Nathan Beauregard (born Nathan Bogard; February 1892 (probable) – May 25, 1970) 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 ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

Biography

According to researchers Bob Eagle and Eric S. LeBlanc, Nathan Bogard was born in

Benton County, Mississippi Benton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,729. Its county seat is Ashland. It is locally believed that residents convinced the post-Civil War Reconstruction government that ...

, in February 1892, the month indicated in his 1900 census entry. He sometimes claimed falsely to have been born in the 1860s, and his official death record gives a birth date of July 2, 1887. Born blind, Beauregard soon became a musician, his repertoire consisting of songs of the pre-blues era and dance tunes like "Spoonful" and "Pretty Bunch of Daisies". When he was in his thirties, in the times of the "race recordings" of the 1920s, he saw many blues musicians with minor talent make a fortune as a recording artist while he himself was not offered such a chance. During the

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and

revival of the 1960s Beauregard was "discovered" in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Bill Barth William Henry Barth (December 13, 1942, New York City – July 14, 2000, Amsterdam, Netherlands) was an American blues guitarist who, along with John Fahey and Henry Vestine, located 1930s blues great Skip James in a hospital in Tunica, Mississi ...

, who convinced him to work as a musician again. In the short time between his "discovery" in 1968 and his death in 1970, he played at various folk and blues festivals (e.g. the 1968 Memphis Country Blues Festival, which has been recorded on the

Sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" a ...

and Blue Horizon labels) and on a number of

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

s on such labels as

Blue Thumb Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obse ...

, Arhoolie und Adelphi. He died in Memphis on May 25, 1970.

References

*Chris Smith: Trying to make a hundred (99 and a half ain't true).- Blues & Rhythm 217 (2007), p. 25

External links

Illustrated Nathan Beauregard discography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beauregard, Nathan 1892 births 1970 deaths African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Blind musicians Blues musicians from Mississippi Guitarists from Mississippi 20th-century guitarists Arhoolie Records artists American blind people American musicians with disabilities