Bukka White album cover

Booker T. Washington "Bukka" White (November 12, 1906– February 26, 1977) was a delta blues guitarist and singer born near Houston, Mississippi. Even though he didn't like the spelling "Bukka", he was best known by that name. He gave his more famous cousin B.B. King his first guitar, a Stella. Bukka himself is remembered as a player of National Steel guitars. He also played, but was less adept at, the piano. Image File history File links Bukkawhitealbum. ... Image File history File links Bukkawhitealbum. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... Delta blues are named for the Mississippi Delta. ... Houston is a city located in Chickasaw County, Mississippi. ... Riley B. King aka B. B. King (b. ... Stella is the Latin and Italian word for star. ... A modern tricone resonator guitar, with electric pickup A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more metal resonators rather than by a wooden guitar belly. ...

White started his career playing fiddle at square dances. He claims to have met Charlie Patton early on, although some doubt has been cast upon this ^[1]; regardless, Patton was a large influence on White. He typically played slide guitar, in an open tuning. He was one of the few, along with Skip James, to use a crossnote tuning in Em, which he may have learned, as James did, from Henry Stuckey. The term fiddle refers to a violin when used in folk music. ... Square dance is often used as a general term for modern Western square dance. ... Charlie Patton (May 1, 1891 - April 28, 1934) is best known as an American Delta blues musician. ... Example of a bottleneck, with fingerpicks and resonator guitar. ... In guitar playing, an open tuning is one where the strings are tuned so that a chord is achieved without fretting, or pressing any of the strings. ... Nehemiah Curtis Skip James (June 21, 1902 – October 3, 1969) was an American blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. ... Bentonia School is a style of guitar playing sometimes attributed to blues players from Bentonia, Mississippi. ...

He first recorded for the Victor label in 1930. His recordings for Victor, like those of many other bluesmen, fluctuated between country blues and gospel numbers. His gospel songs were done in the style of Blind Willie Johnson, with a female singer accentuating the last phrase of each line.^[2] Victor (Latin for winner) is a first name normally given to boys. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... For other uses, see Gospel (disambiguation). ... Blind Willie Johnson Blind Willie Johnson (c. ...

Nine years later, while serving time, he recorded for folklorist John Lomax. The few songs he recorded around this time became his most well-known: Shake 'Em On Down, and Po' Boy. John Avery Lomax (September 23, 1867 - January 26, 1948) was a pioneering musicologist and folklorist. ... Poor Boy Blues is a very old blues song of unknown origin, however many artists have covered it over time including Poison (band) Mark_Knopfler Furry Lewis Mississippi John Hurt Chet Atkins Categories: Song stubs ...

Bob Dylan covered his song "Fixin' to Die Blues", which aided his 'rediscovery' in 1963 by guitarist John Fahey and ED Denson and propelled him onto the folk revival scene of the 1960s. White had recorded the song simply because his other songs had not particularly impressed the Victor record producer. It was a studio composition which White had thought little of until it re-emerged thirty years later^[3]. Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author, musician, and poet who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... John Fahey (February 28, 1939 – February 22, 2001) was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string guitar as a solo instrument. ... Eugene ED Denson (the capitalization of both letters in his first name is his own spelling!) is an American music group manager, producer, record label owner, and - later - lawyer, who has made notable contributions to folk, blues, and early San Francisco rock. ... A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

Fahey and Denson found White easily enough: they wrote a letter to "Bukka White (Old Blues Singer), c/o General Delivery, Aberdeen, Mississippi." Fahey had assumed, given White's song Aberdeen, Mississippi, that White still lived there, or nearby. The postcard was forwarded to Memphis, Tennessee, where White worked in tank factory. Fahey and Denson soon travelled to meet Bukka White. He and Fahey remained friends throughout White's life,^[4] and he recorded a new album for Fahey's Takoma Records. Denson became his manager. Aberdeen is a city located in Monroe County, Mississippi. ... For other uses, see Memphis (disambiguation). ... Takoma Records was a record label which was acquired by Fantasy Records. ...

White was, later in life, also friends with fellow musician Furry Lewis. The two recorded, mostly in Lewis' Memphis, Tennessee apartment, an album together, Furry Lewis, Bukka White & Friends: Party! At Home. Furry Lewis (March 6, 1899- September 14, 1981) was a blues guitarist from Memphis, Tennessee. ...

One of his most famous songs, Parchman Farm Blues, about the Mississippi's infamous Parchman Farm state prison, was to be released on Harry Smith's fourth, never realized, volume of the Anthology of American Folk Music. His 1937 version of the oft-recorded song^[5] Shake 'em on Down is considered definitive, and became a hit while White was serving time in Parchman.^[6] This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, is the oldest prison and the only maximum security prison in the state of Mississippi, USA. It is located on 18,000 acres in Parchman, Mississippi. ... Harry Everett Smith (1923–1991) was an American born in Portland, Oregon; he was an archivist, ethnomusicologist, student of anthropology, record collector, experimental filmmaker, artist, bohemian and Kabbalist. ... The Anthology of American Folk Music is a recording that collects several dozen folk and country songs which were initially recorded from the 1920s and 1930s, and were first released on 78 rpm records. ...

Bukka White was heavily sampled by electronic artist Recoil, for the track 'Electro Blues For Bukka White' in 1992, which is essentially just his bluesy vocals over a very clean electronic backing, blending the genres. The song was reworked and re-released on the 2000 EP "Jezebel". Alan Wilder, circa 2000. ...

Notes

1. ^ Stephen Calt claims, in his book about Skip James: I'd Rather Be the Devil, that White claimed to know Patton merely because Fahey was a fan of the long dead bluesman.
2. ^ In the liner notes for American Primitive, Vol. 1, which features White's I am in the Heavenly Way, Fahey states that White "...had no particular interest in religion. Victor went and hired the woman from a local Baptist church for this recording. Trying to imitate Blind Willie Johnson."
3. ^ I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues by Stephen Calt, p. 243
4. ^ In his collection of autobiographical sketches, How Bluegrass Music Ruined My Life, John Fahey reminisces about he and White's time cat fishing together. He also laments that White had, by the time of his rediscovery, largely forgotten how to play guitar, but had become an even more adept lyricist.
5. ^ Furry Lewis, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Wade Walton, and R. L. Burnside have all recorded version of Shake 'em on Down, as have countless others.
6. ^ http://www.answers.com/topic/bukka-white

Bukka White also tricked and taught the lesser known Doc Mclean in to playing guitar whilst down in Mississippi. Doc a small time Blues act has produced some of the most unconventional mixes in his music incorporating all of the old contraptions (washboards, harmonicas etc.) and some interesting new sounds (chains, Native American drums) in to his rendition of Delta Blues. Story goes that he and Bukka had a very long running friendship. Fred McDowell (1904-1972), called Mississippi Fred McDowell was a singer and guitar player of delta blues . ... R. L. Burnside (born Robert Lee Burnside, Harmontown, Lafayette County, Mississippi, November 21 or November 23, 1926; d. ...

External links

• Illustrated Bukka White Discography
• Bukka White Biography and Discography
• http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:67d5vwrva9uk~T1