Calvin H. Frazier (February 16, 1915 – September 23, 1972) was an American

Detroit blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narra ...

and

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

guitarist, singer and songwriter. Despite leaving a fragmented recording history, both as a singer and guitarist, Frazier was an associate of

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

, and recorded alongside

Johnny Shines John Ned Shines (April 26, 1915 – April 20, 1992) was an American blues singer and guitarist. Biography Shines was born in the community of Frayser, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was taught to play the guitar by his mother and spent most of h ...

, Sampson Pittman, T.J. Fowler, Alberta Adams, Jimmy Milner,

Baby Boy Warren Baby Boy Warren (August 13, 1919 – July 1, 1977) was an American blues singer and guitarist who was a leading figure on the Detroit blues scene in the 1950s. Early life He was born Robert Henry Warren in Lake Providence, Louisiana, in 1919, a ...

Boogie Woogie Red Boogie Woogie Red (October 18, 1925 – July 2, 1992) was an American Detroit blues, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist, singer and songwriter. At different times he worked with Sonny Boy Williamson I, Washboard Willie, Baby Boy Warren, Lonnie John ...

, and latterly

Washboard Willie William Paden Hensley (July 24, 1906 or 1909 – August 24, 1991), known as Washboard Willie, was an American Detroit blues musician, who specialised in playing the washboard. He recorded tracks including "A Fool on a Mule in the Middle of The ...

. His early work was recorded by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

(now preserved by the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

) prior to the outbreak of

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 ...

, although his more commercial period took place between 1949 and 1956.

Biography

Frazier was born in

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Muscogee language, Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a S ...

, Arkansas. He initially performed with his brothers. Befriending Johnny Shines, in 1930 they travelled together to

Helena, Arkansas Helena is the eastern portion of Helena–West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. It was founded in 1833 by Nicholas Rightor and is named after the daughter of Sylvanus Phillips, an early settler of Phillips County and the n ...

, where they met Robert Johnson. The threesome moved on to Detroit, Michigan, with Frazier bringing his wife, Gussie Mae, and their children. Here they performed hymns on local radio stations. Frazier and Johnson returned to the South, where they performed with the drummer James "Peck" Curtis. In 1935, Frazier was involved in a dispute in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, in which he was wounded and his only brother and another man were shot dead. Frazier returned to Detroit with his wife but then wed Shines's cousin, in an invalid marriage. He played guitar as an accompanist for

Big Maceo Merriweather Major Merriweather (March 31, 1905 – February 23, 1953), better known as Big Maceo Merriweather, was an American pianist and blues singer. He was mainly active in Chicago through the 1940s. Career Born in Newnan, Georgia, he was a self-tau ...

Sonny Boy Williamson II Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp st ...

and

. He was recorded in 1938 by the folklorist Alan Lomax for the

. His recordings include "Lily Mae" (dedicated to his wife), a revision of Johnson's "Honeymoon Blues", and "Highway 51", a variant of Johnson's "

Dust My Broom "Dust My Broom" is a blues song originally recorded as "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936. It is a solo performance in the Delta blues-style with Johnson's vocal accompanied by his acoustic guitar. ...

". His unique style combined slide guitar playing with unusual lyrics and vocal phrasing that is difficult to decipher. He released three singles under his own name in 1949 and 1951 on the Alben and New Song labels, including "Got Nobody to Tell My Troubles To", which he recorded in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

, in 1951. From 1951 to 1953, Frazier was a recording member of T. J. Fowler's jump blues combo. He then recorded with Warren in 1954. His final sessions in the studio appear to have been in 1956, backing

. Without any tangible success on records or otherwise, Frazier nevertheless performed around Detroit, taking his youngest daughter Carol Frazier along on his engagements until his death. Frazier died of cancer in September 1972, at the age of 57, in Detroit. His most notable work is "This Old World's in a Tangle", the first song he recorded; a compilation album of the same title was issued by

Laurie Records Laurie Records was a record label established in New York City in 1958 by brothers Robert and Gene Schwartz, and Allan I. Sussel. Among the recording artists on Laurie's roster were Dion and the Belmonts (both together and as separate acts), ...

in 1993, which includes some of his earliest work. Nine of his full-length original recordings are included in the compilation ''Detroit Blues: Blues from the Motor City 1938–1954'', released by

JSP Records JSP Records is a British record label, founded in 1978 by John Stedman (John Stedman Promotions), releasing recordings by blues musicians such as Professor Longhair, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Witherspoon, Louisiana Red, Deitra Farr, Charlie Sayles, ...

in 2005. In 2009, the Detroit Blues Society led an appeal to raise money to mark Frazier's previously unmarked grave with a headstone. By December of that year a granite slab was in place.

Compilation album

*''This Old World's in a Tangle'' (1993),

References

External links

Comprehensive discography at Wirz.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frazier, Calvin 1915 births 1972 deaths Blues musicians from Arkansas Songwriters from Arkansas American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Detroit blues musicians Singers from Arkansas Deaths from cancer in Michigan People from Osceola, Arkansas 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Arkansas 20th-century American male singers American male songwriters

Biography

Compilation album

See also

References

External links