John Jackson (February 24, 1924 – January 20, 2002) was an American Piedmont blues musician. Music was not his primary activity until his accidental "discovery" by the folklorist Chuck Perdue in the 1960s. Jackson had effectively given up playing in his community in 1949.

Life and career

John H Jackson was born into a musical family in Woodville, Virginia, and learned to play the guitar at an early age. He moved to

Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...

, in his twenties, where he worked as a

gravedigger A gravedigger is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service. Description If the grave is in a cemetery on the property of a church or other religious organization (part of, or called, a churchyard), ...

, among other jobs. His first recordings were released in the early 1960s by

Arhoolie Records Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was founded ...

. He visited

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

several times, played at

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

, and also recorded for Rounder Records and

Alligator Records Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the '' Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using ...

. He also appeared around

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, with the Travelling Blues Workshop, which included Jackson, Archie Edwards,

Flora Molton Flora E. Molton (née Rollins; March 12, 1908 – May 31, 1990) was a street singer and slide guitar player who performed gospel and blues music in Washington, D.C., from the 1940s to shortly before her death. She played slide guitar in the "b ...

, Mother Scott, and Phil Wiggins and John Cephas. Jackson died in 2002 of liver cancer in Fairfax Station, Virginia, at the age of 77. Jackson and his wife, Cora Lee Carter Jackson, had six boys and one girl. He was preceded in death by Cora Lee (1990) and by their sons John Jackson Jr. (1978), Ned Jackson (1978), and MacArthur Jackson (1996). Two of his remaining sons died after him: Lee Floyd Jackson (2006) and Timothy Jackson (2008). His daughter, Cora Elizabeth (Beth) Johnson, and his son James Edward Jackson still live in the Fairfax area. A historic marker noting the location of Jackson's birthplace was erected by the state of Virginia in Woodville in 2005.

Musical style

Reviewing Jackson's 1978 record ''Step It Up and Go'' in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981), Robert Christgau said, "His guitar style is eclectic, as befits a man who got his best songs from

Blind Boy Fuller Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen, July 10, 1904February 13, 1941) was an American blues guitarist and singer. Fuller was one of the most popular of the recorded Piedmont blues artists, rural African Americans, along with Blind Blake, Josh Whi ...

and

Blind Blake Arthur Blake (1896 – December 1, 1934), known as Blind Blake, was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He is known for recordings he made for Paramount Records between 1926 and 1932. Early life Little is known of Blake's life. ...

78s A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

but who also played in a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

band in the early '40s. His voice is gutteral yet well-defined. No innovator, and not as arresting through a whole

side Side or Sides may refer to: Geometry * Edge (geometry) of a polygon (two-dimensional shape) * Face (geometry) of a polyhedron (three-dimensional shape) Places * Side (Ainis), a town of Ainis, ancient Thessaly, Greece * Side (Caria), a town of an ...

as he is at the outset, he's nevertheless responsible for the most pleasing (and well-recorded) new

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

record I've heard in years."

Discography

Albums

* ''Blues and Country Dance Tunes from Virginia'' (1965, Arhoolie) * ''John Jackson'' (1966, Arhoolie) * ''More Blues and Country Dance Tunes from Virginia: Vol. 2'' (1968, Arhoolie) * ''In Europe'' (1970, Arhoolie) * ''Don't Let Your Deal Go Down'' (1970, Arhoolie) * ''Step It Up and Go'' (1979,

Rounder Rounder(s) or The Rounder(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Rounders'' (1914 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounder'' (1930 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounders'' (1965 film), a western comedy * ''Rounders'' (film), a 1998 poker f ...

) * ''Deep in the Bottom'' (1983, Rounder) * ''Country Blues & Ditties'' (1999, Arhoolie) * ''Front Porch Blues'' (1999,

Alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...

) * ''Rappahannock Blues'' (2010,

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fo ...

)

Awards and honors

Jackson was a recipient of a 1986

National Heritage Fellowship The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's ...

awarded by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. In January 2011, Jackson's album ''Rappahannock Blues'' was nominated in the categories Blues Album and Live Performance Album at the 10th annual Independent Music Awards.

References

External links

* *
Interview with John Jackson by Elijah Wald

"Fingerpicking Blues of John Jackson" from Homespun Video

Smithsonian Folkways Featured Artist: John Jackson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, John 1924 births 2002 deaths American blues guitarists American male guitarists Country blues musicians People from Fairfax, Virginia Piedmont blues musicians Guitarists from Virginia Deaths from liver cancer Deaths from cancer in Virginia People from Woodville, Virginia 20th-century American guitarists National Heritage Fellowship winners 20th-century American male musicians Arhoolie Records artists Rounder Records artists Alligator Records artists Southland Records artists Folkways Records artists