Lester J. Kinsey Jr., (March 18, 1927 – April 3, 2001) known as Big Daddy Kinsey, was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player.

Biography

He was born near Pleasant Grove, Mississippi. He grew up playing gospel music; his father was a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

in the Church of God in Christ and disapproved of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

music. However, Kinsey started playing guitar at parties in Mississippi, before moving in 1944 to

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

, where he worked in a steel mill. He married and served in the military before returning to work in Gary and raising a family.Monta Maso
"Lester Kinsey: A Biography"
, mswritersandmusicians.com; retrieved October 20, 2016. In the late 1950s, he started a family band, Big Daddy Kinsey and His Fabulous Sons, with his children, but it dissolved in the early 1970s, and Lester Kinsey began playing harmonica with a local band, the Soul Brothers. His second son, guitarist Donald Kinsey, played in Albert King's band in the 1970s, and later joined

Bob Marley and the Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

, but in 1984 rejoined his father and brothers Ralph and Kenneth to form The Kinsey Report. The band featured Lester "Big Daddy" Kinsey as slide guitarist and harmonica player. They signed for the Rooster Blues label, and in 1985 with Alligator Records, becoming "one of the hottest attractions in contemporary blues". In the early 1990s Kinsey recorded the album ''I Am the Blues'', featuring such musicians as Buddy Guy, James Cotton, and Pinetop Perkins. As well as leading his band, Lester Kinsey also established a bus company running charter trips to

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

s in the southern States. He developed

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

, and died in Gary in 2001 aged 74. His sons have continued to perform as The Kinsey Report.

Albums

*1985: ''Bad Situation'' *1990: ''Can't Let Go'' *1993: ''I Am the Blues'' *1995: ''Ramblin' Man''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsey, Big Daddy 1927 births 2001 deaths People from Panola County, Mississippi African-American guitarists American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers American blues harmonica players Deaths from prostate cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Indiana Blues musicians from Mississippi 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Mississippi 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers