The Mississippi Sheiks
| The Mississippi Sheiks | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Blues , old-time music |
| founding | 1928 |
| resolution | 1935 |
| Founding members | |
| Walter Vinson | |
| Lonnie Chatmon | |
The Mississippi Sheiks were a successful American musical group that made numerous recordings between 1928 and 1935. Her best-known song, Sitting on Top of the World , is a blues classic that has been re-recorded by many artists and bands, including Howlin 'Wolf , Bob Dylan , Cream and the Grateful Dead .
history
Walter Vinson , guitar, and Lonnie Chatmon , violin ("fiddle"), were the core of the group. They were often supported by members of their extended kin. The guitarists Bo Carter (actually Bo Chatmon) and Sam Chatmon deserve to be mentioned . Even Memphis Slim belonged to the clan - his real name was Pete Chatmon.
The forefather of the Chatmon clan was Henderson Chatmon from the Mississippi Delta, a former slave . He taught his numerous children to play dance music on the violin. The Chatmons appeared in different lineups as the "Chatmon Brothers String Band" and also went on tour, where they came to Chicago . They played all kinds of popular dance music: square dances , waltzes , folk and also the blues that was emerging at the time .
Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon made the first recordings in 1928 as "The Mississippi Sheiks". The name is borrowed from a popular film by Rudolph Valentino , The Sheik . The rest of the clan later used this name as well. The Sheiks recorded numerous pieces by 1935 and were among the top stars of their time in Mississippi and Texas . Her fans included Son House , Howlin 'Wolf and Muddy Waters .
In 1935 Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon separated and thus brought about the end of the Mississippi Sheiks. From then on, Vinson appeared as Walter Jacobs. Lonnie formed the "Chatmon Brothers" with his brother Sam.
Lonnie Chatmon retired from music and died around 1943. Walter Vinson attempted to revive the Mississippi Sheiks in the 1960s without much success. He died in 1975. Sam Chatmon was able to make better use of the blues revival and was well known until his death in 1983. Bo Carter was the Mississippi Sheiks' most successful soloist after their breakup. However, he went blind in the 1940s. In 1964 he died completely impoverished.
In 2008 the Mississippi Sheiks were inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame .
Remarks
- ↑ This does not mean the mouth region of the Mississippi south of Baton Rouge , Louisiana , but a region on the Mississippi in the state of the same name, see → Lower Mississippi Delta Region and → Yazoo River