Robert Lockwood, Jr.
| Robert Lockwood Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Robert Lockwood Jr. |
| Also known as | "Robert Junior" Lockwood |
| Born |
March 27, 1915 Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, United States |
| Died | November 21, 2006 (aged 91) Cleveland, Ohio, United States |
| Genres |
Delta blues Electric blues Chicago blues Country blues |
| Instruments | Guitar, organ |
| Years active | 1930s–2006 |
| Associated acts | Robert Johnson, B. B. King |
Robert Lockwood Jr. (March 27, 1915 – November 21, 2006) was an American Delta blues guitarist, who recorded for Chess Records and other Chicago labels in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the only guitarist to have learned to play directly from Robert Johnson. Lockwood is known for his longtime collaboration with Sonny Boy Williamson II and for his work in the mid-1950s with Little Walter.
Lockwood was born in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, a hamlet west of Helena. He started playing the organ in his father's church at the age of 8. His parents divorced, and later the famous bluesman Robert Johnson lived with Lockwood's mother for 10 years off and on. Lockwood learned from Johnson not only how to play guitar but also timing and stage presence. Because of his personal and professional association with Johnson, he became known as "Robert Junior" Lockwood, a nickname by which he was known among musicians for the rest of his life, although he later frequently professed his dislike for this appellation.
By age 15, Lockwood was playing professionally at parties in the Helena area. He often played with his quasi-stepfather Robert Johnson and with Sonny Boy Williamson II and Johnny Shines. Lockwood played at fish fries, in juke joints, and on street corners throughout the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s. On one occasion he played on one side of the Sunflower River while Johnson played on the other, with the people of Clarksdale, Mississippi, milling about the bridge, reportedly unable to tell which guitarist was the real Robert Johnson.
Around 1937–1938 Lockwood worked with Williamson and Elmore James in the Delta, at places like Winona, Greenwood, and Greenville (where they most probably met Johnson, who died in 1938). Lockwood played with Williamson in the Clarksdale area in 1938 and 1939. He also played with Howlin' Wolf and others in Memphis, Tennessee, around 1938. From 1939 to 1940 he split his time playing in St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago; and Helena.
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