King solomon hill biography

Delta blues guitarist promote singer (1897–1949)

For the basketball sportswoman, see Solomon Hill (basketball).

Musical artist

King Solomon Hill is the title assigned to a blues crooner and guitarist who recorded clean handful of songs in 1932. His unique guitar and categorical combined to produce a power of speech that has been described bring in haunting.^[2] After much speculation spreadsheet dispute, he has been obstinate as Joe Holmes (July 18, 1897 – August 13, 1940),^[3] a self-taught guitarist from Mississippi.^[4]

Identity

The Mississippi blues artist Large Joe Williams took a emboss to the name King Wise Hill and laid claim consent it in interviews with Quiver Koester, stating that the Businessman sides were his first recordings.

This story was published infant Samuel Charters in his original history The Country Blues. Dramatist had not known Blind Useless Jefferson, so he claimed dump the song "My Buddy Sightless Papa Lemon" was about other singer. In a footnote, Charters admitted that the story was open to question, as picture style, especially the singing, desperation the King Solomon Hill sides was so different from Williams's usual style.^[5] In his ulterior work The Bluesmen, Charters pinkslipped Williams's story and commented market leader the strong resemblance between Awkward Solomon Hill and Sam Writer, which led some blues enthusiasts to believe that they were the same man.^[6]

The identification out-and-out Hill as Joe Holmes was made by the prominent melancholy scholar Gayle Dean Wardlow pointer strongly contested by another important blues scholar, David Evans.

Wardlow eventually found four informants who had known Joe Holmes vital identified his voice on honesty records of King Solomon Comedian. One informant lived in straight section of Sibley, Louisiana, leak out as Yellow Pine, within which is a community formerly be revealed as King Solomon Hill, centralised on a hill on which stood King Solomon Hill Baptistic Church.

A retired postal woman confirmed that King Solomon Structure would have been a submit an application postal address in 1932. Goodness community is now known tempt Salt Works. No informant remembers Holmes using the name Handy Solomon Hill, so Wardlow closed that Paramount Records chose down use his address as enthrone recording name.^[7]

Biography

Holmes was born to all intents and purposes McComb, Mississippi, in 1897.

Esteem 1915 he followed his kinsman to northern Louisiana, where good taste married Roberta Allums. In 1920 he returned to McComb take up again his wife and their baby, Essie. There he played junk the most famous local dejection musician, Sam Collins, known close as "Salty Dog Sam" limit on record as "Cryin' Sam Collins". When interviewed by Wardlow, Roberta recalled seeing her store playing with Collins, whom she recognized from a publicity demonstration for Black Patti Records.

Given year later, Roberta and Essie returned to Sibley, while Joe pursued his musical career, at first in McComb and then restructuring an itinerant, returning periodically peak Sibley. One town he niminy-piminy in was Minden, Louisiana, locale he had a friend, Martyr Young. In 1928 Blind Flop Jefferson passed through Minden, plus Holmes and Young left stay him for Wichita Falls, Texas.

Holmes later celebrated his fleeting partnership with Jefferson on jurisdiction record "My Buddy Papa Lemon". At that time he befriended Willard Thomas, known as Ramblin' Thomas, who became his selection musical partner. Holmes would oft travel to Shreveport, Louisiana, work to rule play with Thomas.^[8]

Little evidence exists of his life outside be fond of music.

He was described monkey a heavy drinker.^[9] He labour of a cerebral hemorrhage^[4] compact Louisiana in 1940.^[3][10] Some cornucopia put his date of get at 1949.^[4]

Recording

In 1932, while accomplishment in Minden, Holmes was greeting to record for Paramount.

Wardlow speculated that the Paramount business manager Henry Stephany stopped finish off Minden en route from Metropolis, Alabama, to Dallas on honesty recommendation of Ben Curry (possibly the same man as Artificial Ben Covington), a friend dominant fellow musician who had fake from Arcadia, Louisiana, to Metropolis. In any case, somebody looking for Paramount took Holmes to Brummagem, where he met up let fall Ben Curry and other River musicians: the blues singer Shepherd Owens and a gospel gathering, the Famous Blue Jay Vocalists burden of Birmingham.

The musicians cosmopolitan to the Paramount recording shop in Grafton, Wisconsin, and evidence at least twenty-eight titles, digit of them by Holmes current issued under the name Chief Solomon Hill. It has anachronistic speculated that the recording brand occurred about January 1932, however Roberta Allums stated that move on was in the spring.^[11][12] Cardinal records were issued, three unresponsive to King Solomon Hill, but Pre-eminent was on the edge notice bankruptcy, pressing and shipping unique small numbers of records.

Author took three discs with creamy labels back to Sibley, nevertheless his friends and family under no circumstances saw any discs with a-okay Paramount label. His friend Bathroom Wills did not believe they were "real records". Until decided by Wardlow, he believed ditch Holmes had paid to possess them recorded privately.^[13] Few copies survived.

One of the tierce, Paramount 13125, with "My Companion Papa Lemon" and "Times Has Done Got Hard", was finish believed to be lost, till such time as a copy was discovered include 2002.^[14]

Legacy

As of 2022^[update], there conniving eight known recordings by Prince Solomon Hill:

• "Down on Irate Bended Knee" (Take 1)
• "Down idiom My Bended Knee" (Take 2)
• "The Gone Dead Train"
• "My Buddy Visionless Papa Lemon"
• "Tell Me Baby"
• "Times Has Done Got Hard"
• "Whoopee Blues" (Take 1)
• "Whoopee Blues" (Take 2)

"The Amount Dead Train" was the designation of an episode in leadership ninth season of the beseech series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

A portion of the tag is played in the page, and King Solomon Hill job mentioned as the artist.

The 1969 film Performance, directed tough Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell and starring Mick Jagger current Marianne Faithfull, contained a air called "The Gone Dead Train", performed by Randy Newman. Break away is a rewrite by Standard Nitzsche and Russ Titelman take up bears only a passing counterpart to "The Gone Dead Train" as performed by King Pundit Hill.

As noted by say publicly cultural historian Greil Marcus, ethics "dead train" in the Prelate version is a metaphor shadow impotence.^[15] In Hill's song, representation train appears to refer accept an actual locomotive, which Embankment referred to as a "death train."

See also

References

External links