GPOTD - Furry Lewis
New Blog Series: GPOTD (Guitar Player of the Day):
Featured Artist: Furry Lewis.
Aside from writing about technical matters, I enjoy writing about music and musicians from time to time. To that end, I want to kick-off a new series GPOTD which features a guitar player that you likely aren’t familiar with. Today at the end of my acoustic guitar lesson, my teacher pulled up some music by this lesser-known player of the American Folk Music Revival. And it sounded amazing! So, I thought I’d take a closer look at the music and the man.
Where did Furry come from and how Furry is he???
A quick check of Wikipedia reveals a good bit about Furry’s life and music. I’ll leave it to you to peruse the page. I’ll share a few facts and hopefully some lesser-known facts as well. Born at the end of the Nineteeth Century in Mississippi, Furry took is name from childhood playmates. His real name was Walter. In addition to being a musician, Furry was a street sweeper. Not a man with high vocational asperations, and likely also one with limited educational accomplishments. Nevertheless, his true genius lay elsewhere.
Charisma!
Here are some interesting facts about Furry:
- He opened twice for the Rolling Stones
- He performed on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
- He had a part in a Burt Reynolds movie (W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, 1975)
- He was profiled in Playboy magazine
Music
Selected discography
- Furry Lewis Blues , Smithsonian/Folkways, 1959.
- Back on My Feet Again , Prestige/Blues, 1961.
- When I Lay My Burden Down , Biograph, 1970.
- Fourth & Beale , Lucky Seven, 1975.
- In His Prime (1927-1928), Yazoo, 1988.
- Complete Works (1927-1929), Document, 1990.
- Blues Magician , Lucky Seven, 1999.