Philip McCutchen (February 14, 1910 – October 7, 1964), credited on his records as The Cedar Creek Sheik, was an American

hokum Hokum is a particular song type of American blues music—a song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make humorous, sexual innuendos. This trope goes back to early dirty blues recordings, enjoyed huge commercial success in ...

and

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 ...

singer and guitarist who recorded in the 1930s. McCutchen was born in Suttons,

Williamsburg County, South Carolina Williamsburg County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census its population was 31,026. The county seat and largest community is Kingstree. After a previous incarnation of Williamsburg County, the current ...

, near to Cedar Creek. Little is known of his life. His only recordings, of which ten tracks were issued, were made in Charlotte,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

for

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is an American record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of children's music, blues, jazz and swing in the 1930s and 1940s. Bluebird was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebi ...

, on June 15, 1936. Several of his recordings, including "Buy It From the Poultry Man (Cock For Sale)" and "I Believe Somebody's Ridin' My Mule", were bawdy examples of hokum music, while others mention local situations and personalities. He sang in a "high, almost expressionless" voice, sometimes employing a

yodel Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from t ...

. Though some critics have thought him to be a white rather than black performer,Benjamin Franklin V, ''An Encyclopedia of South Carolina Jazz and Blues Musicians'', Univ of South Carolina Press, 2016
/ref> he is recorded as of "negro" race in census records."Cedar Creek Sheik Lyrics", ''WeenieCampbell.com''
Retrieved 13 November 2016 McCutchen died at 7:55am on October 7, 1964.

Discography

*''Carolina Blues Guitar 1936-1951'' (Old Tramp, 1988)

References

1910 births 1964 deaths African-American guitarists American blues guitarists People from Williamsburg County, South Carolina American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers {{US-RnB-singer-stub