Samuel Barclay Charters IV (August 1, 1929 – March 18, 2015) was an American music historian, writer, record producer, musician, and poet. He was a widely published author on the subjects of

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 ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. He also wrote fiction.

Early life and education

Charters was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, into an upper-middle-class family that was interested in listening to and playing music of all sorts. "I grew up in a world of band rehearsals, blues records, and a whole consciousness of jazz. . . . The family also played ragtime, also played Debussy, also was involved in hearing Bartok's new music. It was a general musical cultural interest in which jazz was central"Ismail, 2011 Charters first became enamored of blues music in 1937, after hearing

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was t ...

's version of Jimmy Cox's song, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out". He moved with his family to

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, at the age of 15. Charters says that he was "playing clarinet, playing jazz steadily all this time; I had my first orchestra when I was thirteen. . . . I had no natural abilities, but I soldiered on, and it was this that directly lead icme to the beginning of the research". He attended high schools in Pittsburgh and California and attended

Sacramento City College Sacramento City College (SCC) is a public community college in Sacramento, California. SCC is part of the Los Rios Community College District and had an enrollment of 25,307 in 2009. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community ...

, graduating in 1949. After completing military service during the Korean War, he received a bachelor's degree in economics from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

in 1956.

Life and work

In the 1940s and 1950s, though he was mostly immersed in studying and playing jazz, Charters also purchased numerous old recordings of American blues musicians. He eventually amassed a huge and valuable collection and beginning to understand that blues and jazz were connected in the history of black music. In 1950 he boarded a Greyhound bus in Sacramento, California, bound for New Orleans, where he sought jazz clarinet lessons with the great George Lewis. Instead, he found himself searching the streets in Texas for evangelist Blind Willie Johnson, who had recently passed. He returned to

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, where he absorbed the history and culture he had previously only read about; he lived there for most of the 1950s, moving back and forth between Berkeley and New Orleans. He served for two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

(1951–53) and began to study jazz

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

with George Lewis. Charters was always interested in politics and had wished to play a role in public life, but because he had run afoul of the House Un-American Activities Committee while in the Army in 1952, he decided that he would have to engage in politics without holding any sort of office. "For me, the writing about black music was my way of fighting racism. That's why my work is not academic, that is why it is absolutely nothing but popularization: I wanted people to hear black music, as I said in ''The Poetry of the Blues''. . . . It's where I say, you know, if by introducing music I can have somebody look across the racial divide and see a black face and see this person as a human being—and that's why my work is unashamedly romantic"). Charters always thought of blues as containing within it a small and pure strain of folk poetry, something that ran through the lyrics of early artists such as Charley Patton and Blind Willie McTell, but which was lost in the later, more commercialized, blues. "I really got bored with all those damn guitar solos. To me, they all sounded like B.B. King, and what I really wanted to hear was great text. . . ." The poetry of the blues, then, Charters thought of as profound human cultural expression that could connect all people who love poetry. Charters had for years been researching the history of jazz, but in the 1950s he also began to study the blues. Noticing that his copy of the bluesman Robert Johnson's recordings were recorded in San Antonio, Charters set out for Texas in 1953 to discover what he could about Robert Johnson and another of his favorite musicians, Blind Willie Johnson. With Charters's search for Robert Johnson began his years of doing field recordings (initially for

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

throughout the United States and then in the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

in 1958, where he made the first recordings of Joseph Spence). His 1959 recordings of the Texas bluesman

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its li ...

proved instrumental in Hopkins's rediscovery. Also in 1959, Charters published his influential book ''

The Country Blues ''The Country Blues'' is a seminal album released on Folkways Records in 1959, catalogue RF 1. Compiled by Samuel Charters from 78-rpm recordings, it accompanied his book of the same name to provide examples of the music discussed. Both the boo ...

