
Handy, according to Early Downhome Blues, reported hearing blues sung in the streets of Tutwiler, Mississippi, in 1903. Was concentrated in eastern Texas and the Mississippi Delta, where bandleader W. 1900 “invented ”/adopted Delta blues style and performed at parties, taverns, and on streets of Delta region, 1905-1929 recorded with Paramount label, Richmond, IN, and Grafton, WI, 1929-1930 recorded with Vocalion label, New York City, 1934. 1890s moved to Dockery ’s Plantation, near Drew, MS, c. Learned to play guitar and sang with Chatmon family, c. When and where this form originated is not known, but its early development For the Record …īorn in 1887 in Edwards, MS died of heart disease, April 28, 1934, in Indianola, MS buried in unmarked grave in Holly Ridge, MS son of Anney (one source says Amy) Patton father was either Bill Patton (a preacher) or Henderson Chatmon (a musician and farmer) married wife Gertrude, early 1900s married Minnie Toy, 1908 married Minnie Franklin, early 1920s married to wife Bertha Lee, 1930-34. Along with an older mentor named Henry Sloan, Patton seized on a new form of popular song the basic units of which were 12-bar stanzas of three lyric lines each, the first two identical, the third different but end-rhymed with the others the subjects of these songs were usually farm life, sexual relations, or poverty. Patton was one of the earliest such composers. Where they sing, dance, gamble, love, and compose ‘blues ’ songs incidentally.
#BILL PATTON THE LOVE SONG BAR FREE#
These gatherings provided black society with some of its only opportunities for recreation free of white domination or the inhibiting influence of the church in the words of famed novelist Zora Neale Hurston, as quoted in Early Downhome Blues, a juke joint was “a fun house. Music was a daily ingredient of life among black sharecroppers -at work, in church, and especially at the Saturday night parties held in remote parts of the backcountry or at rollicking “juke ” joints. It was a well-run farming community in which hundreds of black sharecropping families enjoyed a relatively decent standard of living. Dockery ’s plantation covered many thousands of acres of the Delta ’s best cotton country, straddling the Mississippi River near the towns of Drew and Cleveland. From Bill Patton, Charley Patton became familiar with the gospel tradition, but it seems clear that his true education in music was provided by the huge Chatmon clan.įor reasons unknown, Patton moved from Edwards to the plantation of Will Dockery around 1897. Whichever man was his actual father, young Patton spent much of his time with the Chatmon family, many of whose members were talented musicians later to make blues records in the 1920s and 1930s.

He was born around the year 1887 in Edwards, Mississippi, the son of Anney Patton and either her husband, Bill Patton, a preacher, or her lover of many years, Henderson Chatmon, a musician and farmer. Patton ’s parentage and early life are obscure. Patton ’s rough voice and earthy lyrics place him securely within the tradition of “downhome ” country blues, but his guitar playing and rhythmic dexterity were as advanced as those of any of the numerous later bluesmen who benefitted from his innovations. No single individual can be credited with “inventing ” the Delta blues style, but Patton was among its half dozen earliest practitioners -recognized by 1910 throughout the Delta area as a rowdy, hard-drinking performer of consummate skill and versatility. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.Of all the legendary figures whose names have come down to us from the early years of the Mississippi Delta blues tradition, Charley Patton is generally recognized as the most influential blues artist active in the first decades of the twentieth century. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. Year should not be greater than current year Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.

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