Willie "Poor Boy" Lofton (January 1897 - 1956 or c. 1962) was an American

Delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

singer-guitarist. He recorded eight 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 ...

and

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known ...

, adopting a style strikingly similar to Tommy Johnson's. Lofton never achieved much commercial success or recognition in his lifetime, but his rendition of Johnson's "Big Road Blues" has been revitalized on

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. Not much is known about Lofton's personal life, although musician

Plastic Crimewave Plastic Crimewave (born Steven H. Krakow), otherwise known as Steve Krakow, is a Chicago-based illustrator and writer, avant-garde musician, music historian and impresario. He is the editor of Drag City-published magazine ''Galactic Zoo Dossier'' ...

, writing in his column ''The Secret History of Chicago Music'', stated that Lofton most likely was born in

Florence, Mississippi Florence is a city in Rankin County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 4,141. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a to ...

, sometime in 1905. He worked as a barber in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

and also played the blues, performing regularly with influential Delta blues musicians Tommy Johnson and

Ishmon Bracey Ishmon Bracey (January 9, 1899 or 1901 – February 12, 1970), sometimes credited as Ishman Bracey, was an American Delta blues singer-guitarist. Alongside his contemporary Tommy Johnson, Bracey was a highly influential bluesman in Jackson, ...

. Johnson, in particular, was hugely impactful on Lofton's own style, as he soon adopted Johnson's fast-paced

staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...

guitar playing and

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

singing. Lofton relocated to Chicago in 1934, recording and releasing the songs "Poor Boy Blues" and "It's Killin' Me" on

, with two additional songs from the session released in early 1935. In January 1935, he recorded "Dirty Mistreater" and "Rainy Day Blues", the former of which adopted guitar lines from Johnson. Lofton may have also been an uncredited guitarist for recordings completed by

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 ...

later in the year. In November 1935, Lofton recorded his two most highly regarded songs of his brief recording career with

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Black Bob Hudson on

, "Beer Garden Blues" and a rendition of Johnson's "Big Road Blues", retitled "Dark Road Blues". Plastic Crimewave praised Lofton's rewritten lyrics on "Dark Road Blues" as a "part of the DNA of the entire blues tradition". In 1942, Lofton returned to Jackson without achieving much commercial success from his records. He reportedly died in 1962. Lofton's work has been released numerous times on Mississippi Delta blues

s as early as 1964, including ''Dark Road Blues'', ''Jackson Blues 1928-1938'', ''Mississippi Blues, Volume 2'', and ''Tommy Johnson and Associates''. His interpretation of Johnson's "Big Road Blues" is also noted as the only known

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song, even though it was a standard among Delta blues musicians who associated with Johnson.

References

External links

Willie Lofton discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lofton, Willie 1897 births Year of death uncertain Delta blues musicians American male guitarists American blues guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers