Gus Cannon
Encyclopedia
Gus Cannon was an American
blues
musician
, who helped to popularize jug band
s (such as his own Cannon's Jug Stompers) in the 1920s and 1930s. There is doubt about his birth year; his tombstone gives the date as 1874.
, Mississippi
, then the home of W. C. Handy
, at the age of 12. Cannon's musical skills came without training; he taught himself to play using a banjo
that he made from a frying pan and raccoon
skin. He ran away from home at the age of fifteen and began his career entertaining at sawmill
s and levee
and railroad camps in the Mississippi Delta
around the turn of the century.
While in Clarksdale, Cannon was influenced by local musicians Jim Turner
and Alex Lee
. Turner's fiddle
playing in W. C. Handy’s band so impressed Cannon that he decided to learn the fiddle himself. Lee, a guitarist
, taught Cannon his first folk blues, "Po' Boy, Long Ways from Home", and showed him how to use a knife blade as a slide
, a technique that Cannon adapted to his banjo playing.
Cannon left Clarksdale around 1907. He soon settled near Memphis
and played in a jug band led by Jim Guffin. He began playing in Memphis with Jim Jackson
. He met harmonica
player Noah Lewis
, who introduced him to a young guitar player named Ashley Thompson
. Both Lewis and Thompson would eventually become members of Cannon's Jug Stompers. The three of them formed a band to play parties and dances. In 1914 Cannon began touring in medicine show
s. He supported his family through a variety of jobs, including sharecropping, ditch digging, and yard work, but supplemented his income with music.
Cannon began recording
, as "Banjo Joe", for Paramount Records
in 1927. At that session he was backed up by Blind Blake
. After the success of the Memphis Jug Band
's first records, he quickly assembled a jug band featuring Noah Lewis and Ashley Thompson (later replaced by Elijah Avery). Cannon's Jug Stompers first recorded at the Memphis Auditorium for the Victor label
in January 1928. Hosea Woods joined the Jug Stompers in the late 1920s, playing guitar, banjo and kazoo
, and also providing some vocals. Modern listeners can hear Cannon's Jug Stompers recording of "Big Railroad Blues" on the compilation album
The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead
.
Although their last recordings were made in 1930, Cannon's Jug Stompers were one of Beale Street
's most popular jug bands through the 1930s. A few songs Cannon recorded with Cannon's Jug Stompers are "Minglewood Blues", "Pig Ankle Strut", "Wolf River
Blues", "Viola Lee Blues", "White House Station" and "Walk Right In
" (later made into a pop
hit
by The Rooftop Singers
in the 1960s, and later a hit rock/pop version by Dr. Hook in the 1970s). By the end of the 1930s, Cannon had effectively retired, although he occasionally performed as a solo
musician.
He returned in 1956 to make a few recordings for Folkways Records
. In the "blues revival" of the 1960s, he made some college
and coffee house appearances with Furry Lewis
and Bukka White
. He also recorded an album for Stax Records
in 1963, following the chart success of "Walk Right In", with fellow Memphis musician Will Shade
, the former leader of the Memphis Jug Band.
Cannon can be seen in the King Vidor
produced
film
, Hallelujah!
(1929), during the late night wedding
scene.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, who helped to popularize jug band
Jug band
A Jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of traditional and home-made instruments. These home-made instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making of sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, stovepipe and comb & tissue paper...
s (such as his own Cannon's Jug Stompers) in the 1920s and 1930s. There is doubt about his birth year; his tombstone gives the date as 1874.
Career
Born on a plantation at Red Banks, Cannon moved to ClarksdaleClarksdale, Mississippi
Clarksdale is a city in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 20,645 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Coahoma County....
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, then the home of W. C. Handy
W. C. Handy
William Christopher Handy was a blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the "Father of the Blues"....
, at the age of 12. Cannon's musical skills came without training; he taught himself to play using a banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
that he made from a frying pan and raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
skin. He ran away from home at the age of fifteen and began his career entertaining at sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s and levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
and railroad camps in the Mississippi Delta
Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. The region has been called "The Most Southern Place on Earth" because of its unique racial, cultural, and economic history...
around the turn of the century.
While in Clarksdale, Cannon was influenced by local musicians Jim Turner
Jim Turner
Jim Turner may refer to:* Jim Turner , American football player* Jim Turner , American football player* Jim Turner , Major League Baseball pitcher...
and Alex Lee
Alex Lee
Alex Lee is an English musician. Lee is a multi-instrumentalist who has played guitar and keyboards for Goldfrapp, Strangelove, Suede, Placebo and The Blue Aeroplanes amongst others...
. Turner's fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
playing in W. C. Handy’s band so impressed Cannon that he decided to learn the fiddle himself. Lee, a guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, taught Cannon his first folk blues, "Po' Boy, Long Ways from Home", and showed him how to use a knife blade as a slide
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
, a technique that Cannon adapted to his banjo playing.
Cannon left Clarksdale around 1907. He soon settled near Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and played in a jug band led by Jim Guffin. He began playing in Memphis with Jim Jackson
Jim Jackson (musician)
Jim Jackson was an African American blues and hokum singer, songster and guitarist, whose recordings in the late 1920s were popular and influential on later artists.-Career:...
