Mose Vinson (June 2 or August 7, 1917 – November 16, 2002) was an American

boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pi ...

, blues and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

pianist and singer. His recordings included "Blues with a Feeling" and "Sweet Root Man". Vinson worked with Booker T. Laury and

James Cotton James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career. ...

Biography

Vinson was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi. He taught himself to play the piano as a child. In his teenage years, he started playing his own style of barrelhouse boogie-woogie in

juke joint Juke joint (also jukejoint, jook house, jook, or juke) is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African Americans in the southeastern United States. A juke joint ...

s in Mississippi and Tennessee, incorporating blues and jazz in his repertoire. In 1932, following a chance meeting with

Sunnyland Slim Albert Luandrew (September 5, 1906March 17, 1995), "Blues pianist and singer Sunnyland Slim was born Albert Luandrew in Vance, Mississippi, September 5, 1906 (most sources say 1907, but the Social Security Death Index and 1920 census data give t ...

, Vinson moved to Memphis, Tennessee. In the 1930s and 1940s, Vinson continued to play at local juke house and rural community parties. By the early 1950s, he was working as a custodian at the Taylor Boarding Home, where artists often stayed while recording next door at the

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny ...

studio. Sun's founder and producer,

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...

, occasionally asked Vinson to accompany musicians in the studio. Vinson played there with

on "Cotton Crop Blues" (1954) and with Jimmy DeBerry on "Take a Little Chance". Phillips also allowed Vinson to record some tracks of his own, but they were not released until the 1980s. Vinson recorded two versions of "

Forty-Four "Forty-Four" or "44 Blues" is a blues standard whose origins have been traced back to early 1920s Louisiana. However, it was Roosevelt Sykes, who provided the lyrics and first recorded it in 1929, that helped popularize the song. "Forty-Four," ...

", one retitled "Worry You Off My Mind" and the other retitled "My Love Has Gone" (also known as "Come See Me"). Session musicians playing on these recordings included Walter Horton,

Joe Hill Louis Joe Hill Louis (September 23, 1921 – August 5, 1957), born Lester Hill, was an American singer, guitarist, harmonica player and one-man band. He was one of a small number of one-man blues bands (along with fellow Memphis bluesman Doctor Ross) ...

, and Joe Willie Wilkins. After a period of lessened musical activity, by the early 1980s the Center for Southern Folklore had enlisted Vinson to perform at cultural events and at local schools. He became a regular at the Center, where he played and taught for twenty years. In 1990, his contribution to the album ''Memphis Piano Blues Today'' was recorded at his home. In 1997, his first full-length CD compilation album was released via the Center. Declining health stopped him playing not long before his death. Vinson died of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

in November 2002 in Memphis, at the age of 85. In 2007, the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival was dedicated to his memory.

Dates of birth and death

There are conflicting reports of Vinson's date of birth and date of death.

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 ...

gives them as August 7, 1917, and November 30, 2002. The ''

Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Kn ...

'' gives them as August 7, 1917, and November 16, 2002. Another on-line source gives them as June 2, 1917, and November 23, 2002. According to the ''

Memphis Commercial Appeal ''The Commercial Appeal'' (also known as the ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'') is a daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by the Gannett Company; its former owner, the E. W. Scripps Company, al ...

'' newspaper published on November 19, 2002, he died on November 16, 2002.

Quotation

Discography

References

External links