Robert "Wolfman" Belfour (September 11, 1940 – February 24, 2015) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. He was born in Red Banks,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. When he was a child, his father, Grant Belfour, taught him to play the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, and he continued his tutelage in the blues from the musicians Otha Turner, R. L. Burnside, and Junior Kimbrough. Kimbrough, in particular, had a profound influence on him. His music was rooted in Mississippi hill country traditions, in contrast to Delta blues. His playing was characterized by a percussive attack and alternate tunings. When Belfour was thirteen, his father died, and music was relegated to what free time he had, as his energy went to helping his mother provide for the family. In 1959, he married Noreen Norman and moved to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, where he worked in

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

for the next 35 years. In the 1980s, Belfour began playing on

Beale Street Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, ...

. Eight of his songs are included on the musicologist David Evans's

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

''The Spirit Lives On: Deep South Country Blues and Spirituals in the 1990s'', released by the German Hot Fox label in 1994. This led Belfour to

Fat Possum Records Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists (typically from Oxford or Holly Sprin ...

and record his first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' What's Wrong with You'', released in 2000. The album ''Pushin' My Luck'' followed in 2003, receiving a positive critical review. Belfour died on February 24, 2015, at the age of 74.

Discography

*2000 '' What's Wrong with You'' *2003 ''Pushin My Luck'' *2013 ''Wolfman - Live at Blues Rules''

References

External links

Robert Belfour page
from Fat Possum Records site *

Allmusic biography AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

br>2007 interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belfour, Robert 1940 births 2015 deaths Delta blues musicians Country blues musicians Blues revival musicians Fat Possum Records artists Country blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers American male singers People from Holly Springs, Mississippi Blues musicians from Mississippi Songwriters from Mississippi Guitarists from Mississippi 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters