Robert Lee McCollum (November 30, 1909 – November 5, 1967) was an American blues musician who played and recorded under the pseudonyms Robert Lee McCoy and Robert Nighthawk. He was the father of the blues musician Sam Carr. Nighthawk was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1983.

Life and career

McCollum was born in

Helena, Arkansas Helena is the eastern portion of Helena–West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. It was founded in 1833 by Nicholas Rightor and is named after the daughter of Sylvanus Phillips, an early settler of Phillips County and the ...

on November 30, 1909. He left home at an early age and became a busking musician. After a period traveling through southern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

, he settled for a time in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

, where he played with local orchestras and musicians, such as the Memphis Jug Band. A particular influence during this period was Houston Stackhouse, from whom he learned to play slide guitar and with whom he performed on the radio in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

. After further travels through Mississippi, he found it advisable to take his mother's name. As Robert Lee McCoy, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in the mid-1930s. Local musicians with whom he played included Henry Townsend, Big Joe Williams, and Sonny Boy Williamson. This led to two recording dates in 1938, the four musicians recording together at the

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsid ...

studio in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located primarily in DuPage and Kane counties, it is the second most populous city in Illinois, af ...

. He also recorded under his own name, including "Prowling Night-Hawk" (recorded 5 May 1937), from which he took his later pseudonym. These sessions led to the other musicians pursuing

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cen ...

careers. But McCoy continued his rambling life, playing and recording (for Victor/

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known ...

and

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

) solo and with various other musicians, under various names.

Kansas City Red Arthur Lee Stevenson (May 7, 1926 – May 7, 1991), known as Kansas City Red, was an American blues drummer and vocalist who played a major role in the development of urban blues. He performed and recorded with many notable blues artists, such a ...

was his drummer from the early 1940s to around 1946. He recorded Kansas City Red's song "The Moon Is Rising". McCoy became a familiar voice on local radio stations, including

WROX Wrox Press (established in 1992) is a computer book publisher, originally based in Birmingham, England. Wrox uses a "programmer to programmer" approach, as all books published by Wrox are written by software developers. The original books were eas ...

. A teenaged Ike Turner joined his band as a

roadie The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This ca ...

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of 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-19th century when he establish ...

. Robert Lee McCoy disappeared in the mid-1940s. Within a few years, he resurfaced in 1948 as the electric slide guitarist Robert Nighthawk and began recording for Aristocrat and

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and r ...

. The latter was also

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post- war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicag ...

' label. In 1949 and 1950, Nighthawk and Waters' styles were close enough that they competed for promotional activity. Waters was more marketable, as he was more reliable and a more confident stage performer, gaining him the attention. In 1949, Nighthawk released the single "Annie Lee Blues"/" Black Angel Blues" on Aristocrat. The single was released under the name 'The Nighthawks', who were Nighthawk, pianist Ernest Lane, and bassist Willie Dixon. "Annie Lee Blues" reached #13 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart on December 31, 1949. Nighthawk recorded his final session for Chess (formerly Aristocrat) in 1950. He continued to perform and record, taking up with United Records and States Records 1951 and 1952, but did not achieve great commercial success. In 1963, Nighthawk was rediscovered busking in Chicago. This led to further recording sessions and club dates and to his return to Arkansas, where he performed on the radio program '' King Biscuit Time'', on KFFA. He also continued giving live performances on Chicago's

Maxwell Street Maxwell Street is an east-west street in Chicago, Illinois that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. It runs at 1330 South in the numbering system running from 500 West to 1126 West.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee (1988). ''St ...

until 1964. He had a stroke followed by a heart attack and died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

at his home in

on November 5, 1967, aged 57. He is buried in Magnolia Cemetery, in Helena.

Legacy

Nighthawk was elected into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1983. In 2007, The Mississippi Blues Commission honored Nighthawk with a historical marker in Friars Point, Mississippi, on the

Mississippi Blues Trail The Mississippi Blues Trail was created by the Mississippi Blues Commission in 2006 to place interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the birth, growth, and influence of the blues throughout (and in some cases beyond) ...

.
The marker was placed at Friars Point because Nighthawk called the town his home at various times in his itinerant career. He recorded the song "Friars Point Blues" in 1940.

Recordings

*''Bricks in My Pillow'', 1977, Delmark reissue of 1951 and 1952 United recordings *''Robert Nighthawk: Prowling with the Nighthawk'' (Document), 26 sides recorded for Bluebird, Decca, Aristocrat, and United from 1937 to 1952, including "My Sweet Lovin' Woman" (which he wrote under his given name, Robert McCollum) *''Ramblin' Bob'' (Saga), 24 tracks recorded for Victor, Decca, Chess, and United from 1937 to 1952 *''Live on Maxwell Street (1964)'', as Robert Nighthawk and his Flames of Rhythm (reissued by Rounder Records, 1980, 1991; some versions include an extended interview with Nighthawk) *''Robert Nighthawk: Sweet Black Angel'' (1948) *''The Aristocrat of the Blues'', MCA/Chess CHD2-9387

References

Sources and external links

"Bricks in My Pillow"
– The Robert Nighthawk Story *Jean Buzelin, liner notes to ''Ramblin' Bob'' (Saga Blues, 2004) *Joel Snow,

nighthawk.sundayblues.org. Accessed November 17, 2022. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nighthawk, Robert American blues singers American blues harmonica players American blues guitarists American male guitarists American street performers 1909 births 1967 deaths Mississippi Blues Trail St. Louis blues musicians United Records artists Decca Records artists RCA Victor artists Bluebird Records artists Chess Records artists Country blues musicians Juke Joint blues musicians Delmark Records artists Blues musicians from Arkansas 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American singers Singers from Arkansas Guitarists from Arkansas People from Helena, Arkansas People from Friars Point, Mississippi 20th-century American male musicians