Sam Wilson, known as One String Sam, was an American

Detroit blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narra ...

musician, who specialised in playing the

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 ...

. Details of his life are scant, but he recorded two tracks described as an "eerie, spooky, and riveting version of country blues". He also performed at the 1973 and 1974

Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival is a music festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that started in 1972 from the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, which itself began in 1969. Although the festival has had a tumultuous history and suspended operations in 200 ...

Biography

Little is known of the life of One String Sam, apart from his limited recording and concert performances. He was largely a street entertainer, based in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. In the same city, Joe's Record Shop was founded in 1945 and then based on 3530 Hastings Street. It was owned by Joe Von Battle, and he sold records and recorded music with such as John Lee Hooker, C. L. Franklin and Aretha Franklin. One day, in 1956, One String Sam entered the Shop and, with Battle's assistance, he recorded two distinctive tracks. These were "I Need a Hundred Dollars" and "My Baby, Oooo." Sam accompanied his singing by playing a home-made

. The musical instrument had an electric guitar pickup fitted and Sam played the fretless, one string instrument utilising an empty

baby food Baby food is any soft easily consumed food other than breastmilk or infant formula that is made specifically for human babies between four and six months and two years old. The food comes in many varieties and flavors that are purchased ready- ...

jar as a slide. One String Sam used the open jar as a makeshift echo chamber when vocalising into the recording microphone.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

noted that the two tracks presented "an eerie, spooky, and riveting version of country blues". The two sides were issued on a 10" shellac disc on Battle's own J-V-B Recordings record label. In August 2014, a vinyl copy of the original single was sold at an online auction for $1922. After the recording was completed, One String Sam returned to playing on Detroit's streets for a number of years. His eventual absence from doing so was noted, although it was subsequently discovered that he had relocated to

Inkster, Michigan Inkster is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2010 census, the city population was 25,369. History The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans. It was settled by non-indigenous people in 1825. A post offi ...

. In 1973, One String Sam was persuaded to perform at the

. He was recorded performing two tracks, "I Need a Hundred Dollars" and "I Got to Go." These two sides were released on ''Motor City Blues / Please Mr. Foreman'', on Schoolkids' Records. There are sources which suggest that One String Sam also performed at the Festival the following year. The peculiarity was that it was staged at the campus of St. Clair College in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

, Canada, due to problems in obtaining the necessary permit in Ann Arbor itself. The ''

Ann Arbor Sun The ''Ann Arbor Sun'' was a biweekly underground newspaper founded by John Sinclair in April 1967. The newspaper was originally called the ''Warren-Forest Sun'' (the name refers to the neighborhood in Detroit between Warren Avenue and Forest Aven ...

'' reported in September 1974, that One String Sam's presence was his second appearance at the Festival. After this, details of One String Sam's ongoing existence are not recorded.

Live performances

Discography

Single

Compilation album appearances

References

External links

"I Need a Hundred Dollars" @ YouTubeMy Baby, Oooo @ YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:One String Sam Year of birth missing Year of death missing American blues singers Detroit blues musicians 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers