Dick Waterman (born July 14, 1935) is an American writer, promoter and

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

who has been influential in the development and

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, ...

of the

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 ...

since the 1960s.

Life and career

Waterman was born in

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as ...

, United States. He studied journalism at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

in the 1950s. He moved on to write for ''

Broadside Magazine ''Broadside'' magazine was a small mimeographed publication founded in 1962 by Agnes "Sis" Cunningham and her husband, Gordon Friesen. Hugely influential in the folk-revival, it was often controversial. Issues of what is folk music, what is folk ...

'' and later became its feature editor. In 1963 he began to promote local shows with blues artists, including

Mississippi John Hurt John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), better known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer and guitarist. Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself to play the guitar around the age of nine. He wo ...

, Booker "Bukka" White and

Mississippi Fred McDowell Fred McDowell (January 12, 1904 – July 3, 1972), known by his stage name Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American hill country blues singer and guitar player. Career McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee, United States. His parents were f ...

. In 1964 he went to Mississippi on a quest that eventually led to his "rediscovery" of legendary blues singer

Son House Edward James "Son" House Jr. (March 21, 1902His date of birth is a matter of some debate. House alleged that he was middle-aged during World War I and that he was 79 in 1965, which would make his date of birth around 1886. However, all legal re ...

.
Following this, he founded Avalon Productions, the first booking agency specifically formed to represent blues artists. Within a few years, he was representing House, White, Hurt,

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "This emotional, lyrical performer was a talented blues guitarist and arranger with an impressive ...

, Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins,

Arthur Crudup Arthur William "Big Boy" Crudup (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1974) was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known, outside blues circles, for his songs "That's All Right" (1946), "My Baby Left Me" and "So Gla ...

Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song "Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album ''Hoodoo Man Blues'' ...

, J. B. Hutto, and many others. He also promoted concerts by folk and rock acts in the Boston area. In the late 1960s he met a young female guitarist and singer named

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

and encouraged her to begin what has become a long, fruitful music career. As the older blues artists died, Waterman’s responsibilities shifted to care of their estates and providing for their heirs. He moved to

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Oxf ...

in the 1980s and began a second career publishing the photographs of blues, folk, country and jazz artists that he had been taking since the early 1960s. His book ''Between Midnight and Day: The Last Unpublished Blues Archive'' contains about 100 of his photographs from the 1960s onwards. In 1993, Waterman was instrumental in placing a new headstone on the grave of Mississippi

Fred McDowell Fred McDowell (January 12, 1904 – July 3, 1972), known by his stage name Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American hill country blues singer and guitar player. Career McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee, United States. His parents were f ...

with funding from Bonnie Raitt through the

Mt. Zion Memorial Fund The Mount Zion Memorial Fund is a non-profit corporation formed in 1989 and named after the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Morgan City, Mississippi, United States. The fund was organized by Raymond 'Skip' Henderson, a former social worke ...

. Waterman delivered a stirring tribute to McDowell, an early mentor of younger musicians including Raitt, at the dedication ceremony on August 6, 1993, in Como, Mississippi. In 2000, he was inducted into the

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum located at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1 ...

, as one of the first non-performers to be so honored. In 2014 in Memphis he received a Keeping the Blues Alive award for Photography; in October 2017 he received a Brass Note on Beale Street in Memphis.Tammy L. Turner, ''Dick Waterman: A Life in Blues'' (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2019

References

Books and articles

* Turner, Tammy L. ''Dick Waterman: A Life in Blues''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2019

External links

Dick Waterman website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterman, Dick Concert photographers 1935 births Living people Photographers from Massachusetts Photographers from Mississippi People from Plymouth, Massachusetts 20th-century American photographers