Little Melvin Underwood
Melvin Underwood was born on December 24, 1935 in a little Mississippi town called Mt. Helen. He was raised under the old time Baptist Church and his mother, who was a sharecropper, moved the family to Vicksburg, where Melvin got his first earful of music. Clarence Gatemouth Brown came to town and had just recorded a tune called "Okee Dokee Stomp" and as Melvin puts it, "He okee dokee stomped it." That night Melvin decided that was what he wanted to do, got himself a second hand guitar and harmonica, and taught himself to play. Within one year, he formed a little group and got some work at a little club in Tululu, Louisiana. From there he worked venues, other towns, and finally ended up in Monroe, Louisiana, where he stayed for several years. It was there in Monroe, where Melvin heard B.B. King when he came to town and where their eventual friendship began. One night B.B. invited Melvin to play on stage with his big band. And as Little Melvin tells it, "the wh...