"Mississippi" Joe Callicott (October 10, 1899 – May 1969) was an American

Delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

singer and guitarist.

Biography

Early career

Callicott was born in the small town of

Nesbit, Mississippi Nesbit is an unincorporated community in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. History A post office operated under the name Nesbits Station from 1869 to 1881 and began operating under the name Nesbit in 1881. In the early 1900s, an acade ...

, United States. In 1929, he played second guitar in

Garfield Akers Garfield Akers (possibly born James Garfield Echols, probably 1908 – ) was an American blues singer and guitarist. He had sometimes performed under the pseudonym "Garfield Partee". Information about him is uncertain, and knowledge of his lif ...

' duet recording, "Cottonfield Blues", and in 1930, he recorded "Fare Thee Well Blues" and "Traveling Mama Blues" for

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History 1916–1929 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...

.Dixon, Godrich and Rye: Blues and Gospel Records 1890-1943, 4th Ed, OUP, p. 133 His "Love Me Baby Blues" has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by various artists–– for example, by

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...

, under the title "France Chance".

Later years

He served as a mentor to the guitarist Kenny Brown when Brown was ten years old. Some of Callicott's 1967 recordings, which were recorded by music historian George Mitchell, were released in LP format by

Arhoolie Records Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label that was run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was ...

in 1969. Additionally, some were re-released in 2003 on the

Fat Possum In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple ester ...

record label. Joe Callicott is buried in the Mount Olive Baptist Church Cemetery in his hometown of Nesbit. On April 29, 1995, a memorial

headstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The u ...

was placed on his grave, arranged by the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund with the help of Kenny Brown and financed by Chris Strachwitz, Arhoolie Records, and

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty, he founded the swamp rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he was th ...

. Callicott's original marker, a simple paving stone which read simply "JOE", was subsequently donated by his family to the

Delta Blues Museum The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States, is a museum dedicated to collecting, preserving, and providing public access to and awareness of the musical genre known as the blues. Along with holdings of significant blues-r ...

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19t ...

. At the ceremony, the Mount Zion Fund presented Callicott's wife Doll with a check from Arhoolie Records for royalties earned from a CD reissue of Callicott's work.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Presenting the Country Blues'' (Blue Horizon, 1969) * ''Mississippi Delta Blues Vol. 2'' (

Arhoolie Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label that was run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was ...

, 1969 - side 2 only, side 1 by

R. L. Burnside R. L. Burnside (November 23, 1926 – September 1, 2005) was an American Hill country blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He played music for most of his life but received little recognition until 1995 when Burnside recorded and toured with ...

and Rosa Lee Hill) * ''Deal Gone Down'' (Revival, 1970)

Compilation albums

* ''Ain't A Gonna Lie to You'' (Fat Possum, 2003) * ''North Mississippi Blues'' (Southland, 2004)

References

External links

Illustrated Mississippi Joe Callicott discography
1899 births 1969 deaths People from Nesbit, Mississippi African-American songwriters American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Fat Possum Records artists Blues musicians from Mississippi 20th-century American guitarists Songwriters from Mississippi Guitarists from Mississippi African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters {{US-blues-musician-stub