Echford Lee Cooper Jr. (possibly April 13, 1925 – possibly August 1966), known as Lee Cooper, was an American blues guitarist. Because of his relatively short career and the anonymous role of session musicians in the 1950s, Cooper is said to be "overlooked and highly underrated." Probably born in

Lexington, Mississippi Lexington is a city in and the county seat of Holmes County, Mississippi, United States. The county was organized in 1833 and the city in 1836. The population was 1,731 at the 2010 census, down from 2,025 at the 2000 census. The estimated populat ...

, where he grew up, he started performing on the

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in the 1940s. According to musician

Eddie Boyd Edward Riley Boyd (November 25, 1914 – July 13, 1994)Dahl, Bill. Eddie Boyd: Biography AllMusic. Retrieved October 13, 2016. was an American blues pianist, singer and songwriter, best known for his recordings in the early 1950s, including the ...

, with whom he later performed, Cooper was a chemistry graduate who lost an eye when acid splashed into it.Jim O'Neal, Amy van Singel (eds.), ''The Voice of the Blues: Classic Interviews from Living Blues Magazine'', Routledge, 2013, p,258
/ref> By the early 1950s, Cooper regularly performed with

Kansas City Red Arthur Lee Stevenson (May 7, 1926 – May 7, 1991), known as Kansas City Red, was an American blues drummer and vocalist who played a major role in the development of urban blues. He performed and recorded with many notable blues artists, such as ...

, and on sessions at Chess Records on recordings by

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 ...

Washboard Sam Robert Clifford Brown (July 15, 1910 – November 6, 1966), known professionally as Washboard Sam, was an American blues musician and singer. Biography Brown's date and place of birth are uncertain; many sources state that he was born in 191 ...

, and others. Writer

Cub Koda Michael "Cub" Koda (born October 1, 1948 – July 1, 2000) was an American rock and roll singer, guitarist, songwriter, disc jockey, music critic, and record compiler. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine considered him best known for writing the song " ...

said that his aggressive licks anticipated those of

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

by several years. In the mid 1950s, he succeeded Willie Johnson as the regular guitarist in

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 ...

's band, and appeared on many of Wolf's most successful recordings, before being in turn replaced by

Hubert Sumlin Hubert Charles Sumlin (November 16, 1931 – December 4, 2011) was a Chicago blues guitarist and singer, best known for his "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions" as a member of Howlin ...

. He also played on sessions by

Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, and his mot ...

Big Walter Horton Walter Horton (April 6, 1921 – December 8, 1981), known as Big Walter (Horton) or Walter 'Shakey' Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming, shy man, he is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the hi ...

and others,Biography by Bruce Eder, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 29 May 2016 and in Eddie Boyd's band. Boyd said of Cooper: "He was the best guitar I ever played with... just as good.. as ''any'' guitar player I ever heard.... ecould play, he could go from John Lee Hooker to Charlie Parker... He was that kind of musician. He knew how to pick anything." Boyd also said that Cooper was dependent on alcohol. Cooper is believed to have died in Chicago in 1966.

Discography

With

*'' More Real Folk Blues'' (Chess, 1953-56 967

References

1920s births 1966 deaths African-American guitarists American blues guitarists American male guitarists Blues musicians from Mississippi Chicago blues musicians Year of birth uncertain 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Illinois Guitarists from Mississippi People from Lexington, Mississippi 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians {{US-guitarist-stub