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Fred McDowell

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220px-Mississippi Fred McDowell

Fred McDowell (January 12, 1904 – July 3, 1972), known by his stage name Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American hill country blues singer and guitar player. McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee. His parents, who were farmers, died when he was a youth. He started playing guitar at the age of 14 and played at dances around Rossville. Wanting a change from plowing fields, he moved to Memphis in 1926, where he worked in the Buck-Eye feed mill, which processed cotton into oil and other products. He also had a number of other jobs and played music for tips. In 1928 he moved to Mississippi to pick cotton. He finally settled in Como, Mississippi, about 40 miles south of Memphis, in 1940 or 1941 (or maybe the late 1950s)......

The 1950s brought a rising interest in blues and folk music in the United States, and McDowell was brought to wider public attention, beginning when he was discovered and recorded in 1959 by Alan Lomax and Shirley Collins. His records were popular, and he performed often at festivals and clubs.....McDowell continued to perform blues in the north Mississippi style much as he had for decades, but he sometimes performed on electric guitar rather than acoustic guitar. While he famously declared, "I do not play no rock and roll," he was not averse to associating with younger rock musicians. He coached Bonnie Raitt on slide guitar technique and was reportedly flattered by the Rolling Stones' rather straightforward version of his "You Gotta Move" on their 1971 album Sticky Fingers. In 1965 he toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival, together with Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Roosevelt Sykes and others. (Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel[]

Mississippi_FRED_McDOWELL_-_Shake_'em_On_Down

Mississippi FRED McDOWELL - Shake 'em On Down

Fred McDowell recorded a session for Night Ride during a tour of Britain in early 1969. It was broadcast on the first anniversary edition of the programme, on 05 March 1969, and although it hasn't achieved the historic status of Son House's Top Gear session of the following year, it was seen as an important event in the country blues boom which was reflected on Peel's late-night programmes of 1968-69. It is highlighted in Ken Garner's The Peel Sessions as a "One Session Wonder" (p.51), although Peel is quoted as saying that "he was disappointed not to have been able to have been able to attend the session, because he'd first heard McDowell on albums recorded at his home by Alan Lomax many years before".

The recordings made for Lomax appeared as tracks on compilation LPs - the "Southern Folk Heritage Series" of Lomax's field recordings, issued by Atlantic Records in 1960. These made a big impression, so Fred McDowell was soon able to record solo albums for specialist labels Peel followed (Arhoolie, Testament, Bounty) and visit Britain in 1965 as part of the American Folk Blues Festival package tour. Therefore, the DJ was well aware of his work, referring to McDowell in a piece he wrote for the first issue of Gandalf's Garden magazine in May 1968 ("The voice and the guitar of Fred McDowell of Mississippi sing "Long Way From Home", which can be nothing but an ideal circumstance for him"[1]). But unlike many country blues originals, McDowell began to accompany himself on electric guitar, and this can be heard on his Peel session as well as on the LPs he recorded in London for Transatlantic Records soon afterwards, which had sleevenotes by Peel's Radio 1 colleague, the blues specialist Mike Raven.

Fred McDowell's next LP, I Do Not Play No Rock'N'Roll, also featured him on electric guitar, was issued on a major label, Capitol, and brought him to the attention of a wider public in the US. According to available tracklistings, Peel played at least one track from it, but in later years the DJ preferred to revisit the bluesman's earlier recordings. 'Break 'Em On Down' from the Soledad Brothers' second LP 'Steal Your Soul And Dare Your Sprit To Move' (2002) was based on Fred McDowell's 'Shake 'Em On Down'. Peel played the original segued into the Soledad Brothers version on 06 March 2002.

Festive Fifty Entries[]

  • None

Sessions[]

One session. No known commercial release.

1. Recorded 1969-02-26. First broadcast 05 March 1969.

  • Louise / Burying Ground Blues / Glory Hallelujah / Jesus On The Mainline / Way Out On The Frisco Line / Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning / Good Morning Little Schoolgirl

Other Shows Played[]

1960s
1970s
1990s
  • 22 April 1994 (and Eli Green): Bulldog Blues (album - Fred McDowell, Vol 2) Arhoolie
  • 30 April 1994 (BFBS) (and Eli Green): Bulldog Blues (album - Fred McDowell, Vol 2) Arhoolie
  • 13 January 1996 (BFBS): All The Way From East St. Louis (LP-His First Recordings Following Discovery) Heritage
  • 05 January 1996: All The Way From East St. Louis (CD-Mississippi Fred McDowell)' (Rounder)
2000s

See Also[]

External Links[]

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