Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson (August 16, 1915, Tyler, TexasMay 30, 1976,

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

guitarist and singer. He was a contemporary of

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 li ...

Biography

Jackson's mother played

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

guitar, and he played early on in a gospel group, the Blue Eagle Four. He became a mechanic and served in the U.S. Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, after which he pursued a career as a blues musician. He recorded a demo and sent it to Bill Quinn, the owner of Gold Star Records, in 1946. Quinn signed him to a recording contract and released "Freedom Train Blues" in 1948, which became a nationwide hit in the U.S. Jackson recorded for Imperial Records between 1950 and 1954, both as a solo artist and with a backing band. His 1950 song "Rockin' and Rollin" was recast by later musicians as " Rock Me Baby". In 1951, Quinn shuttered the Gold Star label and sold or leased his catalogue of master recordings to other labels, with

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Hadda Brooks, Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turn ...

buying 32 unreleased Jackson and

masters for $2,500. Jackson was injured in a car crash in the mid-1950s and gave up his music career, returning to work as a mechanic. He recorded an album for

Arhoolie Records Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label that was 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 ...

in 1960, but did not resume his career as a musician during the blues revival in the 1960s. He died of cancer in 1976 in Dallas, at the age of 60.

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

recorded Jackson's "Travelin' Alone", for his 2010 album, '' Clapton''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Melvin 1915 births 1976 deaths American blues guitarists American male guitarists Imperial Records artists Modern Records artists Musicians from Tyler, Texas Deaths from cancer in Texas Texas blues musicians 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American male musicians