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Ed Bell (born May 1905, died 1960, 1965 or 1966) was an American Piedmont blues and
Bell was born on the Davis Plantation, near
Bell's Discography
at Wirz.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Ed 1905 births 1960s deaths Year of death uncertain People from Lowndes County, Alabama American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Blues musicians from Alabama Songwriters from Alabama Country blues musicians Piedmont blues musicians Paramount Records artists Columbia Records artists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Alabama 20th-century American male singers American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters
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 t ...
singer, guitarist and songwriter whose identity has only recently been verified by historians. Some of his records were released under the pseudonyms Sluefoot Joe and Barefoot Bill from Alabama. His best-remembered recording
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, re ...
is "Mamlish Blues".
Colin Larkin
Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...
noted in the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music
''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Kno ...
'' that "Bell stands as the most influential Alabama artist in pre-war blues recordings."
Biography
Bell was born on the Davis Plantation, near Fort Deposit, Alabama
Fort Deposit is a town in Lowndes County, Alabama, United States. Since 1890, it has been the largest town in Lowndes County. At the 2010 census the population was 1,344, up from 1,270 in 2000. It is part of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statist ...
. As a child he moved with his family to Greenville, Alabama
Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 7,374. Greenville is known as the Camellia City, wherein originated the movement to change t ...
. An older cousin, Joe Pat Dean, took Bell to Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...
, in 1919, where he learned to play the blues. In the early 1920s, Bell worked in agriculture and performed as a blues musician, often with his friend Pillie Bolling. He performed many times in Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
and Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
.
His debut recording, of his own songs "Mamlish Blues" and "The Hambone Blues," was part of a four-song session for Paramount Records
Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson (guitarist), Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Early years
Paramoun ...
in Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in 1927. The word ''mamlish'' is of unknown origin; it was used in several blues recordings of that period.
He next recorded in April 1929, cutting eight songs for QRS Records
QRS Music Technologies, Inc. is an American company that makes modern player pianos. It was founded as Q•R•S Music Company in 1900 to make piano rolls, the perforated rolls of paper read by player pianos to reproduce music. The company also ...
, billed on the releases as Sluefoot Joe, with Clifford Gibson
Clifford "Grandpappy" Gibson (April 17, 1901 – December 21, 1963) was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is best known for the tracks, "Bad Luck Dice" and "Hard Headed Blues".
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, he moved to St ...
playing guitar and piano. The rest of his recordings were made in Atlanta, Georgia
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 1929 and 1930, and released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American reco ...
; on these records, he was billed as Barefoot Bill from Alabama. Bell and Bolling played together on two tracks, "I Don't Like That" and "She's Got a Nice Line".
Bell's own songs of that time include "Squabbling Blues", recorded on April 20, 1930, in which the singer, close to death, asks that if people are unable to agree on who should have his body, then it should be thrown in the sea, so they would "quit squabblin' over me". Barefoot Bill's songs tend to themes of imprisonment and voodoo.
Eventually tiring of the life of a traveling blues musician, Bell became a Baptist preacher, married and settled in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...
.
Bell died in Greenville in 1960, 1965 or 1966. One source suggests that he may have died during a civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
march; other sources suggest that his death was due to 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 distinc ...
, murder on account of his involvement in the civil rights movement, or black magic
Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of Magic (paranormal), magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes.
The links and interaction between black magic and religi ...
.
Legacy
His influence has been noted in the 1970s work ofJohn Lee John Lee may refer to:
Academia
* John Lee (astronomer) (1783–1866), president of the Royal Astronomical Society
* John Lee (university principal) (1779–1859), University of Edinburgh principal
* John Lee (pathologist) (born 1961), Engli ...
.
Compilation discography
* ''Ed Bell's Mamlish Moan'' ( Mamlish, 1983) * ''Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order 1927–1930: Mamlish Blues'' (Document
A document is a writing, written, drawing, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of nonfiction, non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ', which denotes ...
, 2008)
See also
*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 t ...
*List of Columbia Records artists
A partial listing of recording artists who currently or formerly recorded for Columbia Records (known in most of the world as CBS Records prior to 1991) include the following list.
0–9
* 24kGoldn
* 3LW (So So Def/Columbia)
* 3rd Bass ...
*List of country blues musicians
The following is a list of country blues musicians.
A
* Alger "Texas" Alexander (September 12, 1900, Jewett, Texas – April 16, 1954). Singer, a forebear of Texas blues. He did not play a musical instrument but was backed by such artists as ...
*List of Piedmont blues musicians
The Piedmont blues (also known as Piedmont fingerstyle) is a type of blues music, characterized by a unique fingerpicking method on the guitar in which a regular, alternating-thumb bassline pattern supports a melody using the treble strings. Th ...
References
External links
Bell's Discography
at Wirz.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Ed 1905 births 1960s deaths Year of death uncertain People from Lowndes County, Alabama American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Blues musicians from Alabama Songwriters from Alabama Country blues musicians Piedmont blues musicians Paramount Records artists Columbia Records artists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Alabama 20th-century American male singers American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters