HOLLY RIDGE

Charley Patton

Charley Patton was the first star of the delta country blues. Rather than hobo from town to town, Patton was called upon to play at plantations, fish fries and juke joints. He was the image of the 20s hip bluesman with an expensive looking guitar, dandy clothes and a traveling case.

Only five foot five inches and 135 pounds, Patton had a gravelly voice. Many bluesmen of the area were suprised when they met him, stating  that, on his records, he sounded as if he were a man twice his size. His vocal style would become one of the hallmarks of one of his students, the young Howlin' Wolf. The driving beat of his guitar style would later engender the boogie style of John Lee Hooker. Patton was one of the first blues artists to play with a strong, syncopated rhythm, popping his bass strings for effect many decades before the technique was popularized by modern "funk" artists.

First recording for the Paramount label in 1929, Patton soon became the largest selling and most prolific blues artist. He recorded over 60 tracks and his final session was only months before his death in 1934. He was instrumental in arranging recording sessions for Willie Brown and Son House. When Paramount went out of business, Patton's masters were sold as scrap metal, some even used to line chicken coops. Had Patton been an unknown, that act might have been forgivable. However, Patton was one of the most well known blues artists of his day. All that was left of his recording are the old 78s themselves, scratched and worn, making sound restoration all but impossible even with modern techniques.

Charley Patton died in Indianola, Mississippi on April 28, 1934.

Music: Charley Patton, The Devil Sent the Rain Blues