Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson (August 16, 1915,

Tyler Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

, TexasMay 30, 1976,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

) 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 ...

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 list o ...

Biography

Jackson's mother played

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 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 Gold Star Records is an American independent record label, which was founded in 1941. Gold Star Recording Company and Gold Star Sound Services Gold Star Recording Company originated as a recording studio in Houston, Texas, and was founded i ...

, 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 Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group. Early years to 19 ...

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". 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 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 b ...

in 1960, but did not resume his career as a musician during the

blues revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-Ben ...

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 and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

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 People from Tyler, Texas Deaths from cancer in Texas Texas blues musicians 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American male musicians