Peg Leg Howell

Joshua Barnes Howell, known as Peg Leg Howell (March 5 1888 - August 11 1966 [ [http://users.efortress.com/doc-rock/1960.html Dead Rock Stars Club website data - accessed January 2008] ] ), was an African American blues singer and guitarist, who connected early country blues and the later 12-bar style. [http://facstaff.unca.edu/sinclair/piedmontblues/howell.html East Coast Piedmont Blues website] ] He had the strong delivery and ear-catching repertoire of the professional street-singer.

Life and career

He was born on a farm in Eatonton, Georgia, and taught himself guitar at the age of 21. Over time he became skilled in finger picking and slide guitar techniques. He continued working on the farm until he was shot in a fight, as a result of which he lost his right leg and began working full-time as a musician. In 1923 he moved to Atlanta, Georgia and began playing on street corners, but also served a period in prison for bootlegging liquor.

In 1926, he was heard playing on the streets of Atlanta and was recorded for the first time by Columbia Records. They released "New Prison Blues", written whilst in prison and one of the first country blues to be issued. Over the next three years Columbia recorded him on several occasions, often accompanied by a small group including Henry Williams (guitar) and Eddie Anthony (fiddle). His recorded repertoire covered ballads, ragtime and jazz, as well as blues. Anthony's vigorous dance playing gives us a rare view of the black string-band music that was almost obliterated by the craze for recording blues guitarists.cite book
first= Tony
last= Russell
year= 1997
title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
edition=
publisher= Carlton Books Limited
location= Dubai
pages= p. 119
id= ISBN 1-85868-255-X]

Howell continued to play around the Atlanta area for several years, but also began selling bootleg liquor again. After the mid 1930s he only performed occasionally and, in 1952, his left leg was removed as a result of diabetes, confining him to a wheelchair. Music was a thing of the past for Howell by now. In 1963 he was "rediscovered" in dire poverty in Atlanta by folklorist and field researcher (to be) George Mitchell and his high-school class-mate, Roger Brown, who recorded him at the age of 75 with the results issued on LP by Testament Records thirty-four years after his last commercial sessions. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:g9frxq8hldhe~T1 All Music Guide biography] ] He died in Atlanta in 1966.

ee also

*List of blues musicians
*List of Piedmont blues musicians
*List of Country blues musicians

References

External links

* [http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/JoshuaHowell.htm Cascadeblues.org Biography]
* [http://facstaff.unca.edu/sinclair/piedmontblues/howell.html East Coast Piedmont Blues website - Howell bio]