Johnny Watson (April 12, 1867 – November 1, 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, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his recordings under the name Daddy Stovepipe. Watson also recorded as Jimmy Watson, Sunny Jim and Rev. Alfred Pitts. He may have been the earliest-born blues performer to record. Many of his recordings were

jug band A jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments. These homemade instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, bones, stovepi ...

duets with his wife, Sarah Watson, who was usually credited as Mississippi Sarah.

Life

Watson was born in

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

, Alabama. His career began before 1900 in Mexico as a twelve-string guitarist in early mariachi bands. He then established himself as an entertainer with the Rabbit's Foot Minstrels touring around the southern states.Nigel Williamson, ''Rough Guide to the Blues'', 2007, By the 1920s, he was working as a

one-man band A one-man band is a musician who plays a number of instruments simultaneously using their hands, feet, limbs, and various mechanical or electronic contraptions. One-man bands also often sing while they perform. The simplest type of "one-man ban ...

on Maxwell Street in Chicago, where he acquired the name "Daddy Stovepipe" from the characteristic top hat he wore. He first recorded in 1924, in Richmond, Indiana, recording "Sundown Blues" which is regarded as one of the most primitive blues on record. In 1927 he made more recordings, this time in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

for Gennett Records, as one half of the duo "Sunny Jim and Whistlin' Joe". He made more recordings back in Chicago in 1931 for the

Vocalion Vocalion Records is an American record company and label. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pianos and organs, as Aeolian-Vocalion; the company also sold phonographs under the Vocalion name. "Aeolian" was ...

label with his wife, "Mississippi Sarah", a singer and

jug A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold liquids. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and often a pouring lip. Jugs throughout history have been made of metal, and ceramic, or glass, and ...

player. The couple's humorous banter made their recordings unique. They recorded together again in 1935 for

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known ...

, by which time they were living in

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 34,400 at the 2010 census. It is located in the area of historic cotton plantations and culture known as the Mississippi Delta. H ...

, but Sarah's death in 1937 sent her husband back out on the road. He then worked for a while around Texas, playing in

cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

bands and, again, with Mexican mariachi bands. By 1948 he had returned to work as a street musician in Chicago, and was recorded in 1960, aged 93, with his repertoire having widened to include

traditional popular music Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

tunes such as "

The Tennessee Waltz "Tennessee Waltz" is a popular country music song with lyrics by Redd Stewart and music by Pee Wee King written in 1946 and first released in January 1948. The song became a multimillion seller via a 1950 recording – as "The Tennessee Waltz" � ...

". He died in Chicago in 1963, from

bronchial pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity of ...

after a

gall bladder In vertebrates, the gallbladder, also known as the cholecyst, is a small hollow organ where bile is stored and concentrated before it is released into the small intestine. In humans, the pear-shaped gallbladder lies beneath the liver, although ...

operation, aged 96. On May 5, 2012, the fifth annual White Lake Blues Festival took place at the Howmet Playhouse Theater in

Whitehall, Michigan Whitehall is a city in Muskegon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,706 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the southwest corner of Whitehall Township. Montague is its neighbor. It is located on White Lake (act ...

. The event was organized by Steve Salter of the nonprofit organization Killer Blues to raise monies to honor Watson's unmarked grave with a headstone. The concert was a success, and a headstone was placed in July 2012.

References

External links

Illustrated Daddy Stovepipe discography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daddy Stovepipe American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues harmonica players American blues singers American male singers Songwriters from Alabama Cajun musicians Country blues musicians Deaths from pneumonia in Illinois Gennett Records artists Harmonica blues musicians Jug band musicians Mariachi musicians Musicians from Mobile, Alabama Traditional pop music singers Vocalion Records artists 1867 births 1963 deaths Songwriters from Louisiana Singers from Louisiana Guitarists from Alabama Guitarists from Louisiana American male songwriters Burials at Restvale Cemetery