L. C. McKinley (October 22, 1918 – January 19, 1970) was an American

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...

guitarist. He worked with

Eddie Boyd Edward Riley Boyd (November 25, 1914 – July 13, 1994)Dahl, Bill. Eddie Boyd: Biography AllMusic. Retrieved October 13, 2016. was an American blues pianist, singer and songwriter, best known for his recordings in the early 1950s, including the ...

and Ernest Cotton. A performer in the Chicago blues scene, McKinley's major output was as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

on recordings made mostly in the 1950s. He also released a number of

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

on various record labels. His best-known tracks include "Weeping Willow Blues" and "Nit Wit." His guitar playing was influenced by

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''R ...

Biography

He was born Luke C. McKinley in

Winona, Mississippi Winona is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 4,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 5,043 in 2010 United States census, 2010. Winona is known in the local ar ...

, United States. According to the

United States Census The United States census (plural censuses or census) is a census that is legally mandated by the Constitution of the United States. It takes place every ten years. The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790 United States ce ...

in 1940, he was living in

Vaiden, Mississippi Vaiden is a town in Carroll County, Mississippi, Carroll County, Mississippi, United States and its first county seat. The population was 734 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area. History Vaiden was found ...

, with his wife, Bessie, and two sons. He relocated to Chicago in 1941. He began to find work and by 1947 had started to play professionally in the Chicago area. By the early 1950s, he was a regular performer at the 708 Club, where he variously topped the bill or played accompaniment in the first half of 1954 with the Ernest Cotton Trio. He began working with

in the early 1950s. In 1952, McKinley and Cotton backed Boyd on the latter's recording of "

Five Long Years "Five Long Years" is a song written and recorded by blues vocalist and pianist Eddie Boyd in 1952. Called one of the "few postwar blues standards hat hasretained universal appeal", Boyd's "Five Long Years" reached number one on the '' Billbo ...

", which reached number one on the ''

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'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

. McKinley also undertook recording sessions with several of Chicago's better-known blues musicians, including Curtis Jones. In 1953 he recorded for Parrot Records, but these recordings were not released. He signed with States Records in January 1954, which issued his "Companion Blues" later that year. In 1955, McKinley signed a recording contract with

Vee-Jay Records Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

, which issued his single "Strange Girl", backed with "She's Five Feet Three", in the same year. Other tracks he recorded in that period, which were unissued at that time, included "Blue Evening", "Down with It", "Rosalie Blues", "Disgusted", and "Tortured Blues". In 1959, Bea & Baby Records released his single "Nit Wit". McKinley made his last recordings in 1964, which were released on the Sunnyland label in the UK. After leaving the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

, he worked as a presser for a

dry cleaning Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent (usually non-polar, as opposed to water which is a Solvent#Solvent classifications, polar ...

company in

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 26,370 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Centered around heavy industry, the city is home to the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwa ...

. McKinley died in

, on January 19, 1970, aged 51. His cause of death is unknown.

Discography

Singles

Compilation albums

References

External links