Curley James Weaver (March 25, 1906 – September 20, 1962) was an American

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 ...

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

, also known as Slim Gordon.

Biography

Early years

Weaver was born in Covington, Georgia, and raised on a farm near Porterdale. His mother, Savannah "Dip" Shepard Weaver, was a well-respected

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

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 ...

, who taught Curley and her friend's sons, " Barbecue Bob" and Charlie Hicks. The three formed a group with the

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 incl ...

player Eddie Mapp and played locally.

Early career

Weaver moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

in 1925, where he worked as a laborer and performed on the streets and at social events. He first recorded in 1928, for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, and subsequently released records on several different

labels A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affixed to ...

. He recorded on his own during the 1920s and 1930s, first in the style taught by his mother and later in the spreading Piedmont style, but he was best known for duets with

Blind Willie McTell Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was an American Piedmont blues and ragtime singer, songwriter and guitarist. He played in a fluid, syncopated finger picking guitar style common among many Eas ...

, with whom he worked until the 1950s, and for his work with Barbecue Bob, Fred McMullen, and the harmonica and guitar player Buddy Moss. He was also a member of the recording groups the Georgia Browns (Weaver, Moss, and McMullen) and the Georgia Cotton Pickers (Bob, Weaver, and Moss), examples of the sort of bands that played at house parties in those days.

Later years

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Weaver recorded in New York and

, both as a solo artist and with McTell. His final recordings were in 1949. He worked for a railroad until he became blind in the 1950s. He died of

uremia Uremia is the condition of having high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess in the blood of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, which ...

in Covington, Georgia, in 1962, at the age of 56. His daughter Cora Mae Bryant (May 1, 1926 – October 30, 2008) was also a blues musician.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Curley Country blues musicians Piedmont blues musicians African-American guitarists American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Savoy Records artists 1906 births 1962 deaths People from Covington, Georgia Deaths from kidney failure in the United States 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers