K. C. Douglas (November 21, 1913 – October 18, 1975) was an American rural blues singer and guitarist. His given names were initials only.

Career

Born in Sharon, Mississippi, Douglas moved to

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to th ...

in 1945 to work in the naval shipyards, and by 1947 was playing on the San Francisco/

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

blues scene. Douglas was influenced by Tommy Johnson, who he had worked with in the

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

area in the early 1940s, and whose "Canned Heat Blues" he adapted on his albums, ''A Dead Beat Guitar and the Mississippi Blues'' and ''Big Road Blues''. The K. C. Douglas Trio's first recording was "Mercury Boogie" (later renamed "

Mercury Blues "Mercury Blues" is a song written by rural blues musician K. C. Douglas and Robert Geddins, and first recorded by Douglas in 1948.Leadbitter, M. and Slaven, N., ''Blues Records 1943 to 1970 Vol. 1: A-K'', London: Record Information Services 2nd ...

"), in 1948. The other credited musicians were Sidney Maiden (harmonica), Ford Chaney (second guitar), and Otis Cherry (drums). The song has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

by Steve Miller, David Lindley,

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, a ...

and

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and film director. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album ''Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerabl ...

, and a 1992 version by

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many ...

was a number two

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

on the US

country chart Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

. Meat Loaf also covered the song as a bonus

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as to ...

that appears on his 2003 album '' Couldn't Have Said It Better''. The

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

purchased rights to the song and used it in a TV commercial. In the early 1960s Douglas recorded for

Chris Strachwitz Chris Strachwitz (born July 1, 1931) is a German-born American record label executive and record producer. He is the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he established in 1960 and which became one of the leading labels recording a ...

, mostly released on Strachwitz's

Arhoolie Records Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was founded ...

and the Prestige Bluesville label. In 1961, Douglas played guitar on Sidney Maiden's album, ''Trouble An' Blues'', thus reuniting a partnership that had started in the 1940s. Douglas played at the

San Francisco Blues Festival The San Francisco Blues Festival was active from 1973 until 2008, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was the one of the longest running blues festival in the United States. History Tom Mazzolini, the event's producer, founded the ...

in 1973 and 1974. He formed a quartet that performed in the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties ...

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

/ Stockton area. Douglas died of a heart attack in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

in October 1975, and was buried in the Pleasant Green Cemetery in Sharon, Mississippi.

Influence

While in his thirties and working at a garage, Douglas taught blues guitar to Steve Wold, now performing as Seasick Steve, the grandson of his employer.

Selected discography

Singles

Note: the reverse of "Mercury Boogie" was by Sidney Maiden.

Albums

References

External links

K.C. Douglas biography at Music.msn.com
*

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

br>Illustrated K.C. Douglas discography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, K. C. 1913 births 1975 deaths People from Madison County, Mississippi Blues musicians from Mississippi American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Singers from California 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from California Guitarists from Mississippi 20th-century American male musicians