Bman's Blues Report

Jones was born in Earle, Arkansas, United States, on 8 April 1908. Raised in the church, he developed an interest in music at an early age and learned to play guitar after his brother bought an old broken guitar for $3. When he was proficient enough he started playing for country dances, and by 1939 had arrived in Chicago. In Chicago he became one of a number of musicians, performing on Maxwell Street and in non-union venues, who played an important role in the development of the post-war Chicago blues sound, often performing with his first cousin, singer and guitar player Floyd Jones. By the late 1940s he was capable of playing any kind of music requested, and had learned to play piano, banjo and bass (including a home-made bass made out of a wash-tub, a broom-handle and a clothes line), in addition to guitar. He was regarded by his contemporaries as the best guitar player on the Chicago scene, and was warned by noted slide guitar player Muddy Waters not to “fool with that slide” when...