⬇️ROBERT NIGHTHAWK⬇️
(a.k.a. Robert Lee McCollum/Robert Lee McCoy)
DISCOGRAPHY 1940-2024 (19CD)
Robert Lee McCollum (November 30, 1909 – November 5, 1967) was an
American blues musician, who played and recorded under the pseudonyms
Robert Lee McCoy and Robert Nighthawk.
Born in Helena, Arkansas, he left home at an early age to become a busking musician, and after a period wandering through southern Mississippi, settled for a time in Memphis, Tennessee where he played with local orchestras and musicians, such as the Memphis Jug Band.
A particular influence during this period was Houston Stackhouse, from whom he learnt to play slide guitar, and with whom he appeared on the radio in Jackson, Mississippi.
DISCOGRAPHY 1940-2024 (19CD)
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Helena, Arkansas, he left home at an early age to become a busking musician, and after a period wandering through southern Mississippi, settled for a time in Memphis, Tennessee where he played with local orchestras and musicians, such as the Memphis Jug Band.
A particular influence during this period was Houston Stackhouse, from whom he learnt to play slide guitar, and with whom he appeared on the radio in Jackson, Mississippi.
After further travels through Mississippi, he found it advisable to
take his mother's name, and as Robert Lee McCoy moved to St. Louis,
Missouri in the mid 1930s. Local musicians with whom he played included
Henry Townsend, Big Joe Williams, and Sonny Boy Williamson. This led to
two recording dates in 1937, the four musicians recording together at
the Victor Records studio in Aurora, Illinois as well as recordings
under his own name, including "Prowling Night-Hawk" (recorded 5 May
1937), from which he was take his later pseudonym.
These sessions led to Chicago blues careers for the other musicians,
though not, however, for McCoy, who continued his rambling life, playing
and recording (for Victor/Bluebird and Decca) solo and with various
musicians, under various names. He also became a familiar voice on local
radio stations; then Robert Lee McCoy disappeared.
Robert Nighthawk
Within a few years, he resurfaced as the electric slide guitarist
Robert Nighthawk, and began recording for Aristocrat and Chess Records,
the latter of which was also Muddy Waters' label; in 1949 and 1950, the
two men's styles were close enough that they were in competition for
promotional activity; as Waters was the more marketable commodity, being
more reliable and a more confident stage communicator, he received the
attention. Though Nighthawk continued to perform and to record, taking
up with United and States 1951 and 1952, he failed to achieve great
commercial success.
In 1963, Nighthawk was rediscovered busking in Chicago and this led to
further recording sessions and club dates, and to his return to
Arkansas, where he appeared on the King Biscuit Time radio programme on
KFFA. As late as 1964, Nighthawk could be found playing on Chicago's
Maxwell Street. He had a stroke followed by a heart attack, and died of
heart failure at his home in Helena.
Nighthawk was honored by the Mississippi Blues Commission places a
historic marker in Friars Point, Mississippi, marking his position on
the Mississippi Blues Trail. Governor Haley Barbour stated the
following:
This talented Mississippian made a huge contribution to development of
that unique genre of music, the Mississippi blues. I am pleased
Nighthawk’s imprint on the blues scene, which is still heard through the
tunes of modern-day blues artists, will be recognized with his inclusion
on the Mississippi Blues Trail.
The marker was placed at Friars Point, as Nighthawk called this town
his home at various times during his itinerant career. He recorded a
song called "Friars Point Blues" in 1940.
NEW!
2000-Prowling Night Hawk @FLAC+
2000-Sweet Black Angel @FLAC+
2017-The Robert Nighthawk Collection (1937-52) (2CD) @FLAC
2020-Pre-War Blues @FLAC
2021-Sweet Black Angel & More Chicago Blues @FLAC
2024-Complete Recordings @320