K. C. Douglas (November 21, 1913 – October 18, 1975) was an American

rural 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 ...

singer and guitarist. His given names were initials only.

Career

Born in Sharon, Mississippi, Douglas moved to Vallejo, California in 1945 to work in the naval shipyards, and by 1947 was playing on the San Francisco/

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

blues scene. Douglas was influenced by Tommy Johnson, who he had worked with in the Jackson, Mississippi area in the early 1940s, and whose "Canned Heat Blues" he adapted on his albums, ''A Dead Beat Guitar and the Mississippi Blues'' and ''Big Road Blues''. The K. C. Douglas Trio's first recording was "Mercury Boogie" (later renamed " Mercury Blues"), in 1948. The other credited musicians were

Sidney Maiden Sidney Maiden (April 1917 – c. 1987) was an American country blues musician. Maiden principally played harmonica accompaniment, but also sang on some of his own recordings, in addition to writing several compositions. His best known work is "Ecl ...

(harmonica), Ford Chaney (second guitar), and Otis Cherry (drums). The song has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by Steve Miller, David Lindley,

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

and Dwight Yoakam, and a 1992 version by Alan Jackson was a number two hit on the US country chart. Meat Loaf also covered the song as a bonus

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...

that appears on his 2003 album '' Couldn't Have Said It Better''. The Ford Motor Company purchased rights to the song and used it in a TV commercial. In the early 1960s Douglas recorded for Chris Strachwitz, mostly released on Strachwitz's Arhoolie Records and the Prestige Bluesville label. In 1961, Douglas played guitar on

's album, ''Trouble An' Blues'', thus reuniting a partnership that had started in the 1940s. Douglas played at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1973 and 1974. He formed a quartet that performed in the East Bay/ Modesto/

Stockton Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom *Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk *Stockton, Chirbu ...

area. Douglas died of a heart attack in Berkeley, California in October 1975, and was buried in the Pleasant Green Cemetery in Sharon, Mississippi.

Influence

While in his thirties and working at a garage, Douglas taught blues guitar to

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, now performing as Seasick Steve, the grandson of his employer.

Selected discography

Singles

Note: the reverse of "Mercury Boogie" was by Sidney Maiden.

Albums

References

External links

K.C. Douglas biography at Music.msn.com
* AllMusicbr>Illustrated K.C. Douglas discography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, K. C. 1913 births 1975 deaths People from Madison County, Mississippi Blues musicians from Mississippi American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Singers from California 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from California Guitarists from Mississippi 20th-century American male musicians