. He met harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
player Noah Lewis
Noah Lewis
Noah Lewis was an American jug band and country blues musician, generally known for playing the harmonica.-Life and career:...
, who introduced him to a young guitar player named Ashley Thompson
Ashley Thompson
Katherine Ashley Thompson is an American singer and actress.-Biography:Ashley Thompson started singing in church when she was 9 years old, and at 13 years old knew that she wanted to sing for the rest of her life. She has won numerous local, regional, and national singing contests, including the...
. Both Lewis and Thompson would eventually become members of Cannon's Jug Stompers. The three of them formed a band to play parties and dances. In 1914 Cannon began touring in medicine show
Medicine show
Medicine shows were traveling horse and wagon teams which peddled "miracle cure" medications and other products between various entertainment acts. Their precise origins unknown, medicine shows were common in the 19th century United States...
s. He supported his family through a variety of jobs, including sharecropping, ditch digging, and yard work, but supplemented his income with music.
Cannon began recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
, as "Banjo Joe", for Paramount Records
Paramount Records
Paramount Records was an American record label, best known for its recordings of African-American jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey and Blind Lemon Jefferson.-Early years:...
in 1927. At that session he was backed up by Blind Blake
Blind Blake
"Blind" Blake was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist.-Biography:...
. After the success of the Memphis Jug Band
Memphis Jug Band
The Memphis Jug Band was an American musical group in the late 1920s and early to mid 1930s. The band featured harmonicas, violins, mandolins, banjos, and guitars, backed by washboards, kazoo, and jugs blown to supply the bass; they played in a variety of musical styles...
's first records, he quickly assembled a jug band featuring Noah Lewis and Ashley Thompson (later replaced by Elijah Avery). Cannon's Jug Stompers first recorded at the Memphis Auditorium for the Victor label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
in January 1928. Hosea Woods joined the Jug Stompers in the late 1920s, playing guitar, banjo and kazoo
Kazoo
The kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane."Kazoo" was the name given by...
, and also providing some vocals. Modern listeners can hear Cannon's Jug Stompers recording of "Big Railroad Blues" on the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead
The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead
- Credits :*Produced by Henry Kaiser and David Gans*Mastered by Paul Stubblebine*Notes by Blair Jackson*Front cover design by R. Crumb*Art direction by Joan Pelosi- References :*Strauss, Neil. , The New York Times, October 19, 1995...
.
Although their last recordings were made in 1930, Cannon's Jug Stompers were one of Beale Street
Beale Street
Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of the blues. Today, the blues clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are...
's most popular jug bands through the 1930s. A few songs Cannon recorded with Cannon's Jug Stompers are "Minglewood Blues", "Pig Ankle Strut", "Wolf River
Wolf River (Tennessee)
The Wolf River is a alluvial stream in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi, whose confluence with the Mississippi River was the site of various Chickasaw, French, Spanish and American communities and forts that eventually became Memphis, Tennessee....
Blues", "Viola Lee Blues", "White House Station" and "Walk Right In
Walk Right In
Walk Right In is the title of a country blues song written by musician Gus Cannon and originally recorded by Cannon's Jug Stompers in 1929, released on Victor Records, catalogue 38611. It was reissued on album in 1959 as a track on The Country Blues....
" (later made into a pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
hit
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
by The Rooftop Singers
The Rooftop Singers
The Rooftop Singers were an American progressive folk-singing trio in the early 1960s, best known for the hit "Walk Right In". The group was composed of Erik Darling and Bill Svanoe with former jazz singer Lynne Taylor ....
in the 1960s, and later a hit rock/pop version by Dr. Hook in the 1970s). By the end of the 1930s, Cannon had effectively retired, although he occasionally performed as a solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
musician.
He returned in 1956 to make a few recordings for Folkways Records
Folkways Records
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
. In the "blues revival" of the 1960s, he made some college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
and coffee house appearances with Furry Lewis
Furry Lewis
Furry Lewis was an American country blues guitarist and songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. Lewis was one of the first of the old-time blues musicians of the 1920s to be brought out of retirement, and given a new lease of recording life, by the folk blues revival of the 1960s.-Life and...
and Bukka White
Bukka White
Booker T. Washington White , better known as Bukka White, was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer. "Bukka" was not a nickname, but a phonetic misspelling of White's given name Booker, by his second record label .-Biography:Born between Aberdeen and Houston, Mississippi, White was the...
. He also recorded an album for Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
in 1963, following the chart success of "Walk Right In", with fellow Memphis musician Will Shade
Will Shade
Will Shade was an African American Memphis blues musician, best known for his membership in the Memphis Jug Band. Shade was commonly called Son Brimmer, a nickname from his grandmother Annie Brimmer, because "son" is short for "grandson"...
, the former leader of the Memphis Jug Band.
Cannon can be seen in the King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
produced
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! (1929 film)
Hallelujah! is a 1929 MGM musical directed by King Vidor, starring Daniel L. Haynes and the then unknown Nina Mae McKinney.Filmed in Tennessee and Arkansas and chronicling the troubled quest of a sharecropper, Zeke Johnson , and his relationship with the seductive Chick , Hallelujah! was one of the...
(1929), during the late night wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
scene.