good 
Can’t Get No Grinding/Garbage Man 
Got My Mojo Working/Rocket 88 (with Jackie Brentson) 
Sugar Sweet/Diamonds At Your Feet 
 
Jazz Selection, 1952: 
Too Young To Know/Honey Bee 
 
Vogue, 1955: 
Mississippi Blues (with Little Walter) 
 
London, 1956: 
Mississippi Blues 
 
United Artists, 1961: 
Folk Song Festival At Carnegie Hall (with Memphis Slim) 
 
Pye International, 1963: 
Muddy Waters 
 
Python, 1969: 
Country Boy 
 
 

157
Carrere, 1988: 
Mannish Boy  
 
Dureco, 1988: 
You’re Gonna Need My Help 
 
Tempo-Tone, 2020: 
Blues Baby/I Want My Baby (with Little Walter and Sunnyland Slim) 
 
 
1960 M
​ uddy Sings Big Bill​, Chess 
1960 M
​ uddy Waters At Newport,​ Chess 
1963 ​Folk Festival Of The Blues (with Sonny Boy Williamson Howling Wolf and Buddy Guy)​, 
Argo 
1964 ​Folk Singer​, Chess 
1966 D
​ own On Stovall’s Plantation,​ Testament 
1966 M
​ uddy, Brass And The Blues​, Chess 
1967 ​The Super, Super Blues Band (with Howling Wolf and Bo Diddley),​ Checker/Chess 
1967 ​More Real Folk Blues,​ Chess 
1967 ​Super Blues (with Bo Diddley and Little Walter),​ Checker 
1968 E
​ lectric Mud,​ Cadet Concept 
1969 F
​ athers And Sons (with Otis Spann, Sam Lay, Michael Bloomfield et al),​ Chess 
1969 A
​ fter The Rain,​ Cadet Concept 
1970 ​Chicago Bound (with Jimmy Rogers and Little Walter)​, Chess 
1971 M
​ ckinley Morganfield AKA Muddy Waters, ​Chess 
1971 L
​ ive! (At Mr. Kelly’s)​, Chess 
1972 ​Rare Recordings Vol. 3​, Python 
1973 C
​ an’t Get No Grindin’, ​Chess 
1973 M
​ ud In Your Ear​, Muse 
1974 L
​ ondon Revisited (with Howling Wolf),​ Chess 
1974 “
​ Unk” In Funk​, Chess 
1975 T
​ he Muddy Waters Woodstock Album​, Chess 
1977 ​Hard Again​, Blue Sky 
1978 I​ ’m Ready​, Blue Sky 
1979 ​Muddy “Mississippi” Waters Live​, Blue Sky 
1981 K
​ ing Bee,​ Blue Sky 
1982 M
​ uddy Waters And Otis Spann In Concert​, Krazy Kat 
1982 L
​ ive At Newport (with Big Mama Thornton and B.B. King),​ Intermedia 
1982 M
​ uddy And The Wolf (with Howling Wolf),​ Chess 

158
1988 ​Live In Paris 1968​, France’s Concert 
1988 ​Live In Antibes 1974,​ France’s Concert 
1990 L
​ ive In Switzerland 1976,​ Jazz Helvet 
1990 L
​ ive,​ Roots 
1992 ​Going Home (live in Paris, 1970)​, Last Call 
1993​ In Concert, P
​ restige 
1992 ​Baby Please Don’t Go (Live At Jazz Jamboree ‘76)​, Polijazz 
1994 ​Chicago 1979​, Charly 
1994 ​Muddy Waters And Otis Spann Live At Newport,​ Charly 
1995 ​In Concert​, Charly 
1997 ​Muddy Waters Paris 1972​, Pablo 
1999 H
​ oochie Coochie Man, ​Just A Memory 
1998 T
​ he Lost Tapes​, Blind Pig 
1999 L
​ ive Recordings (1965-1973),​ Wolf 
2004 ​Carnegie Hall And More (with Memphis Slim)​, Capitol 
2004 ​Muddy Mississippi Water/King Bee,​ BGO 
2007 ​Breakin’ It Up, Breakin’ It Down​, Epic/Legacy 
2007 ​Mannish Boy​, Weton-Wesgram 
2009 L
​ ive Fillmore Auditorium,​ Chess 
2012 C
​ heckerboard Lounge Live Chicago 1981 (with The Rolling Stones),​ Eagle Vision  
2014​ Boston Music Hall 1977 (with James Cotton and Johnny Winter)​, Echoes 
2015 D
​ rinkin’ TNT + Smokin Dynamite Messin’ With The Blues (with Buddy Guy And Junior 
Wells)​, Edsel 
2016 ​Blues Hit Big Town (with Elmore James and Junior Wells)​, Delmark 
2018 G
​ oin’ Way Back,​ Just In Time 
2018 L
​ ive At Rockpalast,​ MIG 
2018 M
​ ore Muddy “Mississippi” Waters Live​, Epic 
2020 ​Muddy Waters Day​, Retroworld 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