'', the first history of blues and an absorbing account of his search for the bluesmen themselves, with a companion album of the same title to accompany it. During the years of field work in the 1950s that lead to the publication of ''The Country Blues'', Charters always felt overwhelmed with the amount of work required to properly document the music of black Americans and hoped that his writing would encourage others to join him. "I always had the feeling that there were so few of us, and the work so vast. That's why I wrote the books as I did—to romanticize the glamor of looking for old blues singers. I was saying, 'Help! This job is really big, and I really need lots of help!' I really exaggerated this, but it worked! My God, I came back from that year in Europe and I found kids doing research in the South. . . . They almost all came to me at some point, they wrote me a letter saying this is what I'm doing". It was at this point that Charters was asked by Ken Goldstein of the fledgling Bluesville Line of Prestige Records to travel to Memphis to record Furry Lewis, and then Pink Anderson in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Sam recorded a number of other bluesmen during these travels, which in part led to his firing at Prestige. It also led to the creation of "The Blues," the first-ever blues movie shot in the heavily racist American South, shot by Sam and his wife Ann. After disappearing for many years, the film reappeared in a package entitled ''Searching for Secret Heros'', created and distributed by Document Records in 2020. Charters's writings have been influential, bringing to light aspects of

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

music and culture that had previously been largely unknown to the general public, as well as publishing poetry and novels. His writings include numerous books on the subjects of blues, jazz,

African music The continent of Africa is vast and its music is diverse, with different regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres like makwaya, highlife, mbube, township music, jùjú, fuji, jaiva ...

, and

Bahamian music The music of the Bahamas is associated primarily with Junkanoo, a celebration which occurs on Boxing Day and again on New Year's Day. Parades and other celebrations mark the ceremony. Groups like The Baha Men, Ronnie Butler, Kirkland Bodie a ...

, as well as liner notes for numerous sound recordings. In 1963 and 1964 Charters managed the newly formed Prestige Folklore record label. From 1966 to 1970 he worked as a producer for the psychedelic, anti-war band

Country Joe and the Fish Country Joe and the Fish was an American psychedelic rock band formed in Berkeley, California, in 1965. The band was among the influential groups in the San Francisco music scene during the mid-to-late 1960s. Much of the band's music was writ ...

(all albums except ''CJ Fish'' in 1970). He was also affiliated with the European

Sonet Records Sonet Records was a jazz, pop and rock record label operating as an imprint of Universal Music Sweden. It was founded in Sweden in 1956. Sonet Records was established by Sven Lindholm and Gunnar Bergström, who managed the label into the 1980 ...

label and in 1970 produced ''Rock Around the Country'', an album by

Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band formed in 1947 and continuing until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

, for Sonet. He became disenchanted with American politics during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and moved with his family to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, establishing a new life there despite not being able to speak the language at first. He divided his time between Sweden (where he had Swedish citizenship, though maintaining his U.S. citizenship) and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. He helped produce the music of various Swedish musical groups and translated into English the works of the Swedish writer Tomas Tranströmer, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2011. Charters was a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winner, and his book ''The Country Blues'' was inducted into the

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum operated by the Blues Foundation at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to b ...

in 1991 as one of the "Classics of Blues Literature." In 2000, he and his wife donated the Samuel & Ann Charters Archive of Blues and Vernacular African American Musical Culture to the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center of the University of Connecticut in

Storrs, Connecticut Storrs ( ) is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Mansfield, Connecticut, Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The village is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, ...

