Joseph E. Pullum (December 25, 1905 — January 7, 1964) 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 songwriter.

Biography

Pullum, an Alabama-born nightclub singer, was one of the more obscure blues stars. He was accompanied on his few recordings by two pianists;

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on his earlier discs, and Andy Boy on his later efforts. Pullum's major success was with his self-written song, "Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard?" (1934). It sold in large quantities and was

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by Leroy Carr, Skip James, Mary Johnson, Josh White, Bumble Bee Slim, the

Harlem Hamfats The Harlem Hamfats was a Chicago jazz band formed in 1936. Initially, they mainly provided backup music for jazz and blues singers, such as Johnny Temple, Rosetta Howard, and Frankie Jaxon, for Decca Records. Their first record, "Oh! Red", be ...

Smokey Hogg Andrew "Smokey" Hogg (January 27, 1914 – May 1, 1960) was an American post-war Texas blues and country blues musician. Life and career Hogg was born near Westconnie, Texas, and grew up on a farm. He was taught to play the guitar by his fath ...

, Jimmie Gordon,

Speckled Red Rufus George Perryman (October 23, 1892 – January 2, 1973), known as Speckled Red, was an American blues and boogie-woogie piano player and singer noted for his recordings of "The Dirty Dozens", exchanges of insults and vulgar remarks that have ...

, James Crutchfield and Robert Shaw. His subsequent recordings did not fare as well. Pullum recorded four sessions, which yielded a total of 30 tracks, between April 1934 and February 1936.Joe Pullum @ Nme.com
The tracks included two intended sequels to "Black Gal", but overall sales were modest. Pullum later performed on radio on the Houston station, KTLC, backed by another pianist, Preston "Peachy" Chase. Pullum relocated to Los Angeles, California in the 1940s, and he further interpreted "Black Gal" into "My Woman", accompanied by Lloyd Glenn, on Swingtime Records in 1948. He also reputedly recorded a demo with Specialty Records in 1953. Although he was a gifted songwriter, few of his contemporaries seemed able to recall him. Pullum died in 1964, aged 58, and was buried in Houston, Texas. All of his known recordings were collated on two albums released by

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in 1995.

Legacy

Music journalist Tony Russell wrote that "Pullum's high clear voice, drifting over the peaks and valleys of "Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard?", brought the shock of the new into mid-1930s blues. No one before, male or female, had sung with such feline grace. What's more, Pullum's ethereal manner hardly prepared the listener for the song's scenario of insults, smoking pistols and suicide".

Discography

*''Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1934-35)'' - (1995) - Document **Personnel: Joe Pullum (vocals); Rob Cooper, Andy Boy (piano) *''Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1933-51)'' - (1995) - Document **Personnel: Joe Pullum (vocals); Andy Boy (vocals, piano); Walter "Cowboy" Washington (vocals); Melvin Martin, Tiny Webb ( guitar); Chester Boone ( trumpet); Rob Cooper, Lloyd Glenn ( piano); William K. "Billy" Hadnott ( double bass); Bob Harvey (

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

References

External links

Illustrated Joe Pullum discography at Wirz.deVideos at NME.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullum, Joe 1905 births 1964 deaths American blues singers Bluebird Records artists Songwriters from Alabama Blues musicians from Alabama People from Anniston, Alabama 20th-century American singers Nightclub performers 20th-century American male singers American male songwriters