Song:Talkin' Boogie
Album:Rockin' and Rollin' Vol. 1
Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson will probably remind you of legendary bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins. They were very good friends. The big difference was that Hopkins had a much longer career. Jackson probably bounced around too many record labels with minimal success and he retired in the mid-50s. Some blues experts believe he was a better guitarist than Hopkins. He was born Aug. 16, 1915 in Tyler. TX. His mom played guitar. Jackson started out in a gospel group called Blue Eagle Four. Jackson was a mechanic by trade so he always had that to fall back on. After serving in World War II, Jackson signed with Bill Quinn's Houston based label Gold Star Records. He had an R & B chart hit with Freedom Train Blues in 1948. That would turn out to be his only chart hit. Before signing with Imperial Records in 1950, the single Talkin' Boogie was released by Modern Records. He usually recorded solo accompanied by his own guitar until Imperial tried to have him record with a band. I guess Imperial's thinking was Jackson's music was probably too similar to his buddy Lightnin' Hopkins. His records didn't sell and by 1955, Jackson quit the music business and returned to his career as a mechanic. The British reissue label Document Records has released all of Jackson's recordings on 2CDs. Arhoolie Records owner Chris Strachwitz got Jackson to record an album in 1960. But Jackson never recorded again and he was not part of the 60s blues revival. Lil' Son Jackson died on May 30, 1976 at age 60. He will be of interest to acoustic blues fans. Here's a video of Talkin' Boogie by Lil' Son Jackson.
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