Alec Seward (born Alexander T. Seward, March 16, 1901 – May 11, 1972) was an American

Piedmont blues Piedmont blues (also known as East Coast, or Southeastern blues) refers primarily to a guitar style, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melod ...

and

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. Some of his

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

were released under

pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

, such as Guitar Slim, Blues Servant Boy, King Blues and Georgia Slim. His best-remembered

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

are "Creepin' Blues" and "Some People Say".

Biography

Seward, one of fourteen

sibling A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...

s, was born in

Charles City County Charles City County is a county located in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated southeast of Richmond and west of Jamestown. It is bounded on the south by the James River and on the east by the Chickahominy River. The ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

. Like

Gabriel Brown Gabriel Brown (1910–1972) was an American Piedmont blues singer and guitarist. Biography Brown was born in Florida, probably in Gadsden County, and graduated from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1934, he performed at the f ...

Ralph Willis Ralph Willis AO (born 14 April 1938) is a former Australian politician who served as a Cabinet Minister during the entirety of the Hawke-Keating Government from 1983 to 1996, most notably as Treasurer of Australia from 1993 to 1996 and briefl ...

and

Brownie McGhee Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk music and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry. Life and career McGhee wa ...

, he relocated from the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, in his case in 1924. Seward befriended Brownie McGhee and

Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and o ...

and retained his Piedmont blues styling despite changes in musical trends. He and the blues musician

Louis Hayes Louis Hayes (born May 31, 1937) is an American jazz drummer and band leader. He was with McCoy Tyner's trio for more than three years. Since 1989 he has led his own band, and together with Vincent Herring formed the Cannonball Legacy Band. He ...

(who later became a minister in northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

) performed together, variously billed as the Blues Servant Boys, Guitar Slim and Jelly Belly, and the Back Porch Boys. During the 1940s and 1950s Seward played and recorded with

Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, American socialism and anti-fascism. He ...

, McGhee and Terry. Around 1947 Seward, Guthrie, and Terry recorded several

chain gang A chain gang or road gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include repairing buildings, building roads, or clearing land. The system was not ...

songs, including "Chain Gang Special", and some other older songs adapted to having chain gang themes. They were later released on the compilation album ''Best of the War Years''. Under his own name, Seward issued ''Creepin' Blues'' (1965,

Bluesville B.B. King's Bluesville is a Sirius XM Radio channel devoted to blues music. It plays a mix of traditional blues, modern blues, rockin' blues and soul or "finger-poppin blues. Bill Wax was the original Program Director for the channel until hi ...

), with

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

accompaniment by Larry Johnson. Later in the decade Seward worked in

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

and at

folk blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in ...

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holida ...

. Seward died of

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a disti ...

in May 1972, at the age of 71, in New York City. He is not to be confused with Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones,

Guitar Slim Jr. Guitar Slim Jr. (born Rodney Glenn Armstrong, August 24, 1952, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States) is an American New Orleans blues guitarist and singer. Over his lengthy playing career, he has worked with numerous other blues musicians. His ...

, James "Guitar Slim" Stephenson or Norman "Guitar Slim" Green.

Selected discography

*''Creepin' Blues'' (1965,

) *''Late One Saturday Evening'' (1996, Blues Alliance) *''The Back Porch Boys'' (2002, Delmark)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seward, Alec 1901 births 1972 deaths American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Songwriters from Virginia Country blues musicians Singers from Virginia Piedmont blues musicians 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Virginia 20th-century American male singers American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters

Biography

Selected discography

See also

References