R. L. Burnside
| R. L. Burnside | |
|---|---|
Burnside performing in Knoxville, Tennessee, 1982
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Robert Lee Burnside |
| Born |
November 23, 1926 Harmontown, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States |
| Origin | Oxford, Mississippi, United States |
| Died | September 1, 2005 (aged 78) Memphis, Tennessee, United States |
| Genres | Blues, garage rock |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1960s–2005 |
| Labels | Fat Possum |
| Associated acts |
Calvin Jackson Jon Spencer |
Not to be confused with R. H. Burnside, stage director.
Robert Lee Burnside, known as R. L. Burnside (November 23, 1926 – September 1, 2005) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He played music for much of his life but received little recognition before the early 1990s. In the latter half of the decade, Burnside recorded and toured with Jon Spencer, garnering crossover appeal and introducing his music to a new fan base in the punk and garage rock scene.
Burnside was born in 1926 to Earnest Burnside and Josie, in either Harmontown, College Hill, or Blackwater Creek, all of which are in the rural part of Lafayette County, Mississippi, close to the area that would be covered by Sardis Lake a few years later. His first name is variously given as R. L., Rl, Robert Lee, Rural, Ruel or Rule. His father left the family early on, and R. L. grew up with his mother, grandparents, and several siblings.
He played the harmonica and dabbled with playing the guitar beginning at the age of 16, He reported that he first played in public at age 21 or 22. He learned mostly from Mississippi Fred McDowell, who lived nearby since Burnside was a child. He first heard McDowell playing at age 7 or 8 and eventually joined his gigs to play a late set. Other local teachers were his uncle-in-law Ranie Burnette, who was a popular player from Senatobia, and the mostly unknown Henry Harden, Son Hibbler, Jesse Vortis, and Burnside's brother-in-law. Burnside cited church singing and fife and drum picnics as elements of his childhood's musical landscape, and he credited Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and John Lee Hooker as influences in adulthood.
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