Roosevelt Sykes
| Roosevelt Sykes | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Honeydripper |
| Born |
January 31, 1906 Elmar, Arkansas, United States |
| Died | July 17, 1983 (aged 77) New Orleans, Louisiana, United States |
| Genres | Blues, boogie-woogie |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist, singer |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1920s–1983 |
| Labels | Various |
Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906 – July 17, 1983) was an American blues musician, also known as "The Honeydripper".
Born in Elmar, Arkansas, Sykes grew up near Helena but at age 15, went on the road playing piano with a barrelhouse style of blues. Like many bluesmen of his time, he travelled around playing to all-male audiences in sawmill, turpentine and levee camps along the Mississippi River, gathering a repertoire of raw, sexually explicit material. His wanderings eventually brought him to St. Louis, Missouri, where he met St. Louis Jimmy Oden., author of the blues standard "Goin' Down Slow".
In 1929 he was spotted by a talent scout and sent to New York City to record for Okeh Records. His first release was "'44' Blues" which became a blues standard and his trademark. He quickly began recording for multiple labels under various names including Easy Papa Johnson, Dobby Bragg, and Willie Kelly for Victor Records from 1930 to 1933. During this period he befriended another blues musician, the singer Charlie "Specks" McFadden, and Sykes accompanied McFadden on half on the latter's recordings. After Sykes and Oden moved to Chicago he found his first period of fame when he signed with Decca Records in 1934. In 1943, he signed with Bluebird Records and recorded with The Honeydrippers. Sykes and Oden continued their musical friendship well into the 1960s.
In Chicago, Sykes began to display an increasing urbanity in his lyric-writing, using an eight-bar blues pop gospel structure instead of the traditional twelve-bar blues. However, despite the growing urbanity of his outlook, he gradually became less competitive in the post-World War II music scene. After his RCA Victor contract expired, he continued to record for smaller labels, such as United, until his opportunities ran out in the mid-1950s.
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