159
 
Gertrude "Ma" Rainey  
(born Gertrude Pridgett, September 1882 or 1886 – December 22, 1939) 

Long before guitar-slinging bluesmen dominated the industry, it was the 

women of the roaring twenties who were the first recorded blues stars. Ma Rainey, 
“The Mother of the Blues”, was among the earliest professional blues singers. 
Though she wasn’t exactly the first female singer of her generation to record a 
blues song, (Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues” earned that distinction in 1920), she was 
definitely one of the first bona fide superstars of the genre. The second of five 
children born to Thomas and Ellen Pridgett, she claimed to have been born in 
Columbus, GA, though the 1900 census listed her birthplace as somewhere in 
Russell County, Alabama. She started singing professionally as a teenager, 
performing with the numerous minstrel and medicine shows which were the first 
form of popular entertainment in the United States. In 1904 she married William 
“Pa” Rainey and adopted the name “Ma” which she would use for the rest of her 
life. They toured throughout the south for years, playing tent shows, medicine 
shows and circuses, and billing themselves as “Rainey and Rainey, The 
Assassinators of the Blues.” Rainey discovered the blues while on tour in Missouri 
when she heard a young girl singing a song about a couple’s love and heartbreak. 
Immediately taken by the melody, she learned the lyrics and added it to her 
repertoire. 
She gave a young Bessie Smith her first job as a show dancer in 1912, paving 
the way for Smith’s own successful career years later. In 1916 Pa Rainey retired due 
to ill health and passed away three years later; Ma continued touring heavily. Well 
known in many Black southern communities, she already had twenty years’ singing 
experience when she made her recording debut for Paramount in 1923. Her star 
rose even higher with the advent of recording technology, and her renditions of 
“See See Rider”, “Boll Weevil Blues” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom'' became 
genuine blues classics that have stood the test of time. Though her repertoire 
included popular and minstrel songs (the outdated tradition of blackface vaudeville 
was still a recent memory in those days), she boasted a tough, gutsy, 
take-no-prisoners vocal delivery that distinguished her from all her peers. With 

160
her gold teeth, gold chains, flamboyant outfits and a confident swagger, she was a 
real force of nature. 
Her recording career lasted a mere six years, but in that short period of time 
she recorded over 100 songs which defined the genre for generations to come. 
Rainey lived at a time when the line between blues and jazz was blurred; she 
recorded often with jazz greats such as Fletcher Henderson, Buster Bailey and 
Lovie Austin and the great Louis Armstrong, who even imitated her sound in his 
own performances. Beginning in 1924 she toured with the TOBA (Theater Owners 
Booking Association, a.k.a. ‘Tough On Black Asses’ among Black artists), playing 
sold-out shows in the South and Midwest to audiences of both races. She also 
worked with bluesman Tampa Red and a young Thomas A. Dorsey (the father of 
gospel music and composer of “Precious Lord”) when he was still a young bluesman 
known as Georgia Tom. Her recordings were huge hits with Black people 
everywhere in the south throughout the 1920s. After reaching the peak of her 
popularity in the late ‘20s, her career began to wane in the early thirties as female 
blues singing fell out of fashion with the listening public and radio took a more 
prominent place in the entertainment industry. In 1933 she retired and settled 
down in her hometown of Columbus, where she operated two theaters until her 
death from a heart attack in 1939. Ma Rainey took what was once an obscure Black 
folk song form and blazed a blues trail for all to follow. She didn’t create the genre, 
but once she discovered it, it would never again be the same. 
 

