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Charlie Patton (May 1, 1891 - April 28, 1934) is best known as an American Delta blues musician. He is considered by many to be the "Father of Delta Blues" and therefore one of the oldest known figures of American popular music.

Charlie Patton was one of the first mainstream stars of the Delta blues genre. Patton, who was born in Hinds County, Mississippi near Edwards or Bolton, lived most of his life in Sunflower County, in the Mississippi Delta. He was extremely popular across the U.S. South, and (in contrast to the itinerant wandering of most blues musicians of his time) was invited to perform at plantations and taverns.

He is credited with creating an enduring body of American music and personally inspiring just about every Delta blues man (Robert Palmer, 1995). Palmer considers him among the most important musicians that America produced in the twentieth century. Long before Jimi Hendrix he was the entertainer's entertainer with dazzling showmanship, often playing guitar on his knees and behind his head, as well as behind his back.

Patton was born in Southern Mississippi, near Edwards in 1891 but there is still some debate about this. In 1900, however, his family moved 100 miles north to the legendary 10,000 Acre Dockery Plantation sawmill and cotton farm near Ruleville, Mississippi. It was here that both John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf fell under the Patton spell. It was also here that Robert Johnson played his first guitar.

At Dockery, Charlie fell under the spell of Henry Sloan who had an unusual new style of playing music which we would recognize today as very early blues.

Charlie followed Henry Sloan around like a puppy and by the time he was about 19 in 1910 he was an accomplished performer and composer, having already composed his theme song "Pony Blues".

Although Patton was a small man at about 5 foot 5 and 135 pounds, the sound of his whiskey- and cigarette-scarred voice was rumored to have carried for over 500 yards without amplification. This gritty voice was a major influence in the singing style of one of his students, Howlin' Wolf.

It is of minor debate which race Charlie Patton was. Though he was most likely African-American like most of his contemporaries in the blues field, because of his light complexion there have been rumors that he was Mexican, full-blood Cherokee (Howlin' Wolf himself endorsed this theory) and many others.

Patton settled in Holly Ridge, Mississippi with his common-law wife and recording partner Bertha Lee in 1933.

Patton died on the Heathman-Dedham plantation near Indianola from heart disease on April 28, 1934 and is buried in Holly Ridge (both towns are located in Sunflower County).

Charley Patton Time Line

• (1891) - Charlie Patton born in Hinds County, Mississippi near Edwards or Bolton.
• (1895) (4) - The Patton family moves near Edwards Depot.
• (1900) (9) - Moves to Dockery's plantation in Sunflower County, Mississippi
• (1905/1907) (14-16)- He gets guitar lessons from Earl Harris of Cleveland, and learns You Take My Woman and Maggie
• (1908) (17) - Lives with Millie Barnes, and has a baby girl named Willie Mae
• (1910) (19) - Some of his songs include: Pony Blues, Banty Rooster Blues, Mississippi BoWeavil, and Down The Dirt Road
• (1916) (25) - Offered a position in W.C. Handy's band
• (1922) (31) - Marries Mandy France on Oss Pepper's plantation
• (1926) (35) - Willie Brown becomes his duet partner
• (1929) (38) - Records fourteen titles for Paramount Records at Richmond, Indiana
• (1932) (41) - Final Paramount recording is released
• (1932) (41) - Marries an overseer's daughter in Morgan City, Mississippi
• (1933) (42) - Almost killed when his throat is slit near Holly Ridge
• (1934) (43) - (January 30 - February 1) - Records twenty-six titles for ARC in New York
• (1934) (43) - Dies of heart failure on the Heathman-Dedham plantation

Discography

Original 78's (in chronological order)

Edition

• Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton, Revenant Records No. 212, 2001, (Complete recordings on seven CDs including all alternate takes, all recordings of other artists with Patton as company and two books on Patton beside many gimmicks.)

Songs Ogg Vorbis

Footnotes

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Charley Patton" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (Learn how and when to remove this message)

References

• Calt, Stephen & Wardlow, Gayle (1988). King of the Delta Blues, The Life and Music of Charlie Patton. ISBN 0-9618610-0-2.
• Robert Palmer (1995). Deep Blues. ISBN 0-14-006223-8.

External links

• History of Charley Patton recording on Paramount Records
• Charlie Patton by R. Crumb
• Charley Patton Biography (Allmusic.com)
• Southern Music Network -- Charlie Patton
• The bluesman -- Charlie Patton (by Cub Koda)
• Charley Patton Biography (MP3.com)
• Charley Patton - Delta Blues
• Charley Patton Profile
• Songs by and featuring Charley Patton on The Internet Archive
• 1980 Induction into Blues Foundation Hall of FameTemplate:Link FA

• 1891 births
• 1934 deaths
• African American musicians
• American blues singers
• American guitarists
• American male singers
• Blues guitarists
• Blues Hall of Fame inductees
• Blues musicians from Mississippi
• Guitarists
• Sunflower County, Mississippi
• Blues singers
• Buskers