#Mississippi Fred McDowell | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

musickickztoo · 4 months

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Mississippi Fred McDowell *January 12, 1904

#mississippi fred mcdowell #january 12

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rastronomicals · 7 months

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Mississippi Fred McDowell

#Mississippi Fred McDowell

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lisamarie-vee · 5 months

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#mississippi fred mcdowell #blues music #folk music #hatshop

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ifelllikeastar · 8 months

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R.L. Burnside played the harmonica and dabbled with playing guitar at the age of 16 learned mostly from Mississippi Fred McDowell. He credited singing at church and fife-and-drum picnics as influences in his music, along with Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, and John Lee Hooker as influences later on in life. R.L. had a powerful, expressive voice, that did not fail with old age but rather grew richer, and he played both electric and acoustic guitar, with and without a slide. He was the grandfather to Cedric Burnside.

R.L. Burnside died September 1, 2005 in Memphis, Tennessee at the age of 78.

#rl burnside #love #music legend #blues singer #guitarist #guitars #mississippi fred mcdowell #muddy waters #lightnin' hopkins #john lee hooker #cedric burnside #fat possum records #tennessee #mississippi #blues #black lives #harmonica #september

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tejedac · 6 months

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Favorite Blues Songs · Playlist

Robert Johnson · Elmore James · Howlin' Wolf · Muddy Waters · B. B. King · John Lee Hooker · Sonny Boy Williamson · Mississippi Fred McDowell · Lightnin' Hopkins · Willie Dixon · Memphis Slim · J. B. Lenoir · Blind Willie McTell · Skip James · Frank Stokes · Charley Patton, etc.

#Blues #muddy waters #howlin' wolf #robert johnson #elmore james #sonny boy williamson #bb king #mississippi fred mcdowell #lightnin' hopkins #little walter #john lee hooker #skip james #memphis slim #frank stokes #jb lenoir

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oblivionrecords · 5 months

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Fred McDowell: The farmer who emerged from the woods and made a masterpiece

I thought it might be good for newbies to Mississippi Fred McDowell –like I was when I recorded “Live in New York”– to find out about where Fred came from, recording wise. This article in the UK webzine, Far Out, lays it out pretty well. You might want to dig deeper into folklorist Alan Lomax, but more importantly, you'll get a glimpse of the ambition that drove Fred from a Mississippi farm to his well deserved worldwide acclaim. -Fred Seibert.

By Tom Taylor @tomtaylorfo Far Out Magazine Sat 18 November 2023 22:00, UK

Some blues players can get their guitars to tell a story; Fred McDowell could get his to sing an opera akin to a southern Les Mis. “With Fred McDowell, I just love the way he articulates the notes,” fellow blues guitarist Bill Orcutt explains. “I’m hardly unique in that, but there’s just something about that that I love.” He’s not alone in that love either; everyone from Keith Richards to Bonnie Raitt have cited him as a star that they have attempted to emulate.

However, the one element nobody could ever copy was the humble backstory that brought him to the world. Long before he earned the prefix of Mississippi and became a big attraction at juke joints, got swamped backstage at folk festivals, or had his track covered by The Rolling Stones, he was just strumming away to an audience of nearby wildlife on his porch after a long day at work. Occasionally, he’d find himself in a situation where someone might toss him some loose change, but any notion of fame seemed unfamiliar.

But his skills were profound all the same, and fate would drag him towards another American numen on his travels. Alan Lomax was a roving ethnomusicologist, which is a big word for a curious fellow with a portable recording device that could capture the nation’s true folk on the move. One day, during Lomax and Shirley Collins’ great Southern Journey expedition, they rocked up in Como, Mississippi. They were intent on capturing the music at a local dance and the Young brothers’ fife and drum ensemble.

It was 1959, and McDowell was a 54-year-old wondering what his legacy would be beyond the farm he kept. So, without much fanfare and no warning, he decided to pick up his guitar, weave his way through the local woods, and rock up at Lonnie Young’s porch, where the recording was said to be taking place. Lomax and Collins lent him their ears, hit record, and old McDowell began to play.

Half a century later, if you close your eyes while listening to the masterpiece now known as The Alan Lomax Recordings, you can almost see the overalled maestro on the creaking porch ahead of you, hear the rustle of the southern breeze through the lowering tupelo trees, and smell the dancehalls buffer in the air. Of course, some of that is due to the suggestion of the cover art on the Mississippi Records pressing, but what I’m trying to convey is the dogeared sincerity that renders this authentic tape so beguiling.

Even at the time, Lomax and Collins were so flummoxed by the humility and skill of this unknown farmer that they quickly whisked their tapes off to a blues label, and in his autumn years, McDowell became an internationally renowned star, typifying what was best about the blues when the revival movement had somewhat muddied the waters — he was the new (old) find that the kids were craving.

He would soon rub shoulders with the next generation, teaching Raitt how to play slide guitar, touring with the likes of Big Mama Thornton and John Lee Hooker, and embracing the flattery of being covered by rockers despite declaring himself that he did not play rock ‘n’ roll. He left the farm behind and enjoyed a good 13 years of fame until his death in 1972, aged 68, but his old porch was never truly that far from his artistic thoughts, so even beyond the masterful Lomax Recordings, he’s the bluesman who can capture the earthiness of the South with more verity than anyone.

#OD1 #Mississippi Fred McDowell #Alan Lomax #The Alan Lomax Recordings #1959 #Fred McDowell

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fredfilmsblog · 6 months

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Fred loves Fred (McDowell)!

FredFilms Postcard Series 4.7

We all take inspiration where we can get it. Me, it’s music and musicians. After all, when The Beatles came to America in 1964, they completely derailed me from a life in science to decades enmeshed in pop culture.

Loving music –not just the songs and records, but also how the musicians looked at their art– led me to producing records, and the vinyl LP covers led me into photography, illustration and graphic design. Which led me to cable television and creating the first television brandings, and then to cartoon production. Which led to the internet and streaming video.

Mississippi Fred McDowell was a bluesman whose concert became my first record production. But more importantly, thanks to my first professional partner, Tom Pomposello, Fred was from whom I learned what the blues really is. Hint: not the British rockers I thought it might be at first.

Not for nothing, Fred is not the only incredible artist honored in this card. Carlos Ramos was part of my first Frederator production, Oh Yeah! Cartoons. He’s also totally into music, so I commissioned him to illustrate Fred for an album project I haven’t gotten around to yet.

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

FredFilms Great Artist Series

Mississippi Fred McDowell

Illustration by Carlos Ramos March 2018

Series 4.5 [mailed out November 13, 2023]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 4 #Mississippi Fred McDowell #FredFilms Great Artist Series #postcard #Carlos Ramos #postcards #illustration

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mudwerks · 1 year

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