161
 
 
 
 
 
 

162
Discography 
 
78 RPM records 
Paramount 1924 - 1930: 
 
Jealous Hearted Blues/See See Blues 
Those Dogs Of Mine (Famous Cornfield Blues)/Lucky Rock Blues 
Bo-Weavil Blues/Last Minute Blues 
Ma Rainer’s Mystery Record (100 Prizes For Winning Name)/Honey, Where You Been So 
Long? (with Lovie Austin’s Blues Serenaders) 
Bad Luck Blues/Those All Night Long Blues 
Moonshine Blues/Southern Blues 
Shave ‘Em Dry Blues/Farewell Daddy Blues 
Walking Blues/Barrelhouse Blues 
Dream Blues/Lost Wandering Blues 
Mountain Jack Blues/Seeking Blues 
Down n The Basement/Trust No Man 
Soon This Morning/Don’t Fish In My Sea 
Slow Driving Moan/Gone Daddy Blues 
Dead Drunk Blues/Misery Blues 
Little Low Mama Blues/Grievin’ Hearted Blues 
Prove It On Me Blues/Hear Me Talking To You 
Black Cat Hoot Owl Blues/Victim Of The Blues 
Deep Moaning Blues/Traveling Blues 
Weepin’ Women Blues/Morning Hour Blues 
Ma And Pa Poorhouse Blues/Big Feelin’ Blues 
Tough Luck Blues/Screech Owl Blues 
Log Camp Blues/Hustlin’ Blues 
Blame It On The Blues/Sleep Talking Blues 
Leaving This Morning/Runaway Blues 
Lawd Send A Man Blues/South Bound Blues 
Blues The World Forgot 
Blues, Oh Blues 
 
Ristic Records: 
Army Camp Harmony Blues & Explaining The Blues/Bo-Weavil Blues & Last Minute Blues 
(with Lovie Austin’s Blues Serenaders) 
 
1953 F
​ irst Of The Great Blues Singers Vol. 1, R
​ iverside 
1953 L
​ egendary Voice Of The Blues Vol. 2, ​Riverside 
1954 M
​ a Rainey With Her Georgia Band Vol. 3, R
​ iverside 
1956 ​Broken Hearted Blues,​ Riverside 
1958 M
​ a Rainey​, Ristic 
1960 T
​ he Female Blues Vol. 1 (with Ida Cox),​ Jazz Collector 
1964 ​Mother Of The Blues Vol. 1,​ Riverside 

