Home » Jazz Musicians » Blind Lemon Jefferson

Blind Lemon Jefferson

Considering he was the most popular male blues recording artist of the 1920s, we know surprisingly little about Blind Lemon Jefferson. Between 1925 and 1929, he made at least 100 recordings, including alternate versions of some songs. Had 43 records issued, all but one on the Paramount label, where he became the first black male singer/guitarist to have a hit. He inspired a generation of male bluesmen, but had few imitators, due to the complexity of his guitar playing and the distinctiveness of his high, clear voice. Born in Couchman, in Freestone County, Texas, blind from childhood, possibly even from birth, he may have had some residual sight (which would explain his wearing clear, rather than dark, glasses.) Jefferson received no formal education and instead traveled from town to town in the Wortham area, playing his guitar and singing songs, most of which were his own compositions. He later moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and became a well-known figure in the Deep Ellum district of Dallas. There he met Huddie Ledbetter (better known as "Leadbelly"), and for a time they played together in some of the brothels of Texas' cities. Leadbelly's "Blind Lemon Blues" was in honor of his friend. Jefferson was discovered by a talent scout for Paramount Records while in Dallas and was taken to Chicago. He made seventy-nine records for Paramount in the 1920s, each estimated to have sold 100,000 copies; he also made two recordings under the "Okeh" label. Recordings included "Matchbox Blues," "Black Snake Moan," and "See that My Grave is Kept Clean." He recorded spirituals under the pseudonym Deacon L. J. Bates. Jefferson is recognized as one of the earliest representatives of the "classic blues" field, considered to be one of the best folk blues singers of the 1920s, and said to have influenced such artists as Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, and Bix Beiderbecker, and to have encouraged Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins when Hopkins was an eight-year-old boy in Buffalo, Texas. As his reputation grew, Lemon started traveling further around the country to play, and in the early 1920s, he played in most Southern states, if all reports are to be believed. (The lyrics to some of his songs certainly seem to suggest a familiarity with many different musical locales.) He most certainly penetrated the Mississippi Delta/Memphis region, where there was lucrative work for an itinerant bluesman. It is not definitely known whether Jefferson was married, although one source says he married in 1922 or 1923 and had a son.

Read more

Tags

7
Book Review

Blues Come to Texas: Paul Oliver and Mack McCormick's Unfinished Book

Read "Blues Come to Texas: Paul Oliver and Mack McCormick's Unfinished Book" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Blues Come to Texas: Paul Oliver and Mack McCormick's Unfinished Book Alan B. Govenar (Compiler), Kip Lornell (Contributor) John and Robin Dickson Series in Texas Music, sponsored by the Center for Texas Music History, Texas State University 472 Pages ISBN: # 978-1623496388 Texas A&M University Press 2019 While the presently published reviews of Blues Come to Texas are accurate in their breadth they are not so in their depth. The quixotic tale ...

4
Book Review

A&R Pioneers: Architects of American Roots Music on Record by Brian Ward & Patrick Huber

Read "A&R Pioneers: Architects of American Roots Music on Record by Brian Ward & Patrick Huber" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


A&R Pioneers: Architects of American Roots Music on Record Brian Ward & Patrick Huber 480 pages ISBN: # 978-0826521750 Country Music Foundation Press 2018 Scholarship in the history or blues music (and all music, for that matter) reaches a pinnacle with the publication of the exhaustively researched A&R Pioneers: Architects of American Roots Music on Record, written and edited by Brian Ward and Patrick Huber. In the past 60 years, there has been ...

Read more articles

Photos

Music

Similar

T-Bone Walker
guitar, electric
Mississippi John Hurt
guitar, acoustic
Big Bill Broonzy
guitar, acoustic
Lead Belly
guitar and vocals
Sleepy John Estes
guitar, acoustic
Elmore James
guitar, slide
Blind Willie McTell
guitar, 12-string
Mance Lipscomb
guitar, acoustic
Skip James
guitar, acoustic
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee
band / ensemble / orchestra
Josh White
guitar, acoustic

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.