Sam Collins (1887-1949)
Heroes of the Blues Trading Tee, Card #17
Art by R. Crumb, Text By Stephen Calt
Born in 1887 in Louisiana, Sam Collins was raised in southern Mississippi. His nineteen extant recordings, made between 1927 and 1932, reflect a background in street singing and tent show musicianship similar to that of Georgian-born Blind Willie McTell. His free-form bottleneck guitar approach and his unusually high-pitched singing gave him a distinctive musical sound. Collins eventually settled in Chicago, where he died in 1949.
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