Willie Brown (musician)
Encyclopedia
Willie Brown was an American
delta blues
guitarist
and singer.
, Brown played with such notables as Charley Patton
, and Robert Johnson. He was not known to be a self-promoting frontman, preferring to "second" other musicians. Little is known for certain of the man whom Robert Johnson called "You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown" (in his prophetic "Cross Road Blues
") and whom Johnson indicated should be notified in event of his death. In an alternate take of the song, Johnson introduced a Neologism with "tell my friendboy Willie Brown." Brown is heard with Patton on the Paramount
sessions of 1930, playing "M & O Blues," and "Future Blues." Apart from playing with Son House
and Charlie Patton it has also been said that he played with artists such as Luke Thomson and Thomas "Clubfoot" Coles. At least four other songs he recorded for Paramount have never been found.
"Rowdy Blues", a 1929 song credited to Kid Bailey
, is disputed to have Brown on backup, or Brown himself using the name of Kid Bailey. Both "M & O Blues" and "Future Blues" appear on the album Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers (1994
), recorded between 1928
and 1930, on the Document Records label. They also appear on JSP's Charlie Patton box set.
David Evans
has reconstructed the early biography of a Willie Brown living in Drew, Mississippi
, until 1929. He was married by 1911, meaning he was 10 or 11, to a proficient guitarist named Josie Mills. He is recalled as singing and playing guitar with Charley Patton and others in the neighbourhood of Drew. Informants with conflicting memories led Gayle Dean Wardlow
and Steve Calt to conclude that this was a different Willie Brown.
Evans rejects this, believing that the singing and guitar style of the 1931 recordings is clearly in the tradition of other performers from Drew such as Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, Kid Bailey, Howling Wolf and artists recorded non-commercially.
Alan Lomax
added further confusion in 1993, suggesting that the William Brown he recorded in Arkansas in 1942 was the same man as the Paramount artist. The recording was for a joint project between Fisk University
and the Library of Congress
documenting the music of Coahoma County, Mississippi
in 1941 and 1942. Writing over fifty years later, Lomax forgot that he had actually recorded Willie the previous summer with Son House
, Fiddlin' Joe Martin
and Leroy Williams. Brown played second guitar on three performances by the whole band, and recorded one solo, "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor
".
The later biography is clear. Willie Brown, the Paramount artist, lived in Robinsonville, Mississippi from 1929 and moved to Lake Cormorant, Mississippi by 1935. He performed occasionally with Charley Patton, and continually with Son House
until his death.
Brown died of heart disease
in Tunica, Mississippi
in 1952, at the age of 52.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
delta blues
Delta blues
The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, Helena, Arkansas in the west to the Yazoo River on the east. The...
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...
and singer.
Life and career
Born Willie Lee Brown in Clarksdale, MississippiClarksdale, 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....
, Brown played with such notables as Charley Patton
Charlie Patton
Charlie Patton , better known as Charley Patton, was an American Delta blues musician. He is considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", and is credited with creating an enduring body of American music and personally inspiring just about every Delta blues man...
, and Robert Johnson. He was not known to be a self-promoting frontman, preferring to "second" other musicians. Little is known for certain of the man whom Robert Johnson called "You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown" (in his prophetic "Cross Road Blues
Cross Road Blues
"Cross Road Blues" is a song by Delta Blues singer Robert Johnson; released on a 78 rpm record in 1936 by Vocalion Records, catalogue 3519. The original version remained out of print after its initial release until the appearance of The Complete Recordings in 1990...
") and whom Johnson indicated should be notified in event of his death. In an alternate take of the song, Johnson introduced a Neologism with "tell my friendboy Willie Brown." Brown is heard with Patton on the Paramount
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:...
sessions of 1930, playing "M & O Blues," and "Future Blues." Apart from playing with Son House
Son House
Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. was an American blues singer and guitarist. House pioneered an innovative style featuring strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of slide guitar, and his singing often incorporated elements of southern gospel and spiritual music...
and Charlie Patton it has also been said that he played with artists such as Luke Thomson and Thomas "Clubfoot" Coles. At least four other songs he recorded for Paramount have never been found.
"Rowdy Blues", a 1929 song credited to Kid Bailey
Kid Bailey
Kid Bailey was a Mississippi Delta bluesman, His one known recording session occurred September 25, 1929, in Memphis, Tennessee.Little is known about Bailey himself...
