DISCOGRAPHY 1962-2017 (21+1CD)
BIOGRAPHY
Kirkland, known as the "Gypsy of the Blues" for his rigorous touring schedules, played and toured with John Lee Hooker from 1949-1962.
After his period of working in tandem with Hooker he pursued a successful solo career, recording for RPM Records, Fortune Records, Volt Records, and King Records, sometimes under the stage name Eddie Kirk.
Kirkland was born in Kingston, Jamaica to a mother, aged 11 (Kirkland
was raised believing his mother was his sister and when was in his early
twenties when the truth was revealed to him by his mother), and first
heard the blues from "field hollers", and raised in Dothan, Alabama
until 1935,[6] when he stowed away in the Sugar Girls Medicine Show tent
truck and left town.
Blind Blake was the one who influenced him the most in those early
days. He was placed on the chorus line with "Diamond Tooth Mary" McLean.
When the show closed a year later, he was in Dunkirk, Indiana where he
briefly returned to school.
He joined the United States Army during World War II. It was racism
in the military, he said, that led him to seek out the devil. After
his discharge Kirkland traveled to Detroit where his mother had
relocated. After a day's work at the Ford Rouge Plant, Kirkland
played his guitar at house parties, and there he met John Lee
Hooker. Kirkland, a frequent second guitarist in recordings from
1949–1962. "It was difficult playin' behind Hooker but I had a good
ear and was able to move in behind him on anything he did." ...
(Wikipedia)
NEW!
1993-Have Mercy (CD) @FLAC
1993-Some Like It Raw @FLAC+
2011-Blues Legend @FLAC+
2017-Long Gone Gypsy @FLAC+
COLLABORATION
WENTUS BLUES BAND
2023-One Hundred Years @FLAC