Topic: Unnatural Causes - murdered blues musicians

[dabluz]

what about the immortal robert johnson.

[uncle bud]

"I didn't mean to kill nobody," Burnside later said of the murder. "I just meant to shoot the sonofabitch in the head. Him dying was between him and the Lord."

Mark, I think Luzi has one for the quote generator.

[waxwing]

what about the immortal robert johnson.

See first post in this topic.-G-

All for now.
John C.

[Bunker Hill]

The Pat Hare Story:
http://www.rockabillyeurope.com/references/messages/pat_hare.htm

Not bad for a rockabilly page, but the "half ain't been told". From 1973 blues fan Kevin Hahn began visiting and corresponding with Hare right up until his death. The entire story was told by Hahn in "Pat Hare: A Blues Guitarist." (Juke Blues 23 Summer 1991, p. 8-15 - click cover image to enlarge). The feature contains chunks of correspondence between the pair, a copy of Hare's official police statement given on December 16 1963 as well as other interesting artefacts such as Hahn's invitation to speak on behalf of hare at a parole application held on April 19, 1974.

[Coyote Slim]

Amede Ardoin, one of the pioneers of Creole and Cajun music, was reportedly beaten so badly by some rednecks (he had apparently accepted a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow offered to him by a white girl) that he ended up in an asylum where later died..

[hortig78rpm]

the violent athmosp?re and the rugged life of the blues pianists killed many of them:
-buster pickens, murdered in a quarell about a crap game by a cousin
-wilson thunder smith was shot in a drunken "fight"
-memphis piano red williams was stabbed by burglars
-walter roland was shot to blind when he tried to solve an argument with neighbours

many of them had been hustlers or gamblers too.

regards
mike

[Mr.OMuck]

Shit! And I thought all I had to do was pick cotton for twenty years. Ya mean I got to kill somebody too?
Well anything for Art!

[Parlor Picker]

Shit! And I thought all I had to do was pick cotton for twenty years. Ya mean I got to kill somebody too?
Well anything for Art!

Oh yeah? How much cotton have you been picking in New York??  Maybe picking Elizabeth CottEn off the shelf to play.....   Speaking personally, I have enough trouble over here in southern England pickin' my parlor.

[Mr.OMuck]

Its been on my "to do" list.
1. Pick cotton for twenty years
2. Do laundry
3. buy food
4. Refill windshield wiper fluid
and now
5. Kill or be killed in Blues appropriate manner

Be patient fer chrissakes.

[Mr.OMuck]

On a serious note, its easy to form some romanticized notion of the adventurous life of Blues musicians and read their very real sufferings as emblems of authenticity for the purpose of our entertainment (witness my previous posts) rather than the inevitable outcome of an outrageously unjust system of exploitation that thrives on pitting people against each other. The Scrapper Blackwell story in particular is profoundly sad to me.

[Parlor Picker]

Too right O'Muck. It's OK for us to have a laugh, but the reality of a lot of those situations doesn't bear thinking about. Maybe that's part of the reason we have to inject some humour - laughing to keep from crying, and all that.

[Coyote Slim]

I seem to recall something about Son Seals being shot... he didn't die of it, though.

Mr. O'muck -- just remember, as you read these depressing stories, that shooting yourself doesn't count.

[harry]

Found out that Ed Bell was possibly murdered due to his involvement in the civil rights movement.

[Pontius2000]

I know it's not really provable one way or other, but I personally don't buy that Robert Johnson was murdered. I think he simply died of (unintentional) alcohol poisoning, which was a pretty common death in those days.

I know Son House claimed he was arrested for murder, but I don't think any evidence of such an arrest was ever found. I kind of think Son was prone to tall tales.

[Bunker Hill]

I know Son House claimed he was arrested for murder, but I don't think any evidence of such an arrest was ever found. I kind of think Son was prone to tall tales.

You can read about House and his 1955 incarceration (and eventual release) in Dan Beaumont's House biography. My copy of the book is currently on loan - from memory it gives chapter & verse on the event.