Forrest City Joe

about

Blues harpist Forest City Joe was heavily influenced by John Lee Sonny Boy Williamson. He not only played like him, but sang like him as well. Unlike his idol, however, who was murdered on June 1, 1948, Joe lived long enough to record for the Chess brothers in the early days of their activities, when Chess was known as Aristocrat. Joe was remembered as a "great harp player" by Muddy Waters, who only missed playing at Joe's one major Chess recording session on December 2, 1948, when Joe was only 21. Joe had more of a country sound than most Chicago artists of the period, so it's surprising that the Chess brothers paired him up with J.C. Coles, a jazz guitarist of no seeming special account, who added little to a session but a few barely audible chords. Joe Bennie Pugh was born in Hughes, AR, on July 10, 1926, to Moses Pugh and Mary Walker. He was raised in the area around Hughes and West Memphis, AR, and even as a boy played the local juke joints in the area. He hoboed his way through the state working road houses and juke joints during the 1940s, and late in the decade hooked up with Big Joe Williams, playing with him around St. Louis, MO. Beginning in 1947, he also began working the Chicago area, and a year later had his one and only session for the Chess brothers' Aristocrat label. He also appeared with Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy "Rice Miller" Williamson (aka Sonny Boy Williamson II) on radio shows in the West Memphis area. When he returned to Chicago in 1949, he began wo

top songs

albums

Sounds of the South

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Downhome Blues 1959

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The Land Where The Blues Began

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Roots Of The Blues

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Land Where The Blues Began

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sounds of the south - disc 4 (american folk songs for children)

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The Land Where the Blues Began - Alan Lomax Collection

Sounds of the South [Disc 2] : The Blues Roll On

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Sounds of the South (2 of 4)

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Sounds of the South (Disc 2): The Blues Roll On

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Sounds of the South - Disc 2 (Roots of the Blues/The Blues Roll On)

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The Blues Collection 63: Robert Nighthawk & Forrest City Joe

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