King Solomon Hill

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King Solomon Hill ( pseudonym of Joe Holmes ; * 1897 with McComb (Mississippi) , † 1949 in Sibley (Louisiana) ) was an early American blues singer and guitarist, of whom some recordings from 1932 are known.

identity

Big Joe Williams stated in an interview with Bob Koester that he made his first recordings under the name "King Solomon Hill". This story was published by Samuel Charters in his book The Country Blues . Williams had n't known Blind Lemon Jefferson , so the song My Buddy Blind Papa Lemon was about another musician for him . In a footnote, Charters admitted doubts that the recordings of King Solomon Hill and Big Joe Williams differed significantly from each other, especially when it came to vocals. In his later book, The Bluesmen , Charters dropped the Williams story and instead pointed to the strong resemblance between King Solomon Hill and Sam Collins , whereupon some blues researchers assumed that Hill and Collins were identical.

It was Gayle Dean Wardlow , after all , who identified Hill as Joe Holmes. Another well-known blues researcher, David Evans, contradicted him . However, Wardlow was able to locate contemporary witnesses who had known Joe Holmes and recognized his voice on the recordings of King Solomon Hill. One of these contemporary witnesses lived in Yellow Pine, south of Sibley, Louisiana , where there was a predominantly African American settlement formerly known as King Solomon Hill. None of the contemporary witnesses could remember that Holmes used the name King Solomon Hill. Wardlow therefore assumed that the music label Paramount Records chose the address of Holmes as his stage name.

biography

Joe Holmes was born near McComb, Mississippi , in 1897 . In 1915 he followed his brother to northern Louisiana , where he married Roberta Allums. In 1920 he returned to McComb with his wife and their child Essie. Here he played with the area's most famous blues musician, Sam Collins , known as "Salty Dog Sam" and "Cryin 'Sam Collins".

A year later Roberta and Essie moved back to Sibley, while Joe continued his musical career, first in McComb, then as a traveling musician who kept coming back to Sibley. He also performed in Minden, Louisiana , where his friend George Young lived. In 1928, Blind Lemon Jefferson came to Minden, and Holmes and Young took him to Wichita Falls , Texas . Holmes later wrote the song My Buddy Papa Lemon about his time with Jefferson.

Holmes met Willard Thomas , known as Ramblin 'Thomas, who became his preferred musical partner. Holmes often came to Shreveport , Louisiana to perform with Thomas.

Little is known about the rest of his life. He was described as a heavy drinker. Joe Holmes died of a cerebral haemorrhage in Louisiana in 1949 .

Recordings

When Holmes performed in Minden, Louisiana in 1932 , he was invited to make recordings for Paramount . At least 28 tracks were recorded with various other musicians in Grafton, Wisconsin , including six by Holmes. 14 records were released, including three by Holmes under the name King Solomon Hill. Since Paramount was in financial difficulties, only small editions were pressed. Only a few of the records have survived to this day; it was not until 2002 that a copy of Paramount 13125 was rediscovered with My Buddy Papa Lemon and Times Has Done Got Hard .

Discography

Eight recordings (six titles) by King Solomon Hill are known:

  • Down on My Bended Knee (Take 1)
  • Down on My Bended Knee (Take 2)
  • The Gone Dead Train
  • My Buddy Blind Papa Lemon
  • Tell me baby
  • Times Has Done Got Hard
  • Whoopee Blues (Take 1)
  • Whoopee Blues (Take 2)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carl-Ludwig Reichert: Blues - history and stories. DTV Munich 2001, 2nd edition 2002, pages 27–28 and 130
  2. ↑ Allmusic, see web links
  3. ↑ A Walk Up King Solomon Hill on sundayblues.org (English)
personal data
SURNAME Hill, King Solomon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Holmes, Joe (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American blues singer and guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH McComb (Mississippi)
DATE OF DEATH 1949
Place of death Sibley (Louisiana)