COOTIE STARK

                                    

COOTIE STARK, pertenece a una segunda generación de Piedmont blues que aprendió su oficio tocando en las calles en las esquinas de Carolina del Sur en la década de 1930, Cootie Stark no registró hasta que tenía más de setenta años, pero la edad no le ha impedido llegar a conseguir cierto éxito con  su tema Sugar Man, su lanzamiento del principio. Stark es más percusivo y "agresivo " que  un guitarrista de blues que el modelo tradicional del  sureste, y eso le va  bien parta las actuaciones , la mayoría de las cuales con una pequeña banda.  La voz de Stark es cálida y está llena de ironía ,  incluso cuando canta el blues lo hace con un trasfondo alegre definido.   Stark, demuestra una intimidad fácil. Actuando de esta manera más o menos desde la Gran Depresión, no deja de ser un buen ejemplo energético de vida,  respiración, y Blues vital del Piedmont.Hasta el `punto de que muchos críticos lo nombran como el Rey del Bleues del Piedmont . Su vista se fué deteriorando hasta prácticamente la ceguera lo que no le impidió seguir con su carrera 

                                                                       
                 


                                                                 
                                        

Cootie Stark (December 27, 1927 – April 14, 2005) was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His best remembered recordings were "Metal Bottoms" and "Sandyland." Stark was known as the 'King of the Piedmont blues.'

He was born either James Miller or Johnny Miller, in Abbeville, South Carolina, United States, the son of sharecroppers, and grew up in Anderson County. Stark was given his first guitar by his father at the age of 14, having then relocated to Greenville, South Carolina. His poor eyesight meant that he was unable to find regular employment. He began busking on street corners, and learned his art from fellow street performers such as Peg Leg Sam, Pink Anderson and Josh White plus, particularly in his earliest days, from Baby Tate.He acquired the nickname, Sugar Man, and continued to work his trade as a songster in the area.His performing name of Cootie Stark was an amalgam of a childhood nickname and his grandfather's surname.

His eyesight deteriorated until he was legally registered as blind, but Stark continued to perform across the State and beyond,often using the name Blind Johnny Miller. However by the 1980s, with playing prospects diminishing, Stark settled in Greenville. "By then, the real Piedmont blues was pretty much gone," he stated. "All them guys were dead and gone and I wasn't making no headway." In 1997, when Stark was over seventy years old, he was heard playing Fats Domino songs by Tim Duffy, the founder of the Music Maker Relief Foundation.Their record label released Stark's debut album, Sugar Man, in 1999. In 2003, Stark released his second and final album, Raw Sugar, when he was again accompanied on record by Taj Mahal. He received the South Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 2005.

Stark died at the age of 77, in Greenville, in April 2005.