, is disputed to have Brown on backup, or Brown himself using the name of Kid Bailey. Both "M & O Blues" and "Future Blues" appear on the album Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers (1994
1994 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....
), recorded between 1928
1928 in music
-Events:*April 27 - Igor Stravinsky's ballet Apollon musagète is premiered in Washington.*September 11 - Leoš Janáček's String Quartet No. 2, Intimate Letters, is premiered in Brno....
and 1930, on the Document Records label. They also appear on JSP's Charlie Patton box set.
David Evans
David Evans (musicologist)
David Evans is a musicologist and director of the Ethnomusicology/Regional Studies program at the University of Memphis.He has written or edited a number of books on the blues, and also performs. He won a Grammy in 2003 for "Best Album Notes" for the CD Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues - The...
has reconstructed the early biography of a Willie Brown living in Drew, Mississippi
Drew, Mississippi
Drew is a city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,434 at the 2000 census. Drew, a rural community, is in the vicinity of several plantations and the Mississippi State Penitentiary, a Mississippi Department of Corrections prison for men.-Geography:Drew is located at...
, until 1929. He was married by 1911, meaning he was 10 or 11, to a proficient guitarist named Josie Mills. He is recalled as singing and playing guitar with Charley Patton and others in the neighbourhood of Drew. Informants with conflicting memories led Gayle Dean Wardlow
Gayle Dean Wardlow
Gayle Dean Wardlow is an American historian of the blues. He is particularly associated with research into the lives of musicians Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson and the historical development of the Delta blues, on which he is a leading world authority.He was born in Freer, Texas, but was...
and Steve Calt to conclude that this was a different Willie Brown.
Evans rejects this, believing that the singing and guitar style of the 1931 recordings is clearly in the tradition of other performers from Drew such as Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, Kid Bailey, Howling Wolf and artists recorded non-commercially.
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
added further confusion in 1993, suggesting that the William Brown he recorded in Arkansas in 1942 was the same man as the Paramount artist. The recording was for a joint project between Fisk University
Fisk University
Fisk University is an historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...
and the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
documenting the music of Coahoma County, Mississippi
Coahoma County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 30,622 people, 10,553 households, and 7,482 families residing in the county. The population density was 55 people per square mile . There were 11,490 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...
in 1941 and 1942. Writing over fifty years later, Lomax forgot that he had actually recorded Willie the previous summer with Son House
Son House
Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. was an American blues singer and guitarist. House pioneered an innovative style featuring strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of slide guitar, and his singing often incorporated elements of southern gospel and spiritual music...
, Fiddlin' Joe Martin
Fiddlin' Joe Martin
Fiddlin’ Joe Martin was a blues musician who played mandolin on Son House's, Alan Lomax inspired recording sessions in 1941.He was born in Edwards, Mississippi, and died in Walls, Mississippi.-References:...
and Leroy Williams. Brown played second guitar on three performances by the whole band, and recorded one solo, "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor
Make Me a Pallet on the Floor
"Make Me a Pallet on the Floor" is a blues/jazz/folk song now considered as a standard. The song's origins are somewhat nebulous and can be traced back to the 19th century. Various versions of the lyrics were first published in 1911 in an academic journal of ethnomusicology...
".
The later biography is clear. Willie Brown, the Paramount artist, lived in Robinsonville, Mississippi from 1929 and moved to Lake Cormorant, Mississippi by 1935. He performed occasionally with Charley Patton, and continually with Son House
Son House
Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. was an American blues singer and guitarist. House pioneered an innovative style featuring strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of slide guitar, and his singing often incorporated elements of southern gospel and spiritual music...
until his death.
Brown died of heart disease
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
in Tunica, Mississippi
Tunica, Mississippi
Tunica is a town in Tunica County, Mississippi, United States, located near the Mississippi River. Until the early 1990s the town was one of the most impoverished places in the United States, semi-famous for the particularly deprived neighbourhood known as "Sugar Ditch Alley", named for the open...
in 1952, at the age of 52.
Discography
Brown recorded six sides at a 1930 recording session in Grafton, WI. They were released on three 78 r.p.m. shellac discs of which only one has been found.- Paramount 13001 "Grandma Blues" / "Sorry Blues" (no copy has been found yet)
- Paramount 13090 "M & O Blues" / "Future Blues" (only three copies of this disc are known to exist today)
- Paramount 13099 "Window Blues" / "Kicking In My Sleep Blues" (no copy has been found yet)