Curtis Jones

No one could sing like Curtis Jones. His deep, guttural wailing could, without warning, dip up to a high tenor tremolo at any given moment. It didn't take long for him to realize that he should put down his guitar and hit the keys, as his piano playing seemed to be a God-given gift. Jones was responsible for such blues standards as "Tin Pan Alley" and "Lonesome Bedroom Blues." He recorded from 1936 (taking a "break" during the war) up until 1962, when he began pulling in large crowds during the coffeehouse folk boom. Shortly after recording the remarkable solo LP Lonesome Bedroom Blues, he moved to Europe and toured until his death in 1971.