Notes of a Defeatist

One of my favorite blues musicians, R.L. Burnside died Thursday.

Born in Mississippi in 1926, R.L. spent much of his young adulthood sharcropping. A guitarist, singer, and songwriter, he began playing in the 1950’s. Burnside, learned the guitar from his neighbor Fred McDowell and developed a heavily rhythmic orientated style played with a slide. Up until the mid ‘80s Burnside was primarily a farmer and fisherman playing blues mostly at night and on the weekends. Gaining some attention from folklorists David Evans and George Mitchell it lead to smaller tours. In the late ‘80s Burnside was invited to perform at some blues festivals in Europe along side Junior Kimbrough and they became a part of a documentary film, Deep Blues.

R.L. Burnside didn’t get much recognition until he began recording forFat Possum Records in the 1990s. Where he put out the albums Too Bad Jim, A Ass Pocket of Whiskey, Burnside on Burnside, Come On In, and Mr. Wizard among others.