Buster Pickens (June 3, 1916 – November 24, 1964) was an American blues

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. Pickens is best known for his work accompanying Alger "Texas" Alexander and

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list ...

. He also recorded a solo album in 1960.

Life and career

He was born Edwin Goodwin Pickens in Hempstead,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, to Elias "Eli" Pickens (Turnipseed) and Bessie Gage. In the 1930s Pickens, along with Robert Shaw and others, was part of the "Santa Fe Circuit", named after touring musicians utilising the Santa Fe freight trains. From that time, Pickens described people doing the slow drag to "slow low-down dirty blues" in barrelhouse joints. Following service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Pickens settled in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, Texas. He appeared on his first disc recording on January 13, 1948, providing backing for Perry Cain on his single "All the Way from Texas" backed with "Cry Cry", released by

Gold Star Records Gold Star Records is an American independent record label, which was founded in 1941. Gold Star Recording Company and Gold Star Sound Services Gold Star Recording Company originated as a recording studio in Houston, Texas, and was founded i ...

. Further recording work followed over the next eighteen months, as Pickens played in different sessions as part of the accompaniment to Cain, Bill Hayes, and

Goree Carter Goree Chester Carter or Christer Carter (December 31, 1930 – December 29, 1990), was an American singer, guitarist, drummer, and songwriter. He was also credited with the stage names Little T-Bone, Rocky Thompson and Gory Carter, and record ...

. Pickens later accompanied Alger "Texas" Alexander in the latter's final recording session, for Freedom Records in 1950. Later Pickens regularly performed with

and played on several of Hopkins's

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s in the early 1960s, including '' Walkin' This Road by Myself'' (1962), '' Lightnin' and Co.'' (1962), and '' Smokes Like Lightning'' (1963). Pickens had by this time also recorded his own debut solo album, ''Buster Pickens'' (1960), and appeared in the 1962 film ''The Blues''. Pickens was shot dead by his cousin after an argument in a bar in Houston, in November 1964.

Discography

*''Buster Pickens'' (1960), Heritage Records The album, recorded in Houston by

Chris Strachwitz Chris Strachwitz (born July 1, 1931) is a German-born American record label executive and record producer. He is the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he established in 1960 and which became one of the leading labels recording a ...

Mack McCormick Robert Burton "Mack" McCormick (August 3, 1930 – November 18, 2015) was an American musicologist and folklorist. Biography McCormick was born in 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was brought up by his mother, in Alabama, Colorado ...

and Paul Oliver, contained "Santa Fe Train" / "Rock Island Blues" / " Ain't Nobody's Business" / "Colorado Springs Blues" / "She Caught the L & N" / "Remember Me" / "Women in Chicago" / "The Ma Grinder, No. 2" / "You Better Stop Your Woman (From Ticklin' Me Under the Chin)" / "Jim Nappy" / "Mountain Jack" / "D.B.A. Blues" / "Hattie Green" / "Backdoor Blues" / "Santa Fe Blues". *With

*'' Walkin' This Road by Myself'' (Bluesville, 1962) *'' Lightnin' and Co.'' (Bluesville, 1962) - five tracks *'' Smokes Like Lightning'' (Bluesville, 1963) - one track

Quotations

References

External links

Illustrated discography at Wirz.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickens, Buster 1916 births 1964 deaths 1964 murders in the United States People from Hempstead, Texas African-American pianists American blues pianists American male pianists Murdered African-American people American murder victims Deaths by firearm in Texas Musicians from Texas Texas blues musicians People murdered in Texas Male murder victims 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians

Life and career

Discography

Quotations

See also

References

External links