Sylvester Weaver
Encyclopedia
Sylvester Weaver was an American
blues
guitar
player and pioneer of country blues
.
with the blues singer Sara Martin
"Longing for Daddy Blues" / "I've Got to Go and Leave My Daddy Behind" and two weeks later as a soloist "Guitar Blues" / "Guitar Rag". Both recordings
were released on Okeh Records
. These recordings are the very first country-blues recordings and the first known recorded songs using the slide guitar
style. "Guitar Rag" (played on a Guitjo) became a blues classic and was covered
in the 1930s by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys as "Steel Guitar Rag" and became a country music
standard too.
Weaver recorded until 1927, sometimes accompanied by Sara Martin, about 50 additional songs. On some recordings from 1927 he was accompanied by Walter Beasley and the singer Helen Humes
. Weaver often used the bottleneck
-style method, playing his guitar with a knife. His recordings were quite successful but in 1927 he retired and went back to Louisville until his death in 1960. Though many country blues artists had a revival from the 1950s on, Weaver died almost forgotten.
In 1992 his complete works were released on two CDs, the same year his (up to then anonymous) grave got a headstone by engagement of the Louisville-based Kentuckiana Blues Society
(KBS). Furthermore the KBS has annually honored since 1989 persons who rendered outstanding services to the blues with their Sylvester Weaver Award.
The content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language Wikipedia article (retrieved August 10, 2006).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
player and pioneer of country blues
Country blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
.
Biography
On October 23, 1923, he recorded in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with the blues singer Sara Martin
Sara Martin
Sara Martin was an American blues singer, in her time one of the most popular of the classic blues singers. She was billed as "The Famous Moanin' Mama" and "The Colored Sophie Tucker"...
"Longing for Daddy Blues" / "I've Got to Go and Leave My Daddy Behind" and two weeks later as a soloist "Guitar Blues" / "Guitar Rag". Both recordings
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
were released on Okeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
. These recordings are the very first country-blues recordings and the first known recorded songs using the slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
style. "Guitar Rag" (played on a Guitjo) became a blues classic and was covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
in the 1930s by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys as "Steel Guitar Rag" and became a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
standard too.
Weaver recorded until 1927, sometimes accompanied by Sara Martin, about 50 additional songs. On some recordings from 1927 he was accompanied by Walter Beasley and the singer Helen Humes
Helen Humes
Helen Humes was an American jazz and blues singer.Humes was successively a teenaged blues singer, band vocalist with Count Basie, saucy R&B diva and a mature interpreter of the classy popular song.-Career:...
. Weaver often used the bottleneck
Bottleneck
A bottleneck is a phenomenon where the performance or capacity of an entire system is limited by a single or limited number of components or resources. The term bottleneck is taken from the 'assets are water' metaphor. As water is poured out of a bottle, the rate of outflow is limited by the width...
-style method, playing his guitar with a knife. His recordings were quite successful but in 1927 he retired and went back to Louisville until his death in 1960. Though many country blues artists had a revival from the 1950s on, Weaver died almost forgotten.
In 1992 his complete works were released on two CDs, the same year his (up to then anonymous) grave got a headstone by engagement of the Louisville-based Kentuckiana Blues Society
Kentuckiana Blues Society
The Kentuckiana Blues Society , founded in 1988 and based in Louisville, Kentucky is a non-profit 501 organization dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and perpetuation of the blues tradition in all of its forms. The KBS is an affiliate member of the Blues Foundation. The Blues Foundation is a...
(KBS). Furthermore the KBS has annually honored since 1989 persons who rendered outstanding services to the blues with their Sylvester Weaver Award.
Works
- Complete Recorded Works Vol. 1 (1923–1927), 1992, Document RecordsDocument RecordsDocument Records is a British record label that specializes in early American blues, bluegrass, gospel, spirituals jazz, and other rural American genres , generally made between 1900 and 1945...
- Complete Recorded Works Vol. 2 (1927), 1992, Document Records
External links
The content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language Wikipedia article (retrieved August 10, 2006).