Died On This Date (November 4, 1998) Eugene Powell aka Sonny Boy Nelson
themusicsover Eugene Powell
December 23, 1908 – November 4, 1998
Eugene Powell was a Mississippi born Delta blues musician who, like so many of his peers, picked up the guitar while still a child. During his early career, Powell, who was also proficient on the banjo, violin and harmonica, occasionally performed and recorded with the Mississippi Sheiks. Sometimes performing under the name of Sonny Boy Nelson, Powell built a strong regional following throughout the ’30s and ’40s. But as rock ‘n roll and R&B began to take root, his music began to fall out of favor with young audiences so he was all but retired during the ’50s. He experienced a bit of a comeback during the folk revival of the ’60s, and was encouraged to record and tour the festival circuit. He signed to Adelphi Records in the early ’70s and recorded such sides as “Street Walkin’,” “Suitcase Full of Trouble,” “44 Blues,” and “Meet Me in the Bottoms.” By the ’90s, Powell’s health began to ail so he was living in a nursing facility. He passed away on November 4, 1998.
Although he was small in stature, picked the guitar lightly, and sang almost in a whisper, Mississippi John Hurt’s influence on folk and blues was huge. He learned to play the guitar before he was ten, and by the early 1920s, he had already been playing in front of crowds at local barn dances. In 1928, and on the recommendation of a friend who had recently won an Okeh Records contract in a talent contest, Hurt was asked to audition for the label. He was signed that same year and given two recording sessions that produced collection of sides that sadly, never had a chance to develop since Okeh soon went under due to the Great Depression. Hurt soon retired from the music business and went back to his life as a sharecropper. Fast forward about 35 years to 1963. The folk revival was in full swing when music historian, Tom Hoskins heard those old recordings and sought out to find Hurt. He tracked him down still living in Avalon, Mississippi and convinced him to move to Washington DC and relaunch his music career. Hurt’s set at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival was that of legend, and he was subsequently signed to legendary folk label, Vanguard Records. He went on to tour the country and even perform on the Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. Hurt’s music influenced a new generation of singer-songwriters from blues to country to folk. Mississippi John Hurt died of a heart attack on November 2, 1966. In 2001, Morgana Kennedy and the folks at Vanguard records released Avalon Blues: A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt. It contained versions of John Hurt songs by the likes of Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Ben Harper, Beck and John Hiatt.
Nathaniel Mayer was a Detroit R&B singer who first surfaced in the early ’60s when he was signed to the legendary Fortune Records. Mayer made several records for Fortune, including 1962’s “Village of Love,” which became a Top 40 hit and continues to be a favorite cover song to this day. Six years after signing to the label, Mayer left the music business and all but vanished, becoming a part of blues folklore and urban legend. He did resurface in the early ’80s to cut one side, but was gone again until 2002. It was that year that reissue specialists, Norton Records released a previously unissued 34 year-old track by Mayer, prompting him to come out of his self-imposed exile. He mounted his biggest tour ever and signed with hip indie label, Fat Possum Records. He toured with the Black Keys in 2005, turning on a new generation of fans with his raunchy and energetic live show. Just three years into his renaissance, Nathaniel Mayer, 64, died following a series of strokes.
Tommy Johnson was a Mississippi-born blues musician whose career began around 1915, with his first recordings coming in the late ’20s. He is considered one of the foundations of Delta blues due to his solid songwriting and his strong falsetto voice. The band Canned Heat took their name from his “Canned Heat Blues.” Johnson was the first known blues musician’s to claim that he sold his soul to the devil. A primary character in the 2000 film O’ Brother Where Art Thou, also named Tommy Johnson, is said to be based upon him and not 