Furry Lewis

Walter "Furry" Lewis (born March 6, 1893 in Greenwood , Mississippi , † September 14, 1981 in Memphis , Tennessee ) was an American blues guitarist and singer.

He was one of the most important representatives of the Memphis Blues and one of the first of the blues veterans to be "rediscovered" during the American blues revival of the 1960s. His best known pieces include Billy Lyons & Stack-o-Lee , Judge Harsh Blues and Kassie Jones .

Life

The nickname "Furry" (dt. Pelzig ) he received as a child. His parents, Walter and Victoria, separated before he was born and the children stayed with their mother. At the age of 7 his family moved to Memphis, where a certain "Blind Joe" taught him to play the guitar. From him he also learned two of his most famous pieces, Kassie Jones and John Henry .

From an early age, Lewis played in pubs and on the street, a few times in the orchestra of WC Handy , who, together with the bar owner Chad Fields, gave him his first guitar, which he was to play for 20 years. At times he also appeared in Medicine Shows , in which Dr. Willie Lewis he met Jim Jackson know.

In 1916, Lewis lost a leg when his foot caught in the clutch while jumping on a train. Nevertheless, he continued to roam around as a musician, performing with Gus Cannon , Will Shade , Memphis Minnie , Bessie Smith , Blind Lemon Jefferson , Texas Alexander and Frank Stokes , among others .

In 1923 he was employed by the Memphis City Cleaning Service, where he worked until his retirement in 1968. In 1925 he teamed up with Will Shade, Dewey Thomas and Hambone Lewis to form the Memphis Jug Band . In early 1927 he and Jim Jackson were discovered by talent scouts; on April 20 of this year, accompanied by Landers Waller as second guitarist, he made his first recordings for the Vocalion Records label in Chicago on some pieces by Charles Johnson on the mandolin . Three further recording sessions, this time always solo, followed in October 1927 (also in Chicago) and in August 1928 and September 1929, both in Memphis. The Great Depression ended his recording career in 1929, but he continued to perform regularly over the next few decades, especially on Beale Street , but also at private parties.

In 1959, Furry Lewis was rediscovered by Sam Charters and had considerable success until his death in 1981. He played at festivals and appeared on The Tonight Show .

In 1976, five years before his death, Joni Mitchell released the song Furry Sings The Blues about him on her LP Hejira , which he disliked.

swell

• Neil Slaven, Blues in Memphis , in: Masters of Memphis Blues , CD-Booklet A, JSP Records, 2004