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R.L. Burnside

R.L. Burnside - Blues Singer, guitarist (1926 - 2005)

Hailing from the hill country of northern Mississippi, R.L. Burnside was a genuine exponent of the droning, rhythmic guitar style characterized by its vigorous performance.

R.L. Burnside was born in Layfayette County, near Oxford, Mississippi in 1926. As a young man R.L. moved North into the neighboring Marshall County and began sharecropping. Inspired by John Lee Hooker's '50s hit "Boogie Chillun'," R.L. began singing blues and playing guitar. In addition to the Hooker 45 rpm there were other local forces that influenced R.L as well, such as Mississippi Fred McDowell and Ranie Burnette.

Fed up with the hopelessness of sharecropping, Burnside migrated to Chicago in hopes of finding economic opportunity. Chicago did not work out. In the span of one month R.L.'s father, brother and uncle were murdered. Around 1959 he returned to Mississippi to again work the farms and raise a family. He also started to play music at night and on weekends.

R.L.'s first recordings appeared on a 1967 Arhoolie compilation. Although R.L. preferred electric guitar, the fashion of the day dictated that he be recorded acoustically. These recordings earned Burnside enough of a reputation to play festivals and tours at home and abroad. Throughout the '70s and '80s R.L. played with a family band consisting of sons Joseph and Daniel as well as son-in-law Calvin Jackson, known as the Sound Machine. Though a local favorite, R.L. and the Sound Machine were barely known outside of North Mississippi.

This all began to change for R.L. in the early '90s when the documentary film based on author Robert Palmer's book Deep Blues featured R.L. as one of its highlights. Subsequently Palmer produced R.L.'s “Too Bad Jim” for the fledgling Fat Possum label. Along with Junior Kimbrough's “All Night Long,” “Too Bad Jim” was one of the most important and influential blues albums of the '90s.

“Too Bad Jim” brought R.L. to the attention of post-punk musician Jon Spencer. R.L. toured extensively with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and this led to the collaboration between the two, the result was “A Ass Pocket of Whiskey,” a teenage party record. “Ass Pocket of Whiskey” made R.L an unlikely champion in the indie rock world.

In 1997 R.L. released “Mr. Wizard,” Fat Possum's debut record on their new distribution label Epitaph. The album featured R.L's hardcore touring mates, grandson Cedric Burnside and adopted son Kenny Brown.

In 1998 R.L. released “Come On In,” which pitted his raw blues against modern electronica, courtesy of producer Tom Rothrock (Beck, Elliot Smith). The album was a critical and commercial success, and one of its tracks, "It's Bad You Know," became a respectable radio hit and was featured in The Sopranos and on its soundtrack.

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169
Album Review

R.L. Burnside & The Sound Machine: Raw Electric: 1979-80

Read "Raw Electric: 1979-80" reviewed by Derek Taylor


In the intensely fickle proving ground of the music business probability of success routinely defies prognostication. This is particularly true in the realms of niche genres such as blues. A musician can struggle and toil for decades before lightning strikes thrusting him or her into the pale and often fleeting limelight that is public adulation. Bluesman R.L. Burnside is currently riding out his run near the head of pack, but it was a long and perambulating trek to the top. ...

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Obituary

Bluesman R.L. Burnside dies at 79

Bluesman R.L. Burnside dies at 79

Source: All About Jazz

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Blues artist R.L. Burnside, who redefined the blues genre by incorporating indie rock acts and hip-hop production, died September 1, 2005, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 79.

Burnside was born November 21, 1926, in Harmontown, Mississippi, and spent most of his life in the north Mississippi hill country, where he worked as a sharecropper and a commercial fisherman and played guitar at weekend house parties. In 1968, noted folklorist George Mitchell recorded Burnside ...

115

Music Industry

R.L. Burnside Brings 'Heaven' to the West Coast

R.L. Burnside Brings 'Heaven' to the West Coast

Source: All About Jazz

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 4, 2001

LEGENDARY BLUESMAN R.L. BURNSIDE BRINGS “HEAVEN" TO WEST COAST

Legendary bluesman R. L. Burnside, whose new CD “Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down" (Fat Possum/Epitaph) has earned critical raves since its release last month, will bring his signature North Mississippi Hill Country blues to the West Coast with a series of dates January 19-26. (See cities and venues below).

While Burnside is recognized as one of the pre-eminent voices in blues today, it ...

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