⬇️ FURRY LEWIS ⬇️
(Walter E. "Furry" Lewis)
DISCOGRAPHY 1960-2023 (41CD)
BIOGRAPHY
Lewis was born in Greenwood, Mississippi. His birth year is uncertain. Many sources give 1893, the date he gave in his later years, but the researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc suggest 1899, based on his 1900 census entry, and other sources suggest 1895 or 1898. His family moved to Memphis when he was seven.[1] He acquired the nickname "Furry" from childhood playmates. By 1908, he was playing solo at parties, in taverns, and on the street. He was also invited to play several dates with W. C. Handy's Orchestra.
In his travels as a musician, he was exposed to a wide variety of
performers, including Bessie Smith, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Alger
"Texas" Alexander. Like his contemporary Frank Stokes, he grew tired of
traveling and took a permanent job in 1922. His position as a street
sweeper for the city of Memphis, a job he held until his retirement in
1966, allowed him to continue performing music in Memphis.
Lewis made his first recordings for Vocalion Records in Chicago in 1927.
A year later he recorded for Victor Records at the Memphis Auditorium, in
a session with the Memphis Jug Band, Jim Jackson, Frank Stokes, and
others. He again recorded for Vocalion in Memphis in 1929. The tracks were
mostly blues but included two-part versions of "Casey Jones" and "John
Henry". He sometimes fingerpicked and sometimes played with a slide. He
made many successful records in the late 1920s, including "Kassie Jones",
"Billy Lyons & Stack-O-Lee" and "Judge Harsh Blues" (later called
"Good Morning Judge").
On October 3, 1959, Sam Charters, with the assistance of his wife Ann
Charters, recorded Furry in his rented room in Memphis, Tennessee. The
recordings were released on a Folkways Records LP that same year. On April
3, 1961, Charters again recorded two albums of Furry Lewis - this time at
the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, for the Prestige / Bluesville imprint:
"Back on my Feet Again" (BV 1036), and "Done Changed my Mind" (BV 1037). One
track was included in Sam and Ann Charters' movie "The Blues," finished in
1962, and finding wide release, after being lost for many years, in a 2020
package entitled "Searching for Secret Heroes," by Document Records, thanks
to producer Gary Atkinson....
(Wikipedia)
NEW!
2006-Furrys Blues @FLAC
ESSENTIAL CLASSICS
Vol. 709 Furry Lewis (2CD) @FLAC