Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Joe Hill Louis

 
Artist: Joe Hill Louis
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Similar Artists:

Rufus Thomas, Big Walter Horton, Doctor Ross

Influenced By:

Howlin' Wolf

Followers:

Patrick Hazell, Pat Hare, John Henry Barbee
  • Born: September 23, 1921, Raines, TN
  • Died: August 05, 1957, Memphis, TN
  • Active: '40s, '50s
  • Genres: Blues
  • Instrument: Vocals, Drums, Harmonica
  • Representative Albums: "The Be-Bop Boy with Walter Horton and Mose Vinson", "Boogie in the Park", "Key Postwar Cuts: 1949-54
  • Representative Songs: "We All Gotta Go Sometime", "Keep Your Arms Around Me", "She May Be Yours (But She Comes to See Me Sometimes)

Biography

Joe Hill Louis created quite a racket as a popular one-man blues band around Memphis during the 1950s. If not for his tragic premature demise, his name would surely be more widely revered. Lester (or Leslie) Hill ran away from home at age 14, living instead with a well-heeled Memphis family. A fight with another youth that was won by young Hill earned him the "Joe Louis" appellation. Harp came first for the multi-instrumentalist; by the late '40s, his one-man musical attack was a popular attraction in Handy Park and on WDIA, the groundbreaking Memphis radio station where he hosted a 15-minute program billed as The Pepticon Boy.

Also known as the Be-Bop Boy, Louis made his recording debut in 1949 for Columbia, but the remainder of his output was issued on R&B indies large and small -- Phillips (Sam Phillips's first extremely short-lived logo), Modern, Sun, Checker, Meteor, Big Town (where he cut the blistering "Hydramatic Woman," a tune he'd cut previously for Sun in 1953 with Walter Horton on harp, but Phillips never released it), and House of Sound. Louis was only 35 when he died of tetanus, contracted when a deep gash on his thumb became infected. ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Joe Hill Louis
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Joe Hill Louis
Birth name Lester Hill
Also known as The Be-Bop Boy, The Pepticon Boy
Born September 23, 1921(1921-09-23)
Raines, Tennessee
Died August 5, 1957 (aged 35)
Memphis, Tennessee
Genres Blues
Instruments Vocals, guitar, harmonica, drums
Years active 1940s-1957
Labels Sun, Checker, Modern, Columbia.[1]

Joe Hill Louis (September 23, 1921 – August 5, 1957), born Lester Hill, was an American singer, guitarist, harmonica player and one-man band. He is significant, along with fellow Memphis bluesman Doctor Ross as one of only a small number of one-man blues bands to have recorded commercially in the 1950s, and as a session musician for Sun Records.

Contents

Early life

Louis was born Lester (or possibly Leslie) Hill[2] on September 23, 1921[3] in Raines, Tennessee.[4] His nickname “Joe Louis” arose as a result of a childhood fight with another youth.[2] At the age of 14 he left home to work as a servant for a wealthy Memphis family,[5] and also worked in the Peabody Hotel, Memphis, in the late 1930s. From the early 1940s onwards he worked as a musician and one-man band.[6]

Recording and radio career

Louis’ recording debut was made for Columbia in 1949, and his music was released on a variety of independent labels through the 1950s, most notably recording for Sam Phillips’ Sun Records,[2] for whom he recorded extensively as a backing musician for a wide variety of other singers as well as under his own name.[7] His most notable recording was probably as guitarist on Rufus Thomas’s “Bear Cat”, recorded as an answer record to Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog”, which reached No. 3 on the R&B chart[8] and resulted in legal action for copyright infringement. He also shared writing credit for the song “Tiger Man”, which has been recorded by Elvis Presley, among others.

Around 1950 he took over the “Pepticon Boy” radio program on WDIA from B. B. King.[9]

He was also known as “The Pepticon Boy” and “The Be-Bop Boy”.[2]

Death

Louis died on August 5, 1957 in John Gaston Hospital, Memphis,[10] from tetanus contracted as a result of an infected cut to his thumb, sustained while working as an odd job man.[11]

Citations

  1. ^ Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 138. ISBN 1-85868-255-X. 
  2. ^ a b c d Dahl, Bill: Joe Hill Louis biography, Allmusic.com
  3. ^ Harris, 1989 p. 337
  4. ^ Memphishistory.org: Joe Hill Louis
  5. ^ Turner, 1985 p. 24
  6. ^ Harris, 1989 p. 337
  7. ^ Turner, 1985, p. 24
  8. ^ Turner, 1985, p. 37
  9. ^ Harris 1989, p. 337
  10. ^ Harris, 1989, p. 337
  11. ^ Turner, 1985, p. 24

References

  • Harris, S (1989). Blues Who’s Who, 5th paperback edition. New York, Da Capo Press.
  • Turner, B (1985). "The Blues in Memphis". In Sun Records: The Blues Years 1950-1956 [album booklet]. London: Sun Records.

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
Learn More
Blind Joe Hill (Blues Artist, '70s)
Sun Records Harmonica Classics (1990 Album by Various Artists)
Mouth Harp Maestro (1988 Album by Big Walter Horton)

What was Joe Louis' career record? Read answer...
Why is joe louis famous? Read answer...
When Did Joe Louis Retire? Read answer...

Help us answer these
Did Joe Louis have a girlfriend?
Who were in Joe Louis family?
What did joe louis do for or freedom?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Joe Hill Louis".  Read more

Related answers
» More
 
Answer these
» More

Mentioned in

» More» More