Essential Blues

• Charlie Patton: Considered the first great Delta Bluesman. Patton did at least three recording sessions for Paramount in Grafton. Born in Mississippi in 1891, Patton lived the life of a traveling bluesman. He was supposed to have been married eight times, drank and smoked excessively and was jailed at least once. He died of heart failure when he 43.
• Eddie "Son House" James Jr.: with Charlie Patton, the originator of the Delta Blues slide guitar style. Recorded "Preaching the Blues" and "Walking Blues" for Paramount in Grafton in 1930. "Preaching Blues" tells how the blues took the one-time Baptist minister away from religion. He died in Detroit in 1988, with some accounts saying he was over 100 years old.
• Tommy Johnson: The third member of the group considered the founders of Delta Blues. Born in Mississippi in 1896, Johnson is important to blues music for another reason: He was one of the first bluesmen to claim he acquired his skills by selling his soul to the devil. Johnson only recorded from 1928 to 1930 for Paramount and Victor. A son recorded in Grafton - "Canned Heat Blues" - was about the acute alcoholic Johnson's attempt to get drunk drinking Sterno. The '60s rock band "Canned Heat" took its name from the song. He died in 1956.
• Nehemiah "Skip" James: Born in Mississippi in 1902, he was known for his falsetto voice. James was discovered in 1930 by H.P. Speir, a Jackson, Miss., record store owner who was one of Paramount's principal talent scouts. Speir sent James to Grafton, where he recorded 26 songs in two days. But with the Depression destroying the record business, James gave up on the blues, moved to Dallas, formed a gospel group and became a Baptist minister. In 1964, James was rediscovered. He appeared at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island and recorded two albums. He died of cancer in Philadelphia in 1969.
• Joe Sheppard: A Louisiana street musician who recorded four songs at the Paramount Recording Studios in Grafton in November 1929. He eventually went on the lam due to legal troubles. Around this time, Sheppard began using the name Blind Joe Reynolds. Eventually, he released the songs on two 78 rpm vinyl recordings on Paramount. One of the singles had "Ninety-Nine Blues" and "Cold Woman Blues"; the other was "Outside Woman Blues" plus another blues number on its b-side. The records didn't sell a lot, but 40 years later, Eric Clapton heard, liked and re-recorded "Outside Woman Blues" with Cream.