Carl Martin (April 1 or 15, 1906 – May 10, 1979) was an American

Piedmont blues Piedmont blues (also known as East Coast, or Southeastern blues) refers primarily to a guitar style, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melo ...

musician and vocalist who was proficient at playing several instruments and performed in various musical styles. Martin was born in

Big Stone Gap, Virginia Big Stone Gap is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The town was economically centered around the coal industry for much of its early development. The population was 5,643 at the 2010 census. History The community was formerly kno ...

. He made his earliest

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

as a member of several groups, including the Four Keys, the Tennessee Chocolate Drops, and the Wandering Troubadours. He also performed in the trio Martin, Bogan, and Armstrong (with

Ted Bogan Theodore R. Bogan (May 10, 1909 – January 29, 1990) was an American country blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known for his work with Howard Armstrong and Carl Martin. His career spanned over 50 years. His finger-picking guitar st ...

and Howard Armstrong), helping keep alive the African-American

old-time music Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination ...

string band tradition in

Appalachian music Appalachian music is the music of the region of Appalachia in the Eastern United States. Traditional Appalachian music is derived from various influences, including the ballads, hymns and fiddle music of the British Isles (particularly Scotland) ...

. He accompanied Chicago musicians, such as

Bumble Bee Slim Admirl Amos Easton (May 7, 1905 – June 8, 1968), better known by the stage name Bumble Bee Slim, was an American Piedmont blues singer and guitarist. Biography Easton was born in Brunswick, Georgia, United States. Several original sources c ...

and

Tampa Red Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903March 19, 1981), known as Tampa Red, was a Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago blues gui ...

, throughout the 1930s. His solo work recorded in the 1930s is also notable; songs such as "Crow Jane" and "Old Time Blues" feature his remarkable guitar accompaniment. From the 1930s onwards, Martin regularly played solo in the Chicago area, with a repertoire encompassing blues,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, pop,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

, and even non-English songs. He played second guitar behind

Freddie Spruell Freddie Spruell (December 28, 1893 – June 19, 1956) was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer, variously billed as Papa Freddie or Mr. Freddie. He is generally regarded as the first Delta bluesman to be recorded ("Milk Cow Blues", 1 ...

on the 1935 recording of the latter's song "Let's Go Riding". The track was featured in the soundtrack of the 2001 film '' Ghost World''. Martin reunited with Bogan and Armstrong in the 1970s and played at

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and blues music festivals across the United States. Martin died in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit. Founde ...

, in May 1979, at the age of 73. The songwriter

Steve Goodman Steven Benjamin Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter from Chicago. He wrote the song "City of New Orleans", which was recorded by Arlo Guthrie and many others including John Denver, ...

paid tribute to Martin in his song "You Better Get It While You Can (The Ballad of Carl Martin)". On the liner notes of his posthumously-released ''Santa Ana Winds''

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

, Goodman wrote, "Carl Martin was the greatest entertainer I ever played with. He appears on several (Flying Fish and Yazoo) records, with or without his cronies Ted Bogan and Howard Armstrong... Carl and I became friends in the early Seventies, and his inspiration rules my musical character to this day. He's gone now, but I will never forget the night he met my grandmother at 'The Earl of Old Town.' Neither will she."

References

1906 births 1979 deaths American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Piedmont blues musicians Country blues musicians East Coast blues musicians People from Big Stone Gap, Virginia 20th-century American singers American blues mandolinists 20th-century American guitarists Singers from Virginia Guitarists from Virginia 20th-century American male musicians {{US-blues-musician-stub

See also

References