Fiddlin' Joe Martin (January 8, 1900,

Edwards, Mississippi Edwards is a town in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,034 at the 2010 census, down from 1,347 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Edwards is named for Dick Edwards, ...

– November 2, 1975, Walls, Mississippi) was an American blues musician, who played mandolin on

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 ...

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, r ...

sessions inspired by Alan Lomax in 1941. Martin was a versatile musician who could play

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, fiddle, mandolin, washboard and drums. Paul Oliver wrote that he "worked the

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

joints for over fifty years" after leaving Edwards in 1918 when he was fourteen.Oliver, pp. 118–119. Martin worked with numerous blues artists including House, Willie Brown,

Charley Patton Charley Patton (April 1891 (probable) – April 28, 1934), also known as Charlie Patton, was an American Delta blues musician and songwriter. Considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", he created an enduring body of American musi ...

and

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...

. He is mostly associated with Woodrow Adams, on all of whose recordings he appeared. Martin and Adams played live together in the Mississippi area until Martin’s death.

Notes

References

* 1900 births 1975 deaths American blues guitarists American male guitarists American street performers American blues mandolinists American blues drummers 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians {{US-blues-musician-stub