Clifford "Grandpappy" Gibson (April 17, 1901 – December 21, 1963) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

singer and guitarist. He is best known for the tracks, "Bad Luck Dice" and "Hard Headed Blues". Born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, United States, he moved to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, in the 1920s and lived there for the rest of his life. He played in St. Louis clubs, and in 1929 began

recording 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, ...

for the

QRS The QRS complex is the combination of three of the graphical deflections seen on a typical electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). It is usually the central and most visually obvious part of the tracing. It corresponds to the depolarization of the ri ...

and

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

labels. He is regarded as one of the earliest urban blues performers, with no pronounced

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

influences. His guitar playing style resembled that of Lonnie Johnson, with an emphasis on

vibrato Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...

and

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

. His playing could be distinguished from Johnson's by a sharper tone resulting from the use of a capo high up the neck, and his use of open tunings. Among the many themes touched on in his songs, "Don't Put That Thing on Me" is notable for its references to hoodoo, an African American form of

folk magic In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized rel ...

. Gibson accompanied

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

on a

single, "Let Me Be Your Side Track", in 1931, then spent parts of the next three decades playing in the streets around St. Louis. Gibson resurfaced on recordings in 1960 on

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his number-one R&B single " We're Gonna Make It". His other hits include "Baby, I Love ...

Bobbin A bobbin or spool is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which yarn, thread, wire, tape or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in industrial textile machinery, as well as in sewing machines, fishing reels, tape measure ...

label, and worked another three years in St. Louis'

Gaslight Square Gaslight Square in St. Louis, Missouri, was an entertainment district located in an area close to the intersection of Olive and Boyle streets, near the eastern part of what is now known as the Central West End neighborhood and close to the curre ...

, before his death from

pulmonary edema Pulmonary edema, also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive edema, liquid accumulation in the parenchyma, tissue and pulmonary alveolus, air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause hypoxemia an ...

in 1963.

References

External links

Illustrated Clifford Gibson discography
* 1901 births 1963 deaths African-American guitarists American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists St. Louis blues musicians Deaths from pulmonary edema Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky Singers from Kentucky Songwriters from Kentucky Blues musicians from Kentucky 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Kentucky Bobbin Records artists African-American male songwriters 20th-century African-American male singers {{Louisville-stub