. The archive contains materials collected during the couple's decades of work documenting and preserving African-American music throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa. The archive's materials include more than 2,500 sound recordings, as well as video recordings, photographs, monographs, sheet music, field notes, correspondence, and musicians' contracts. In 2008, Charters published, ''A Trumpet Around the Corner: The Story of New Orleans Jazz''. In 2014, he published ''The Harry Bright Dances'', a short work of fiction, which he described as "a fable"; ''Things to Do Around Picadilly''; and ''What Paths, What Journeys: New and Selected Poems''. That year he and his wife also established the Sam and Ann Charters Collection of Swedish Art at Augustana College in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

Personal life

Charters's first marriage, to Mary Louise Lange at the age of 20, ended in divorce. In 1959, he married the writer, editor,

Beat generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

scholar, photographer, and pianist Ann Charters (b. 1936), whom he met at the University of California, Berkeley during the 1954–55 academic year in a music class; she is a retired professor of English and American literature at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. The two collaborated on many projects, particularly their extensive field recordings, as in the film ''The Blues'' (1962). In ''The Day Is So Long and the Wages So Small'', Charters described their musical adventures on

Andros Island Andros is an archipelago in The Bahamas, the largest of the Bahamian Islands. Politically considered a single island, Andros in total has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined. The land area of Andros consists of hun ...

in the Bahamas in 1958. He had three children, one with his first wife, two with his second. Charters died at his home in Årsta, Stockholm, Sweden, on March 18, 2015, of

myelodysplastic syndrome A myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is one of a group of cancers in which blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature, and as a result, do not develop into healthy blood cells. Early on, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may includ ...

, a type of bone marrow cancer.

Publications

*1959, ''

''. New York: Rinehart. Reprinted 1975, Da Capo Press, with a new introduction by the author. *1962, ''Jazz: A History of the New York Scene''. Garden City, New York: Doubleday (with Leonard Kunstadt). *1963, ''The Poetry of the Blues''. With photos by Ann Charters. New York: Oak Publications. *1963 - ''Jazz New Orleans (1885–1963): An Index to the Negro Musicians of New Orleans''. New York: Oak Publications. *1967, ''The Bluesmen''. New York: Oak Publications. *1969, ''To This Place''. Berkeley: Oyez Press. *1971, ''Some Poems/Poets: Studies in American Underground Poetry Since 1945,'' with photographs by Ann Charters. Berkeley: Oyez Press. *1972, ''From a Swedish Notebook''. Berkeley: Oyez Press. *1972, ''Larry Eigner Selected Poems.'' Co-edited with Andrea Wyatt. Berkeley: Oyez Press *1973, ''Robert Johnson''. New York: Oak Publications. *1975, ''The Legacy of the Blues: A Glimpse Into the Art and the Lives of Twelve Great Bluesmen: An Informal Study''. London: Calder & Boyars. *1976, ''In Lagos''. Berkeley: Oyez Press. *1977, ''Sweet As the Showers of Rain''. New York: Oak Publications. *1979, ''Spelmännen: bilder och ord''. Samlade av Samuel Charters; översättning av Rolf Aggestam. Wahlström & Widstrand. *1980, ''Of Those Who Died''. Berkeley: Oyez Press. *1981, ''The Roots of the Blues: An African Search''. Boston: M. Boyars. *1983, ''Mr. Jabi and Mr. Smythe''. New York: Marion Boyars. His first novel *1984, ''Jelly Roll Morton's Last Night at the Jungle Inn: An Imaginary Memoir''. New York: M. Boyars. *1986, ''Louisiana Black: A Novel''. New York: M. Boyars. *1991, ''The Blues Makers''. (Incorporates ''The Bluesmen'' and ''Sweet As the Showers of Rain''). Da Capo. *1992, ''A Country Year''. Berkeley: Oyez Press. *1992, ''Elvis Presley Calls His Mother After the Ed Sullivan Show''. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press. *1999, ''The Day Is So Long and the Wages So Small: Music on a Summer Island''. New York:

Marion Boyars Marion Ursula Boyars, ''née'' Asmus (26 October 1927 – 1 February 1999), was a British book publisher who in 1975 founded her own imprint, Marion Boyars Publishers. Biography She was born Marion Asmus in New York, daughter of German publisher ...