163
1966 T
​ he Immortal Ma Rainey​, Milestone 
1969 B
​ lame It On The Blues​, Milestone 
1971 D
​ own In The Basement,​ Milestone 
1974 M
​ a Rainey,​ Milestone 
1979 ​Complete Recordings In Chronological Order Vol (December 1923 - April 1924).​, VJM 
1985 M
​ a Rainey’s Black Bottom​, Yazoo 
1986 C
​ omplete Recordings In Chronological Order (August 1924 - July 1925) 
1987 O
​ h My Babe Blues,​ Blue Moon/The Magnum Music Group 
1989 1​ 924-1925 Vol. 5,​ Black Swan Records 
1993 ​The Complete Recordings In Chronological Order,​ Document 
1994 ​The Complete Gertrude “Ma” Rainey Collection 1923/28 Vol. 4, 1927/28​, King Jazz 
1994 ​Night Time Blues (with Memphis Minnie),​ History 
1997 ​Rabbit Foot Minstrels 1923-1928​, Giants Of The Blues 
1997 ​Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and Ma Rainey (New Orleans)​, Fabbri Editori 
1997 ​Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Vol. 1 - 4, ​Document 
1998 M
​ other Of The Blues 1923-1928,​ Blues Collection 
2000 ​Black Cat Hoot Owl,​ Catfish 
2001 ​Countin’ The Blues,​ TKO Magnum Music 
2001 ​The Essential,​ Classic Blues 
2004 ​Blues Archive: The Story Of The Blues Chapter 2​, Membran 
2004 ​Don’t Fish In My Sea,​ Complete Blues 
2004 ​Mother Of The Blues: The Best Of Gertrude “Ma” Rainey,​ Blues Forever 
2005 ​Hustlin’ Blues,​ Blue Orchid 
2006 A
​ n Introduction To Ma Rainey,​ Fuel 2000 
2007 ​Presenting Ma Rainey, ​Fastforward  
2007 ​Mother Of The Blues​, JSP 
2010 ​Those Dogs Of Mine,​ Monk 
2013 N
​ obody Rocks Me Like My Baby Do,​ Broken Audio 
2016 ​The Essential Recordings​, Proper Music Distribution/Primo 
2018 T
​ he Definitive Collection 1924-28,​ Acrobat  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

164
Sources 
https://www.allmusic.com 

https://www.discogs.com 

https://wikipedia.org 

Zack, Ian. ​Say No To The Devil: The Life and Musical Genius of Rev. Gary Davis.​ University of

Chicago Press, 2015.

Calt, Stephen, and Gayle Dean Wardlow. ​King of the Delta Blues: The Life and Music of Charlie

Patton​. Rock Chapel Press, 1988.

Calt, Stephen. ​I'd Rather Be The Devil.​ Da Capo Press, 1994.

Thanks to David Evans, T. DeWayne Moore and Ian Zack for proofreading and corrections​. 

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172
 
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173
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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174
  
Blues People: Legends Of The Blues 
Funded by 

 
 
With generous support from these donors: 
 
Stefano Di Carlo, Brahim, Meg Harper, Augusta Palmer, John 
Branch, Ben Farmer, Christopher T. “Yoda” Stevens, Randell 
E. Strickland, Mo Pru, Makkada B. Selah, Mary Johnell Hale, 
Othman L’Indigene Wahabi, Peter McCracken, Tony Maguire, 
akikumar, John Harris, Laura Edmonds, Joe, Judith Cawhorn, 
John Deering, Anna Marie Palmer-Harper, Colin Lee Scott, 
Justin Brown, Eugenia Foster Adams, Sian Pearce, John 
Skeffington, Constanze Huther, Valerie Turner, Gerry Nelson, 
bohokid, Talking Book, Janet Isserlis, Natalia Davydova, 
Sharon Scott Brooking, Sidney Titelman, Reverend Peyton, 
Ron Weinstock, Daniel Peter Dudeck, Heather McGuire, 
Sharon Elliot, Dave Melyan, Ewan, Kyle Thompson, Gretchen 
Anthony, Jeffrey Muhr, Stanley Taylor, Matthew Orr, John 
Ford, Patrick Mackay, Marie Monrad, Regina Tillman, Erica 
Brown, Mousumi Franks, Patricia Tietz, Viva D. Araki, Kent 
Erik Thorvaldsen, Celia Lightfoot, Kimberly Taylor, shannon, 
John Brauchler, Daniel, Mike Fowler, Nick O’Sullivan, Brian 
Brinkerhoff, Joanne Cooper and Lee Cobert, Mike, Lovat 
Fraser, Peter Joseph Burtt, Michael Taub, Jim Bonney and 
Charlie Witthoeft, Roger Wood, Ian Zack, Steven Itterly, Carl 

175
Walser, Grant Edwards, Courtney Fleisher, Catherine Huston, 
Pat Sofra, Jaleen Siekman, Uschl, Albert Wollert, Bonnie Raitt 
 
Thank You!  
 
 
 
 
 

176