Born in Teoc, Mississippi in 1892 but raised in Avalon, Mississippi, “Mississippi” John Hurt spent the majority of his life employed as a farm hand. Though he briefly recorded in the 1920s, it was not until the 1960s that his music was widely distributed and … Read More“Mississippi” John Smith Hurt (ca. 1892-1966)
Blues, jazz, and folk musician Taj Mahal was born Henry St. Claire Fredericks in Harlem, New York on May 17, 1942. He was raised in Springfield, Massachusetts by musically gifted parents. Mahal’s father was a jazz musician and his mother a gospel singer. As a … Read MoreTaj Mahal (Henry St. Claire Fredericks) (1942- )
Legendary blues singer B.B. King was born Riley B. King on September 16, 1925, in Itta Bena, Mississippi. King spent his childhood in the Mississippi Delta but left to pursue a music career in Memphis, Tennessee in 1946. While in Memphis, King was employed as … Read MoreB.B. King/Riley B. King (1925 -2015)
Opened in 1923, the Cotton Club on 142nd St & Lenox Ave in the heart of Harlem, New York was operated by white New York gangster Owney Madden. Madden used the Cotton Club as an outlet to sell his “#1 Beer” to the prohibition crowd. … Read MoreCotton Club of Harlem (1923- )
Huddie Ledbetter was born January 15, 1888, on the Jeter Plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana. He was an only child who quickly became interested in music when he received his first instrument (an accordion) from his uncle Terrell. In 1903at the age of 15, Ledbetter he … Read MoreHuddie (Leadbelly) Ledbetter (1888-1949)
Blind Lemon Jefferson was born in Couchman, Texas, sometime around the 1890s although the exact date is not known and several are claimed. He was the youngest of seven children and the only one of them born blind. The details of his birth and young … Read MoreBlind Lemon Jefferson (ca. 1890-1929)
Thomas Dorsey, known widely as the “Father of Gospel Music,” was a pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and lyricist. He was born Thomas Andrew Dorsey on July 1, 1899, in Villa Rica, Georgia, to Thomas Madison Dorsey, a revivalist preacher, a graduate of Atlanta Bible College … Read MoreThomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993)