. *2000, ''Blues Faces: A Portrait of the Blues''. *2004, ''Walking a Blues Road: A Selection of Blues Writing, 1956–2004''. New York: Marion Boyars. *2006, ''New Orleans: Playing a Jazz Chorus''. Marion Boyars. *2007, ''Bebo Valdés, portrait d'une légende cubaine''. *2008, ''A Trumpet Around the Corner: The Story of New Orleans Jazz''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. *2009, ''A Language of Song: Journeys in the Musical World of the African Diaspora''. *2014, ''The Harry Bright Dances: A Fable''. Portents. *2015, ''Songs of Sorrow: Lucy McKim Garrison and Slave Songs of the United States''.

Sound recordings

* 1951, ''The Happy Brass Deceivers, "Big Chief Battle Axe"; The Memphis Hometown Jug Band Five, "When the Saints Go Marching In''" (78 rpm single). Charters, a band member, contributed vocals and clarinet. The recording was financed by his then-wife's father. According to Charters' ''A Checklist of Productions, Recordings, Compilations, and Writings for Album Release, 1951-2000'' (unpublished): "A friend, Russ Solomon, was running a small record shop in the back of his father's pharmacy in the Tower Theater building in Sacramento and his Tower Records was the first - and maybe the only - shop to have our record in stock." Brandt Records. * 1954, ''Billie and Dee Dee Pierce: The Music of New Orleans Vol. 3, The Music of the Dance Halls'' (selected tracks). Folkways Records. Selected tracks re-released in 1993 as part of Rhino Records' "Blues Masters" series, on ''Blues Masters 11: Classic Women Blues.'' * 1954, ''Blind Dave Ross: Blind Willie Johnson'' (selected tracks). Folkways Records. * 1954, ''The Mobile Strugglers: American Skiffle Bands'' (selected tracks). Folkways Records. * 1954, ''Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Derroll Adams''. Unreleased. * 1955, ''Angeline Johnson:'' ''Blind Willie Johnson'' (selected tracks. Folkways Records. * 1959, ''Lighting Hopkins: Lightning Hopkins.'' Folkways Records. * 1959, ''Joseph Lamb: A Study in Classic Ragtime.'' Folkways Records. * 1959, ''The Music of New Orleans: Vol. 4 The Birth of Jazz.'' Folkways Records. * 1959, ''The Country Blues.'' RBF/Folkways Records. Compilation album released in conjunction with Charters' book ''The Country Blues.'' * 1960, ''Furry Lewis: Furry Lewis.'' Folkways Records. * 1961, ''Pink Anderson: Carolina Blues Man, Vol. 1.'' Prestige/Bluesville Records. * 1961, ''Pink Anderson: Medicine Show Man, Vol. 2.'' Prestige/Bluesville Records. * 1961, ''Pink Anderson, Ballad & Folksinger, Vol. 3.'' Prestige/Bluesville Records. * 1962, ''Backcountry Barrelhouse'', Barrelhouse Buck McFarland. Folkways Records. * 1962, ''Ann Charters: An Essay in Ragtime.'' Folkways Records. * 1963, ''J.D. Short/Son House: The Blues of the Mississippi Delta.'' Folkways Records. * 1964, ''Ali Akbar Kahn and Ravi Shankar: The Master Musicians of India.'' Prestige Records. * 1964, ''

The Holy Modal Rounders The Holy Modal Rounders was an American folk music group, originally the duo of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber, who formed in 1963 on the Lower East Side of New York City. Although they achieved only limited commercial and critical success in ...

