K. C. Douglas (November 21, 1913 – October 18, 1975) was an American

rural blues In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and city, cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agriculture, Agricultural areas and areas with forestry ar ...

singer and guitarist.

Career

Douglas was born in Sharon, Mississippi. His full given name was simply "K. C."; the letters were not initials. Douglas moved to

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California, United States, and the second largest city in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the ci ...

in 1945 to work in the naval shipyards, and by 1947 was playing on the San Francisco/

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

blues scene. Douglas was influenced by Tommy Johnson, who he had worked with in the

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

area in the early 1940s, and whose "Canned Heat Blues" he adapted on his albums, ''A Dead Beat Guitar and the Mississippi Blues'' and ''Big Road Blues''. The K. C. Douglas Trio's first recording was "Mercury Boogie" (later renamed "

Mercury Blues "Mercury Blues" is a song written by rural blues musician K. C. Douglas and Robert Geddins, and first recorded by Douglas in 1948.Leadbitter, M. and Slaven, N., ''Blues Records 1943 to 1970 Vol. 1: A-K'', London: Record Information Services 2nd ...

"), in 1948. The other credited musicians were Sidney Maiden (harmonica), Ford Chaney (second guitar), and Otis Cherry (drums). The song 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 Steve Miller, David Lindley,

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 ...

and

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album ''Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerable s ...

, and a 1992 version by

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...

was a number two

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on the US country chart.

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...

also covered the song as a bonus

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...

that appears on his 2003 album ''

Couldn't Have Said It Better ''Couldn't Have Said It Better'' is the eighth studio album by Meat Loaf, released in the UK on April 21, 2003. For only the third time in his career, he released an album without any songs written by Jim Steinman (not counting the bonus tracks) ...

''. The

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

purchased rights to the song and used it in a TV commercial. In the early 1960s Douglas recorded for

Chris Strachwitz Christian Alexander Maria Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (; July 1, 1931 – May 5, 2023) was a German-born American record label executive and record producer. He was the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he esta ...

, mostly released on Strachwitz's

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 ...

and the Prestige Bluesville label. In 1961, Douglas played guitar on Sidney Maiden's album, ''Trouble An' Blues'', thus reuniting a partnership that had started in the 1940s. Douglas played at the

San Francisco Blues Festival The San Francisco Blues Festival was active from 1973 until 2008, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was one of the longest running blues festival in the United States. History Tom Mazzolini, the event's producer, founded the bl ...

in 1973 and 1974. He formed a quartet that performed in the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...

Modesto Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California. Modesto is locate ...

/ Stockton area. Douglas died of a heart attack in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

in October 1975, and was buried in the Pleasant Green Cemetery in Sharon, Mississippi.

Influence

While in his thirties and working at a garage, Douglas taught blues guitar to Steve Wold, now performing as Seasick Steve, the grandson of his employer.

Selected discography

Singles

Note: the B-side of "Mercury Boogie" was by Sidney Maiden.

Albums

References

External links

K.C. Douglas biography at Music.msn.com
*

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

br>Illustrated K.C. Douglas discography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, K. C. 1913 births 1975 deaths People from Madison County, Mississippi Blues musicians from Mississippi American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Singers from California 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from California Guitarists from Mississippi 20th-century American male musicians