J. B. Lenoir ( '; March 5, 1929 – April 29, 1967) 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 ...

guitarist and singer-songwriter, active in the

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

scene in the 1950s and 1960s.

Life and career

Lenoir was born in

Monticello, Mississippi Monticello is a town in and the county seat of Lawrence County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,571 at the 2010 census. Geography Monticello is in central Lawrence County, on the west side of the Pearl River. U.S. Route 84 runs ...

. His full given name was simply "J. B."; the letters were not initials. Lenoir's guitar-playing father introduced him to the music of

Blind Lemon Jefferson Lemon Henry "Blind Lemon" Jefferson (September 24, 1893 – December 19, 1929)Some sources indicate Jefferson was born on October 26, 1894. was an American blues and gospel singer-songwriter and musician. He was one of the most popular blues sing ...

, which became a major influence. During the early 1940s, Lenoir worked with the blues artists

Sonny Boy Williamson II Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp st ...

and

Elmore James Elmore James ( Brooks; January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fam ...

in New Orleans. He was later influenced by

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 ...

and

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list o ...

. In 1949, he moved to Chicago, where

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African American audiences. In the 1930s ...

helped introduce him to the blues community. He began to perform at local nightclubs, with musicians such as

Memphis Minnie Lizzie Douglas (June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973), better known as Memphis Minnie, was a blues guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter whose recording career lasted for over three decades. She recorded around 200 songs, some of the best known being "Wh ...

Big Maceo Merriweather Major Merriweather (March 31, 1905 – February 23, 1953), better known as Big Maceo Merriweather, was an American pianist and blues singer. He was mainly active in Chicago through the 1940s. Career Born in Newnan, Georgia, he was a self-t ...

, and

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

, and became an important part of the city's blues scene. He began recording in 1951 for

J.O.B. Records J.O.B. Records was an American, Chicago based independent record label, founded by businessman Joe Brown and bluesman St. Louis Jimmy Oden in 1949. It specialized in Southern blues and city based R&B. In 1952, the label's recording of "Five ...

and

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

. His recording of "Korea Blues" was licensed to and released by

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

,Williamson, Nigel (2007). ''Rough Guide to the Blues''. . as having been performed by J. B. and his Bayou Boys. His band included the pianist

Sunnyland Slim Albert Luandrew (September 5, 1906March 17, 1995), "Blues pianist and singer Sunnyland Slim was born Albert Luandrew in Vance, Mississippi, September 5, 1906 (most sources say 1907, but the Social Security Death Index and 1920 census data give t ...

, the guitarist Leroy Foster, and the drummer Alfred Wallace. During the 1950s Lenoir recorded for various record labels in the Chicago area, including J.O.B., Chess,

Parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoid ...

, and Checker. His more successful songs included "Let's Roll," "The Mojo" (featuring saxophonist J. T. Brown) and the controversial "Eisenhower Blues," which Parrot Records forced him to re-record as "Tax Paying Blues." Lenoir was known in the 1950s for his showmanship, particularly his zebra-patterned costumes, and his high-pitched vocals. He became an influential electric guitarist and songwriter, and his penchant for social commentary distinguished him from many other bluesmen of the time. His most commercially successful and enduring release was "Mamma Talk to Your Daughter," recorded for Parrot in 1954, which reached number 11 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B chart and was later recorded by many other blues and rock musicians. In the later 1950s, recording for Checker, he wrote several more blues standards, including "Don't Dog Your Woman" and "Don't Touch My Head!!!" (1956). In 1963, he recorded for

USA Records USA Records was an American, Chicago based independent record label. Jim Golden started the USA label as part of Chicago's Allstate Distributors in 1960, which was owned by Paul Glass. USA Record Co., Inc. had its office at 1448 South Michigan A ...

as J. B. Lenoir and his African Hunch Rhythm, having developed an interest in African percussion. He was rediscovered by

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

, who recorded him playing acoustic guitar, with the drummer

Fred Below Frederick Below, Jr. (September 6, 1926 – August 13, 1988) was an American blues drummer, best known for his work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was a creator of much of the rhythmic stru ...

