Want to hear more? Here’s where to start
Mississippi Fred McDowell
Known as one of the great “lost” bluesmen whose popularity surged in the folk music scene of the 1960s, Fred McDowell influenced some of the biggest stars of the day — including the Rolling Stones, who recorded a faithful cover of his song “You Gotta Move” for their 1971 classic Sticky Fingers — while penning classics “Shake ’Em on Down,” “61 Highway” and “Drop Down Mama.”
On his final album, I Do Not Play No Rock ‘N’ Roll [Capitol], he nonetheless took up an electric guitar, the instrument of choice for young rock ‘n’ rollers. Before his death in 1972, he passed along his slide technique to an up-and-comer he had befriended named Bonnie Raitt.
R.L. Burnside
Taking inspiration from John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Fred McDowell, R.L. Burnside [pictured above] carved a niche within the Hill Country idiom through his storyteller singing and his strumming style, which falls somewhere between fingerpicking and frailing. Burnside recorded as early as the Sixties, but his music finally resonated with audiences after the release of Too Bad Jim [Fat Possum] in 1994. Garage-rocker Jon Spencer introduced him to a new generation of fans and he maintained an unlikely commercial success until his death in 2005. His son Duwayne Burnside carries on his tradition, along with grandson Cedric Burnside, who has earned two Grammy nominations.
Junior Kimbrough
Junior’s Place in Chulahoma, Mississippi, was ground zero for Hill Country blues for many years. Kimbrough and his juke got a lift from the documentary Deep Blues in 1991, which dug deep into the rural Hill Country blues scene. While every bit as unpredictable and hypnotic as McDowell and Burnside could be, Kimbrough’s blues were darker. On the yearning “All Night Long” his guitar licks are a lonesome howl, while the pentatonic riff workout on “Lord, Have Mercy on Me” rivals Jimmy Page on “Heartbreaker” and Tom Morello’s meatiest Rage Against the Machine riffs. Sad Days, Lonely Nights is Kimbrough at his best.
Luther Dickinson
Growing up at the feet of legendary Memphis musician and producer Jim Dickinson, brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson were destined to play music. And it was the music of the Hill Country that focused their energies, as they learned from Burnside, Kimbrough and other musicians who frequented the jukes and picnics in the Nineties. Luther’s mastery of Hill Country guitar licks and techniques was evident on the North Mississippi Allstars 2000 debut, Shake Hands With Shorty [Tone Cool] —a collection of Hill Country staples they learned from their heroes — and his most enduring work nods to the place where it began.
— Jim Beaugez