by LeeCook on Wed Sep 07, 2011 9:17 pm
I believe his given name was David, not John....but you're absolutely right, he was one of the early ones. He was recorded for the Library of Congress by Alan Lomax, and actually wrote a book ("The World Don't Owe Me Nothin' "), that, last I checked, was available on Amazon.com. Supposedly, he was there the night that someone gave Robert Johnson poisoned whiskey. He traveled all over the South with Johnson, playing for nickels and dimes, dances and wherever else they could make a dollar or two. He was one of the last of his kind....I don't know of many more of the original Delta blues musicians still around from those days. I think his music is available, probably on Amazon also. I know some of his stuff ended up on Vanguard Records.