, on the albums ''Alabama Blues'' and ''Down in Mississippi'' (inspired by the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

and

Free Speech Movement The Free Speech Movement (FSM) was a massive, long-lasting student protest which took place during the 1964–65 academic year on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. The Movement was informally under the central leadership of B ...

). Lenoir toured Europe and performed in 1965 with the

American Folk Blues Festival The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe as an annual event for several years beginning in 1962. It introduced audiences in Europe, including the UK, to leading blues performers of the day such as Muddy Waters, Howl ...

in the United Kingdom. Lenoir's work had overtly political content relating to racism and the

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

wars.

Death and legacy

Lenoir died on April 29, 1967, in

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. As of the 2010 United States Census, Urbana is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 38th-most pop ...

, at the age 38, of injuries he had suffered in a car crash three weeks earlier.

John Mayall John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among it ...

paid tribute to the fallen bluesman with the songs "I'm Gonna Fight for You, J. B." and "The Death of J. B. Lenoir," though in both songs, Mayall mispronounces Lenoir's name as . The 2003 documentary film ''

The Soul of a Man ''The Soul of a Man'' is a 2003 documentary film, directed by Wim Wenders, as the second instalment of the documentary film series ''The Blues'', produced by Martin Scorsese. The film explores the musical careers of blues musicians Skip James, ...

'', directed by

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...

as the second installment of

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

's series ''

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 African- ...

'', explored Lenoir's career, together with those of

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 ...

and

Blind Willie Johnson Blind Willie Johnson (January 25, 1897 – September 18, 1945) was an American gospel blues singer, guitarist and evangelist. His landmark recordings completed between 1927 and 1930—thirty songs in total—display a combination of powerful "ch ...

. In 2011, Lenoir 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 ...

Discography

Albums

*''Alabama Blues'' (CBS, 1966) *''J. B. Lenoir'' (Polydor/Crusade, 1970) (posthumous, featuring interview by John Mayall with Ella Louise Lenoir)

Singles

*"My Baby Told Me" / "Korea Blues" (Chess 78, 1950) *"Deep in Debt Blues" / "Carrie Lee" (Chess 78, 1950) *"Let's Roll" / "People Are Meddling (In Our Affairs)" (J.O.B. 78, 1952) *"The Mountain" / "How Much More" (J.O.B., 1952) *"The Mojo" / "How Can I Leave" (J.O.B., 1953) *"I'll Die Tryin'" / "I Want My Baby" (J.O.B., 1953) *"Play A Little While" / "Louise" (J.O.B., 1954) *"I'm In Korea" / "Eisenhower Blues" (later pressings had "Tax Paying Blues" as the B-side) (Parrot, 1954) *"Mamma Talk To Your Daughter" / "Man Watch Your Woman" (Parrot, 1954) *"Mama Your Daughter Is Going To Miss Me" / "What Have I Done" (Parrot, 1955) *"Fine Girls" / "I Lost My Baby" (Parrot, 1955) *"Let Me Die With The One I Love" / "If I Give My Love To You?" (Checker, 1956) *"Don't Touch My Head!!!" / "I've Been Down So Long" (Checker, 1957) *"What About Your Daughter?" / "Five Years" (Checker, 1957) *"Daddy Talk To Your Son" / "She Don't Know" (Checker, 1958) *"Back Door" / "Lou Ella" (Shad, 1959) *"Oh Baby" / "Do What I Say" (Vee-Jay, 1960) *"I Sing Um The Way I Feel" / "I Feel So Good" (USA, 1963) *"Mojo Boogie" / "I Don't Care What Nobody Say" (Blue Horizon, 1966)

Compilation albums

*''Alabama Blues: Rare and Intimate Recordings'' *''Chess Masters'' (Chess double LP, 1984) *''The Parrot Sessions, 1954–55'' (Relic LP, 1989)

References

External links

J. B. Lenoir filmed performances
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenoir, J. B. 1929 births 1967 deaths Chicago blues musicians Electric blues musicians American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues harmonica players American blues singers Blues musicians from Mississippi People from Monticello, Mississippi Checker Records artists Political music artists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Illinois Guitarists from Mississippi 20th-century American male musicians USA Records artists Road incident deaths in Illinois Deaths from bleeding