Louis Washington (reportedly born Louis Jackson, October 1895 – after 1934), also known by his bluesman name, Tallahassee Tight, was an American musician, performing both gospel music and blues. According to researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc, he was born in Wadesboro, Florida, in 1895. His limited output was all recorded, as far as is known, by the

American Record Corporation American Record Corporation (ARC), also referred to as American Record Company, American Recording Corporation, or ARC Records, was an American record company. Overview ARC was created in January 1929 by Louis G. Sylvester, president of Scra ...

in New York in 1934, and is essentially limited to one relatively modern release: ''East Coast Blues & Gospel Songs'', Document Records DOCD-5387, 1995. This recording also includes the work of his contemporary, Spark Plug Smith. Washington used his real name for his gospel singing, but apparently preferred to use Tallahassee Tight when singing blues. It is believed that he was from northwest Florida, based not only on his choice of nicknames, but also from several of his songs: ''Tallahassee Women'', ''Quincy Wimmens'', and ''Coast Line Blues''.

Quincy, Florida Quincy is a city in and the county seat of Gadsden County, Florida, United States. The population was 7,972 at the 2010 census, up from 6,982 at the 2000 census. Quincy is part of the Tallahassee metropolitan area. History Established in 182 ...

is approximately 20 miles from

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...

, and the Coast Line refers to the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

which passes through Tallahassee. In 1995, an album was released by Document Records of the music of Louis Washington/Tallahassee Tight and Spark Plug Smith. The album indicates that the music was originally recorded in 1933 and 1934. According to Bruce Bastin,Bastin, Bruce, 1995. ''op. cit.'' "Of limited musical interest, but completely within the guitar traditions of the Southeast, Louis Washington may have the distinction of being the one recorded resident Florida Bluesman of the period of commercial blues recording."

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Document Records DOCD-5387
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Louis American blues guitarists American male guitarists American male singers People from Leon County, Florida 1890s births Year of death missing