Show #17: R.I.P. - R.L. Burnside

This show is in memory of R.L. Burnside who died on 1 September. He was 78. He hailed from Mississippi and was a sharecropper. Burnside was basically unknown outside the juke joints of his native state until the early 1990s when he was featured in the documentary Deep Blues and began a career as a professional musician in his early 60s. Here's a brief bio from the Washington Post:

Robert Lee Burnside was born Nov. 23, 1926, and spent most of his life in Holly Springs, Miss. He began to play guitar at 16 and was influenced by the music of Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and a neighbor, Fred McDowell.

In the 1940s, Mr. Burnside moved to Chicago, where he often spent time at the home of Muddy Waters, who was married to Mr. Burnside's first cousin.

Soon after his father, two brothers and two uncles were killed within eight months of one another, Mr. Burnside left Chicago and returned to Mississippi. In the 1950s, he went to prison for six months after killing a man over a dice game in Tennessee.

After he was released, Mr. Burnside played music when he wasn't working as a farm laborer and fisherman to support his 12 children. Several of his sons, grandsons and in-laws played in his band.

This is a nice soundboard recording of the first half of a show recorded at George Street Grocery in Jackson, Mississippi on 18 February 2000. While I don't know all the songs, included are "Dust My Broom", "Goin' Down South", and "Snake Drive".

R. L. Burnside - guitar and vocals
Cedric Burnside - drums
Kenny Brown - guitar and vocals

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R.L. Burnside