L.C. Greene (October 23, 1921 – August 24, 1985), better known as L.C. Green, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He released four singles in 1952 and 1953 for Dot Records and Von Records, including one of the earlier versions of " Come Back Sugar Mama" AllMusic noted that "vocally and for his repertoire, L.C. Greene, whose records were issued without the final ‘e’ to his name, was indebted to Sonny Boy Williamson I. His amplified guitar playing is clearly

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...

-derived, but probably owes something to the popularity of fellow Detroit blues singer

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

Life and career

Greene was born in

Minter City, Mississippi Minter City is an unincorporated community in Leflore County and Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. It is part of the Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area, and is within the Mississippi Delta. Mississippi Highway 8 intersects U.S. Route 49E ...

. In 1952, he and his cousin Walter Mitchell went to Gallatin, Tennessee, to record eight sides for the record producer

Joe Von Battle Joe Von Battle (born Joseph Battle, April 3, 1915 – March 27, 1973) was an American record store owner and pioneer black record producer in Detroit, Michigan, between the 1940s and 1960s. He set up the J.V.B. and Battle record labels, was ...

. Mitchell sang on two of the tracks, "Little Machine" (written by Sonny Boy Williamson) and " Come Back Sugar Mama", but his main input was his harmonica accompaniment of Green's vocal and guitar work. The resultant work was released on three single by Dot Records in 1952 and 1953, and another was issued by Von Records in 1953. The shoestring nature of Von Battle's enterprise probably contributed to a lack of promotion and exposure for Green. He was further hampered by the fact that although his guitar playing equalled that of John Lee Hooker, he could not match his rival in commercial songwriting ability. The compilation album ''Blues Guitar Killers! Detroit 1950's'', released in 1977, contains six tracks recorded by Green and Sam Kelly in the mid-1950s in Detroit, Michigan, again produced by Von Battle: ".38 Pistol Blues", "Mary Ann Blues", "Goin' to the River" (take 2), "Hastings Street Boogie", "Things Is Goin' So Tough Today", and "Shine My Light". Three of Green's tracks were included in the 2010

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

''Let Me Tell You About the Blues: The Evolution of Detroit Blues''. Green died in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit. Founde ...

, in August 1985, aged 63. An obituary written by

Jim O'Neal Jim O'Neal (born November 25, 1948, Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States) is an American blues expert, writer, record producer, and record company executive. He co-founded America's first blues magazine, ''Living Blues'', in Chicago in 1970, and w ...

was printed in '' Living Blues'' magazine, issue 68, in 1986. Green was one of several notable blues guitarists who came from

Leflore County, Mississippi Leflore County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 32,317. The county seat is Greenwood. The county is named for Choctaw leader Greenwood LeFlore, who signed a treaty to cede his pe ...

. Other natives and one-time residents of the county were (in alphabetical order) David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Guitar Slim,

Luther Johnson (Guitar Junior) Luther Johnson (April 11, 1939 – December 25, 2022) was an American blues singer and guitarist, who performed under the name Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson. He is not to be confused with Luther "Georgia Boy" Johnson, Luther "Houserocker" Jo ...

, Robert Johnson,

Rubin Lacey Rubin "Rube" Lacy (or Lacey) (January 2, 1901 – November 14, 1969) was an American country blues musician, who played guitar and was a singer and songwriter. Lacy was born in Pelahatchie, Mississippi, United States, and learned to play the gu ...

, Furry Lewis, Tommy McClennan,

Dion Payton Dion Payton (October 21, 1950 – March 12, 2021) was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer, who gained popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Chicago clubs. Payton was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, and gained recording exp ...

Robert Petway Robert Petway (born c. 1903, date of death unknown) was an American blues singer and guitarist. He recorded only 16 songs, but it has been said that he was an influence on many notable blues and rock musicians, including John Lee Hooker, Muddy Wat ...

Brewer Phillips Brewer Phillips (November 16, 1924 – August 30, 1999) was an American blues guitarist, chiefly associated with juke joint blues and Chicago blues. Phillips was born on a plantation in Coila, Mississippi and learned the blues from Memphis Mi ...

Fenton Robinson Fenton Lee Robinson (September 23, 1935 – November 25, 1997) was an American blues singer and exponent of the Chicago blues guitar. Biography Robinson was born near Greenwood, Mississippi. He left home at the age of 18 and moved to Memphis, ...

, Hubert Sumlin, and Hound Dog Taylor.

Discography

Singles

References

External links

Discography @ Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, LC 1921 births 1985 deaths American blues guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers African-American guitarists Songwriters from Mississippi Detroit blues musicians People from Minter City, Mississippi Guitarists from Mississippi 20th-century American male singers African-American songwriters American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters