Lonesome Sundown
| Lonesome Sundown | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Cornelius Green III |
| Born |
December 12, 1928 Donaldsonville, Louisiana, United States |
| Died | April 23, 1995 (aged 66) Gonzales, Louisiana, United States |
| Genres | Swamp blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer, songwriter, minister |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals, harmonica |
| Years active | Early 1950s–1980 |
| Labels |
Excello HighTone |
Cornelius Green III (December 12, 1928 – April 23, 1995), known professionally as Lonesome Sundown, was an American blues musician, best known for his recordings for Excello Records in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Green was born on the Dugas Plantation near Donaldsonville, Louisiana. At the age of 18, he moved to New Orleans and worked in various jobs including as a porter at the New Southport Club, a casino in Jefferson Parish. He returned to Donaldsonville by 1948 and, inspired by Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, began taking guitar lessons from a cousin. In 1953, after a brief period as a truck driver in Jeanerette, Louisiana, he moved again to work at the Gulf Oil Refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. By this time he had begun to take his music more seriously, jamming at local clubs, and in 1955 was invited by Clifton Chenier to sit in with his new band, the Zydeco Ramblers, at the Blue Moon Club in Lake Charles. Chenier offered him the post of second guitarist in the band, alongside first guitarist Phillip Walker. Green toured with them as far as Chicago and Los Angeles, where Chenier's recording of "The Cat's Dreaming" was inspired by Green falling asleep during a session, and where Green auditioned for producer Bumps Blackwell but failed to get a contract.
Green married later in 1955, left the Zydeco Ramblers, and moved to Opelousas, Louisiana where he began playing with Lloyd Reynauld and writing his own material. He recorded a demo tape, and took it to producer J. D. "Jay" Miller in Crowley. Miller was impressed, gave the singer/ guitarist the stage name "Lonesome Sundown", and recorded his debut single, "Leave My Money Alone" b/w "Lost Without Love", which he leased to Excello Records in 1956. The follow-up, "Lonesome Whistler" b/w "My Home Is A Prison", was more successful, and Sundown became one of Miller's south Louisiana stable of musicians. Although he never had a chart hit, he recorded for Miller for eight years, and his records sold in respectable quantities, his output including "Don't Say A Word" (featuring Lazy Lester on harmonica), "I'm a Mojo Man," "You Know I Love You," "I Stood By (And Watched Another Man Steal My Gal)," "My Home Ain't Here," and the much covered, "Gonna Stick To You Baby." Unusually for Louisiana musicians, Sundown's style of the blues was more in keeping with the sound of Muddy Waters than that of Jimmy Reed, and his sombre and melancholic recordings and instantly recognizable style were described by Miller as "the sound of the swamp".
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