''. Prestige Records. * 1964, ''The Music of the Bahamas: Vol. 1 Bahaman Folk Guitar, Joseph Spence.'' Folkways Records. * 1964, ''The Music of the Bahamas: Vol. 2 Sacred Music, Launching Songs, and Ballads.'' Folkways Records. * 1964, ''The Music of the Bahamas: Vol. 3 Instrumental Music from the Bahamas.'' Folkways Records. * 1964, ''New Orleans Jazz The 'Twenties'' Folkways Records. * 1965, ''Herman Melville: Moby Dick or The Whale.'' Read by Louis Zorich. Folkways Records. * 1965, ''Charles Ives: The Sonatas for Violin and Piano.'' Folkways Records. * 1965, ''Charles Ives: The Short Piano Pieces.'' Folkways Records. * 1965, ''Chicago Blues (Vols. 1 - 3).'' Series titled "Chicago/The Blues/Today!" Vanguard Records. * 1965, "Terry Callier: The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier." Prestige Records. * 1967, ''Country Joe and the Fish: Electric Music for the Mind and Body.'' Vanguard Records. * 1967, ''Country Joe and the Fish: I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die.'' Vanguard Records. * 1967, ''Buddy Guy: A Man and the Blues.'' Vanguard Records. * 1968, ''John Fahey: Requia.'' Vanguard Records. * 1968, ''Junior Wells: Coming at You!'' Vanguard Records. * 1968, ''Buddy Guy: This is Buddy Guy!'' Vanguard Records. * 1969, '' The Frost: Frost Music''. Vanguard Records. * 1969, '' The Frost: Rock and Roll Music''. Vanguard Records. * 1970, ''Bill Haley and the Comets: Travelin' Band.'' Janus Records. Released in Sweden by Sonet Records under the title ''Rock Around the Country.'' * 1971, ''Skaggmanslaget: Snus, mus och brannvin.'' Sonet Records. * 1971, ''Stefan Grossman: Those Pleasant Days.'' Transatlantic Records. * 1971, ''Misc. Artists: Spellmansstamma i Delsbo.'' Sonet Records. * 1972, ''The Cajuns (Vol. 1'' and ''Vol. 2.).'' Sonet Records. * 1972, ''Peps Persson: The Week Peps Came to Chicago.'' Sonet Records. * 1972, ''Ann Charters: A Joplin Bouquet. (''Originally self-released on Portents Records, 1964.) GNP Records. * 1973, ''Stefan Grossman: Live.'' Transatlantic. * 1974, ''Peps Blodsband: Peps Blodsband.'' Sonet Records. * 1974, ''Ann Charters: The Genius of Scott Joplin.'' Sonet Records. * 1975, '' African Journey: A Search for the Roots of the Blues''. Vanguard Records. * 1975. ''Peps Blodsband: Hog Standard.'' Sonet Records. * 1975, '' The Griots: Ministers of the Spoken Word''. Ethnic Folkways Library. * 1976, ''Rockin' Dopsie and the Cajun Twisters: Doin' the Zydeco.'' Sonet Records. * 1977, ''Jerry Williams and Roadwork: Too Fast to Live Too Young to Die.'' Sonet Records. * 1978, ''African Flute, The Gambia.'' Folkways Records. * 1979, ''Jerry Williams and Roadwork: I Can Jive.'' Sonet Records. * 1982, ''Clifton Chenier and His Red Hot Louisiana Band: I'm Here.'' Sonet Records. * 1985, ''The Klezmer Conservatory Band: A Touch of Klez!'' Vanguard Records. * 1990, ''Dave van Ronk: Hummin' to Myself.'' Gazell Records. * 1990, ''The Fugs: Songs from a Portable Forest.'' Gazell Records. * 1998, ''Bebo Valdes: Recuerdos de Habana.'' Gazell Records.

References

External links

"A Treasure Hunt in London 1973"
* by Don Swaim at

Wired for Books Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Wired (Jeff Beck album), ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * Wired (Hugh Cornwell album), ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * Wired (Mallory Knox album), ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox alb ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charters, Samuel 1929 births 2015 deaths Deaths from myelodysplastic syndrome Writers from Pittsburgh Harvard University alumni UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Record producers from Pennsylvania American folk-song collectors 20th-century American novelists Blues historians American writers about music American music historians 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Pennsylvania 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers Historians of jazz