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Artist
Skip James
12+ albums
bluesdelta bluesClassic Bluesfolkguitar
about
Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902 – October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate finger picking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity. After a long absence from the public eye, James was "rediscovered" in 1964 by blues enthusiasts, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country and recorded several albums for various record labels. His songs have influenced generations of musicians and have been adapted by numerous artists. He has been hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues. James was described as aloof and moody. The musicologist Dick Spottswood commented, "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment". James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it. Calt, in his 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, maintained that no style of blues originated in Bentonia and that the "Bentonia School" is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provincia
top songs
albums
She Lyin'
Complete Early Recordings
Blues From The Delta
Legends Of Country Blues: The Complete Pre-War Recordings Of Skip James (Disc A)
Skip James 1931
Devil Got My Woman
Skip James Live Vol. 2 Bloomington 1968 Part 1
I'd Rather Be The Devil: The Legendary 1931 Session
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers
The Complete 1931 Recordings
Skip's Piano Blues