Nelson Wilborn (August 31, 1907 – March 1970), better known as Red Nelson or Dirty Red, was an American blues singer and occasional guitarist. His recording career lasted well over a decade. Two of his standout songs are "Crying Mother Blues" and "Streamline Train" (both 1936). His accompanists on record variously included

Cripple Clarence Lofton Clarence Lofton (March 28, 1887, 1896 or 1897 – January 9, 1957), credited as Cripple Clarence Lofton, was an American boogie-woogie pianist and singer born in Tennessee. Life and career There is uncertainty over when and where he was born. Ma ...

Blind John Davis Blind John Davis (December 7, 1913 – October 12, 1985) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer. He is best remembered for his recordings, including "A Little Every Day" and "Everybody's Boogie". Biography Davis was born in ...

, Black Bob,

Kansas Joe McCoy Wilbur "Kansas Joe" McCoy (May 11, 1905 – January 28, 1950) was an American Delta blues singer, musician and songwriter. Career McCoy performed under various stage names but is best known as Kansas Joe McCoy. Born in Raymond, Mississippi, he ...

Papa Charlie McCoy Charles "Papa Charlie" McCoy (May 26, 1909 or 1911 – July 26, 1950) was an American Delta blues musician and songwriter. Career McCoy was born in Jackson, Mississippi. He was best known by his nickname, Papa Charlie. As a guitarist and mando ...

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African American audiences. In the 1930s ...

and Lonnie Johnson. His 1947 release "

Mother Fuyer "Mother Fuyer" is a jump blues song, written and recorded by Dirty Red in 1947. The single was released by Aladdin Records on a 78 rpm, 10" shellac single record. Background The words "mother for you" or "mother fuyer", as minced oaths for " ...

" managed to escaped censorship.

Life and career

Nelson Wilborn was born in

Sumner Sumner may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Sumner, a mountain in the Rare Range, Antarctica * Sumner Glacier, southern Graham Land, Antarctica Australia * Sumner, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane New Zealand * Sumner, New Zealand, seaside sub ...

Tallahatchie County Tallahatchie County is a county in the U.S. state of Mississippi. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,715. Its county seats are Charleston and Sumner. Tallahatchie County is located in the Mississippi Delta region, divided by the Tall ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. He relocated to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, in the early 1930s, where he regularly performed in their nightclubs. Nelson's recording career began in 1935 and lasted until 1947. He was noted as "a fine vocalist with a telling falsetto", and was fortunate to be accompanied in his recordings with some of the best musicians available at that time. These included the pianist

, with whom Nelson recorded several sides for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

during 1935 and 1936. "Crying Mother Blues" and "Streamline Train" (both 1936) are two of the tracks from the period that music journalists have described as the best of his career. The two tracks were also issued on the same shellac disc by

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History From 1916 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing produ ...

in its Sepia Series. Others who accompanied Nelson on record were the pianists Charles Avery,

and Black Bob and the guitarists

and

. His vocals were often held back from emotional extremes, to serve the fashion of the time. Nelson later recorded with James Clark playing piano, particularly on his recordings in 1947, issued by

Aladdin Records Aladdin Records was a record company and label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by brothers Eddie and Leo Mesner. It was originally called Philo Records before changing its name in 1946. Aladdin was known for jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock mus ...

. His guitar accompaniment at that time was provided by Lonnie Johnson. "

", a jump blues song in the

dirty blues Dirty blues encompasses forms of blues music that deal with socially taboo and obscene subjects, often referring to sexual acts and drug use. Due to the sometimes graphic subject matter, such music was often banned from radio and only available on ...

tradition (including the lyric "I got to put this mule to jumpin' in yo' stall, I'm a lovin' muther for ya") written and recorded by Nelson in 1947 under the ''nom de disque'' Dirty Red, was released by

as a 78-rpm 10" shellac disc. The sly title seems to have evaded the censors. Nelson was described by more than one source as "an amiable alcoholic", although he maintained a working schedule in which he worked briefly with the

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

band in the 1960s. Sheldon Harris's 1979 edition of ''Blues Who's Who'' stated that he "frequently worked outside of music (as a waiter), Trocadero Lounge Club, Chicago into the 60s". His whereabouts thereafter are shrouded in mystery, and, rather oddly, there appears to be no surviving photograph of him. He was known to like double entendres, which may have explained his brief excursion from normality. Nelson died in March 1970, aged 62, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. In 1998, Old Tramp Records issued an album of all of Nelson's known recordings, ''Red Nelson: In Chronological Order (1935–1947)''.

References

External links

Worldcat.org entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Red 1907 births 1970 deaths American blues singers American blues guitarists 20th-century American singers Blues musicians from Mississippi Songwriters from Mississippi Decca Records artists People from Sumner, Mississippi Guitarists from Mississippi 20th-century American guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American male singers Aladdin Records artists American male songwriters