WELCOME TO PAGE 2. I STARTED THIS NEW PAGE ON 3-7-99, BECAUSE PAGE 1 HAS BECOME SO JAM PACKED WITH INFO IT IS HARD TO CONTROL! PAGE 1 IS ON A LINK BELOW. ENJOY MY HISTORY, BUT I DO NOT CLAIM TO BE AN AUTHORITY, ONLY TO HAVE AN APPRECIATION FOR THE TALENT OF THESE MUSICIANS AND A LOVE OF THEIR MUSIC.

I AM BUYING MORE MUSIC AND LEARNING MORE AS I GO. I SURE LOVE THESE OLD BLUES GUYS AND CAN NOT BELIEVE HOW MUCH SOME OF THEM ARE IMITATED. I DO NOT MIND THAT IF IT IS DONE AS A TRIBUTE AND THE ARTIST ACKNOWLEDGES WHERE THEY GOT THEIR INSPIRATION. BUT, IT DRIVES ME NUTS WHEN THEY DO NOT GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT IS DUE!

HAPPY LISTENING!!!! I WILL START THIS PAGE WITH A NEW OLD FAVORITE OF MINE.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT- He was born July 3, 1892 in Toec, Mississippi, as John Smith Hurt. His family moved to Avalon when he was 2. He was one of 10 children and they all played music. He taught himself to play and said he just made it sound they way he thought it should. He used no picks and his style was totally his own. His mother bought him his first guitar, at age 9, a Black Annie for $1.50. He could read and write, but only went as far as the fourth grade.

He was a sharecropper, then switched to a day laboror. He played music for fun and extra cash at country dances and church suppers. He was always a local favorite and sometimes earned as much as $2.00. He recorded in 1928 and 1929, for Okeh Records (part of Columbia), in Memphis and New York, and only sold a few hundred records. He met Lonnie Johnson, Bessie Smith, Lemon Jefferson, and many others during the time he recorded, but they did not hear each other or intermingle, as they were kept in the hall until it was their turn to record. He continued to play locally and sharecrop. He worked wherever he could to make ends meet, the railroad, the river, the WPA. He did not really want to leave his home area, but did try to record more for Okeh, but was lost in the depression years. The few records he did sell became high priced collectors items later.

He was rediscovered, at age 71, by 2 young musicians who went to find him after they heard his original recordings, in 1963. He was working cattle on a farm for $28.00 a month. At this point he did not even own a guitar still and was very skeptical about someone trying to find him.

He became an instant success on the folk blues circuit. He played all over, until his death, on November 2, 1966. He was shy, quiet, and introspective; always playing in his everyday work clothes and battered hat. He loved his late success and always gave a great performance. He wrote most of his songs and music, except for a few tradition ones that are hymms. He was befriended by Fred McDowell, Doc Watson, and Elizabeth Cotten. Taj Mahal sounds so much like him, you will be amazed, as do many others.

I highly recommend any of his cds that are out now. His playing and singing is so great! My favs are: AVALON BLUES: THE COMPLETE 1928 OKEH RECORDINGS, Columbia Records and SATISFIED...LIVE, Boomerang Records

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SON HOUSE- Born Eddie James House Jr, on March 21, 1902, in Riverton, Mississippi. He started preaching at 15, in Baptist Churches, as his family moved from plantation to plantation. He picked up a guitar at age 25 and he did not like it. He hated plantation work, liked moonshine, and got some coins one time when he drunking picked up a guitar and started to play and sing. He knew the meaning of blues when one night he shot a man dead and ended up in prison. He only served 2 years, because his parents kept saying it was self defense. He was released, with a Clarksdale judge telling him to never set foot in town again.

He became a bluesman full time now. He ended up with Charley Patton, who he had nothing in common with except the love of alcohal. Patton was a cheery man; House a gloomy, guilt ridden one. They bickered constantly. Patton got him a recording contract, which is why we get to hear him today. His performances were said to be demonic. Alan Lomax later recorded him again, after hearing the old recording. Alan Wilson later found him again, in 1964, and House said he hadn't played in years. Wilson sat down and retaught him to play. Once he got going, the folk scene welcomed him. In 1965 he played Carnegie Hall, and in 1969 a documentary was made about him. He was hailed as the greatest blues singer still performing. He died October 19, 1988, in Detroit, Michigan.

DELTA BLUES-Biograph Records (the Alan Lomax recordings)