William "Hambone Willie" Newbern (c. 1901 – April 15, 1965)[1] was an American country blues musician who was active from the 1920s to the 1940s.[2]
Hambone Willie Newbern | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | William Newbern |
| Born | c. 1901 Haywood County, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | April 15, 1965 (aged 63–64) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Country blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) |
|
| Years active | 1920s–1940s |
| Labels | Okeh |
Biography edit
Few details are known of Newbern's life. He is believed to have been born in Haywood County, Tennessee,[1] in or around Brownsville, along Tennessee State Route 19.[3][4][5] A guitarist, singer, and mandolin player,[6][7] Newburn was reported to have played with Yank Rachell and Sleepy John Estes (who provided many biographical details about Newbern) in the 1920s and 1930s.[8] Newburn recorded one of the earliest known versions of the blues standard "Rollin' and Tumblin'", which was waxed in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929.[9] He only recorded six sides in total, all for Okeh Records, which also included "She Could Toodle-Oo" and "Hambone Willie's Dreamy-Eyed Woman's Blues."[8]
Through Newbern was reputedly hot-tempered, reports that he was beaten to death in a prison brawl around 1947[8] are disputed by researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc, who assert that he died at his home in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1965.[1]
References edit
- ^ a b c Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 240. ISBN 978-0313344237.
- ^ Komara, Edward; Lee, Peter (2004). The Blues Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 722. ISBN 9781135958312.
- ^ Sullivan, Steve (2017). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (3nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 86. ISBN 9781442254497.
- ^ "Hambone WILLIE NEWBERN". thebluestrail.com. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
- ^ A History of Tennessee Arts, University of Tennessee Press
- ^ Congress, Richard (2010). Blues Mandolin Man: The Life and Music of Yank Rachell. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 42. ISBN 9781628467635.
- ^ Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (1st ed.). London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 1-904041-96-5.
- ^ a b c "Biography by Jason Ankeny". Allmusic.com. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
- ^ Robert Palmer (1981). Deep Blues. Penguin Books. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-14-006223-6.
External links edit
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