Sam Wilson, known as One String Sam, was an American
Detroit blues musician, who specialised in playing the
diddley bow. 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 Festivals.
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,
Michigan.
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
John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...
,
C. L. Franklin and
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...
. 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
diddley bow. The musical instrument had an electric guitar
pickup fitted and Sam played the fretless, one string instrument utilising an empty
baby food jar as a slide. One String Sam used the open jar as a makeshift echo chamber when vocalising into the recording microphone.
AllMusic 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.
In 1973, One String Sam was persuaded to perform at the
Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. 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, Canada, due to problems in obtaining the necessary permit in Ann Arbor itself.
The ''
Ann Arbor Sun'' 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
See also
*
List of Detroit blues musicians
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 African- ...
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