Born on a farm
near Houston, Mississippi, November 12, 1909, and
named for the famed black educator, Bukka White was
interested in music from an early age. His father
taught him guitar at the age of nine, and a chance
meeting with Charley Patton convinced the young White
to "come to be a great man like Charley Patton." The
son of a railroad worker, White was exposed to the
sound of trains from an early age and was not afraid
to hobo a train. He rode the rails from the
Mississippi Delta to St. Louis, where he played
poolrooms, barrelhouses, and parties for food and tips
during the 1910s and 1920s.
During a 1930 stay in
Memphis, White recorded fourteen songs, including
three gospel numbers with Memphis Minnie supplying
background vocals. Two 78s were released from the
session, one containing two gospel sides and the
other containing two blues numbers. Neither met with
commercial success, but during this session White
received the designation "Bukka" from a white record
producer who had never heard of his famous namesake
Booker T. Washington. He continued to travel during
the 1930s, working as a professional boxer in
Chicago and as a Negro League pitcher with the
Birmingham Black Cats.
During the summer of
1937, White shot an assailant in the thigh and was
sentenced to Parchman Farm. Before beginning his
sentence, he recorded two blues for the Vocalion
label, including "Shake 'Em On Down," which sold in
excess of 16,000 copies. Bluesman Big Bill Broonzy
recorded "New Shake 'Em On Down," and scored another
hit on that theme while White toiled at Parchman.
Making the best of a bad situation, he recorded for
folklorist Alan Lomax in 1939, while the latter was
at the notorious prison recording for the Library of
Congress.
Upon his release from
prison in 1940, White traveled to Chicago for a
follow-up session to "Shake 'Em On Down." The
resulting twelve songs transcend blues as music,
becoming powerful ruminations on imprisonment,
isolation, loneliness, Jim Crow justice, and the
freedom of the rails. White's post-Parchman success
was short-lived, however, as a stint in the U.S.
Navy during World War II curtailed his
playing.
During the 1940s, he
occasionally played juke joints with Memphis legend
Frank Stokes after the latter had moved to
Clarksdale, Mississippi. White later settled in
Memphis, playing occasional gigs and influencing his
young guitar-playing cousin B.B. King. Like Skip
James, Mississippi John Hurt, and Son House, White
was rediscovered during the 1960s "blues revival,"
and was once again celebrated for his slide guitar,
throaty holler, and inspired compositions.
Bukka White died in
Memphis, Tennessee, February 26, 1977. He is buried
in Memphis.
By
Sean
Styles
|
MY
MUSICAL
LIFE
By Carl P.
McConnell
Mabel
McConnell talks about the Carter Family, Doc
& Carl,
The
Original Virginia Boys and the early days of
radio.-
But for a few twists of
fate, Atlanta could easily have grown to be the
recording center that Nashville is today.Pickin'
on
Peachtree traces Atlanta's emergence in
the 1920s as a major force in country recording and
radio broadcasting, a position of dominance it
enjoyed for some forty years. From the Old Time
Fiddlers' Conventions and barn dances through the
rise of station WSB and other key radio outlets,
Wayne W. Daniel thoroughly documents the
consolidation of country music as big business in
Atlanta. He also profiles a vast array of
performers, radio personalities, and recording
moguls who transformed the Peachtree city into the
nerve center of early country music. More...
|
