Mississippi Sheiks

The Mississippi Sheiks were one of the most popular string bands of the late '20s and early '30s. Formed in Jackson around 1926, the band blended country and blues fiddle music -- both old-fashioned and risqué -- and included guitarist Walter Vinson and fiddler Lonnie Chatmon, with frequent appearances by guitarists Bo Carter and Sam Chatmon, who were also busy with their own solo careers. The musicians were the sons of Ezell Chatmon, uncle of Charlie Patton and leader of an area string band that was popular around the turn of the century. The Mississippi Sheiks (who took their name from the Rudolph Valentino movie The Sheik) began recording for Okeh in 1930 and had their first and biggest success with "Sitting on Top of the World," which was a crossover hit and multi-million seller. In fact, the song became a national standard and has been recorded by Howlin' Wolf, Ray Charles and many more. The Mississippi Sheiks' popularity peaked in the early '30s, and their final recording session happened in 1935 for the Bluebird label. By the end of their career, the prolific and influential string band had recorded well over 60 songs, including the successful "Stop and Listen."

from Wikipedia:

The Mississippi Sheiks were a popular and influential guitar and fiddle group of the 1930s. They were notable mostly for playing country blues, but were adept at many styles of United States popular music of the time, and their records were bought by both black and white audiences.

In 2004, they were inducted in the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. Their 1930 blues single "Sitting on Top of the World" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.

On October 20, 2009, Black Hen Music released a tribute album to the Mississippi Sheiks. The album's seventeen artists include Bruce Cockburn, Bill Frisell, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Geoff Muldaur, Kelly Joe Phelps and John Hammond.

Formation

The Mississippi Sheiks consisted mainly of the Chatmon family, who came from Bolton, Mississippi and were well known throughout the Mississippi Delta; the father of the family had been a "musicianer" during times of black slavery, and his children carried on the musical spirit. Their most famous (although by no means permanent) member was Armenter Chatmon - better known as Bo Carter - who managed a successful solo career as well as playing with the Sheiks, which may have contributed to their success.

When the band first recorded in 1930, the line-up consisted of Carter with Lonnie and Sam Chatmon, and Walter Vinson. Charlie McCoy (not to be confused with Charlie McCoy, a later American musician) played later, when Bo Carter and Sam Chatmon ceased playing full time. It was Lonnie Chatmon and Vinson who formed the real center of the group.

Music

Bo Carter's solo work is notable for being sexually suggestive in songs and this is carried on to an extent with the group. They primarily earned their income like Robert Johnson and Skip James. They toured throughout the South of the United States, but also reached as far north as Chicago and New York.

Their first and biggest success was "Sitting on Top of the World" (1930), later to be recorded by Bob Wills (numerous times), Howlin' Wolf, Nat King Cole, Bill Monroe, Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Cream, Grateful Dead, Jeff Healey, John Lee Hooker, Bill Frisell and Jack White, and re-done by Robert Johnson, as "Come On in My Kitchen". The song was also the theme to the film A Face in the Crowd (1957) produced by Elia Kazan and starring Andy Griffith. Throughout their five active years, the Mississippi Sheiks recorded over seventy songs for the Okeh, Paramount and Bluebird labels.

Their last recording session as the Mississippi Sheiks was in 1936. Bo made a few more sessions on his own, but by 1938 he too was dropped. When the band dissolved the Chatmon brothers gave up music and returned to being farmers, the most common occupation of black people in rural Mississippi.

The Sheiks and related groups under other names, such as Mississippi Mud Steppers and Blacksnakes, recorded about a hundred sides in the first half of the 1930s, among them original compositions (probably by Vinson) like "The World is Going Wrong" and "I've Got Blood in My Eyes For You" (1931) - both recorded by Bob Dylan - or the topical "Sales Tax" (1934).

Sam Chatmon made more recordings in the 1960s and Walter Vinson contributed three selections (using the Mississippi Sheiks band name) to Riverside's 1961 series, Chicago: The Living Legends.

In 1978 Rory Gallagher recorded a tribute song "The Mississippi Sheiks" for his Photo Finish album.

Contemporary influence

To the contemporary audience of the 1930s, the Mississippi Sheiks were one of the most influential groups, and many 1930s blues musicians owed much to the group musically. The following artists were to some extent influenced by the Mississippi Sheiks:

Barbecue BobBig Bill BroonzyBlind BlakeCharley PattonCurley WeaverFred McMullenMemphis MinniePapa Charlie McCoyPeetie WheatstrawPeg Leg HowellRobert JohnsonSam CollinsSleepy John EstesThe Two Poor Boys