Napoleon Strickland (October 1, 1919 – July 21, 2001),
sometimes known as Napolian Strickland, was a fife and drum blues artist, and songwriter, and vocalist specializing in
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 ...
, specifically
North Mississippi hill country blues. He also played guitar, drums, harmonica, fife, and all manner of percussion instruments.
Life
Born near
Como
Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como.
Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...
east of the
Mississippi Delta in hill country, United States, Napoleon Strickland learned music as a boy from his father. Later
Othar Turner
Othar "Otha" Turner (June 2, 1907 – February 27, 2003) was one of the last well-known fife players in the vanishing American fife and drum blues tradition. His music was also part of the African-American genre known as Hill country blues.
Ea ...
taught him how to play. He became adept with guitar, drums, harmonica,
diddley bow
The diddley bow is a single-stringed American instrument which influenced the development of the blues sound. It consists of a single string of baling wire tensioned between two nails on a board over a glass bottle, which is used both as a brid ...
, fife, and all manner of percussion.
He was primarily a fife player and singer, playing a great number of festivals. He also performed on several compilation albums of North Mississippi
hill country blues
Hill country blues (also known as North Mississippi hill country blues or North Mississippi blues) is a regional style of country blues. It is characterized by a strong emphasis on rhythm and percussion, steady guitar riffs, few chord changes, unco ...
, as the music was recorded in the late 20th century. He appeared in the biopic documentary film,
''The Land Where The Blues Began''.
Strickland was considered by many to have been the premier fife player of his genre. He made a living as a
sharecropper for most of his life, mentoring other musicians in the region. After a car accident in the 1980s, he was committed to a nursing home but continued to play up to his death in July 2001, at the age of 81.
Discography
* V/A - ''Mississippi Delta Blues Jam in Memphis Vol. 1'' - Arhoolie Records
* V/A - ''Blow My Blues Away'' Vol. 1'' - Arhoolie Records
* V/A - ''Traveling Through the Jungle'' - Testament Records
* V/A - ''Testament Records Sampler'' - Testament Records
* V/A - ''Feel Like Goin' Home Blues'' - Sony Music Canada
* V/A - ''Living Country Blues USA Vol. 7'' - Living Country Blues Records
* V/A - ''Living Country Blues USA Vol. 10'' - Living Country Blues Records
* V/A - ''Bottleneck Blues'' - Hightone Records
* V/A - ''Mississippi Delta Blues in the 1960s'' - Venerable Music
* V/A - ''Afro-American Folk Music'' - Venerable Music
* V/A - ''Memphis Swamp Jam'' - Blue Thumb Records
See also
*
Fife and drum blues
References
External links
Big Road Blues BookAllMusic bio of Strickland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strickland, Napoleon
1919 births
2001 deaths
Musicians from Mississippi
People from Como, Mississippi
20th-century American musicians
20th-century African-American musicians