ROBERT LOCKWOOD Jr. (II )

               

               

Robert Lockwood Jr. (March 27, 1915 – November 21, 2006) was an American Delta blues guitarist, who recorded for Chess Records and other Chicago labels in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the only guitarist to have learned to play directly from Robert Johnson. Lockwood is known for his longtime collaboration with Sonny Boy Williamson II and for his work in the mid-1950s with Little Walter.

Lockwood was born in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, a hamlet west of Helena. He started playing the organ in his father's church at the age of eight. His parents divorced, and later the famous bluesman Robert Johnson lived with Lockwood's mother for 10 years off and on. Lockwood learned from Johnson not only how to play guitar but also timing and stage presence. Because of his personal and professional association with Johnson, he became known as "Robert Junior" Lockwood, a nickname by which he was known among musicians for the rest of his life, although he later frequently professed his dislike for this appellation.

Early career

By age 15, Lockwood was playing professionally at parties in the Helena area. He often played with his quasi-stepfather Robert Johnson and with Sonny Boy Williamson II and Johnny Shines. Lockwood played at fish fries, in juke joints, and on street corners throughout the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s. On one occasion he played on one side of the Sunflower River while Johnson played on the other, with the people of Clarksdale, Mississippi, milling about the bridge, reportedly unable to tell which guitarist was the real Robert Johnson.

Around 1937–1938 Lockwood worked with Williamson and Elmore James in the Delta, at places like Winona, Greenwood, and Greenville (where they most probably met Johnson, who died in 1938). Lockwood played with Williamson in the Clarksdale area in 1938 and 1939. He also played with Howlin' Wolf and others in Memphis, Tennessee, around 1938. From 1939 to 1940 he split his time playing in St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago; and Helena.

             

On July 1, 1941, Lockwood made his first recordings, with Doctor Clayton, for the Bluebird label in Aurora, Illinois. On July 30 he recorded four songs, which were released as the first two 78-rpm singles under his own name: "Little Boy Blue" backed with "Take a Little Walk with Me" (Bluebird B-8820) and "I'm Gonna Train My Baby" backed with "Black Spider Blues" (Bluebird B-8877). These songs remained in his repertoire throughout his career.

In 1941, Lockwood and Williamson began their influential performances on the daily radio program King Biscuit Time on KFFA in Helena. For several years in the early 1940s the pair played together in and around Helena and continued to be associated with King Biscuit Time. From about 1944 to 1949 Lockwood played in West Memphis, Arkansas; St. Louis; Chicago and Memphis. He was an influence on B. B. King and played in King's band early in King's career in Memphis.

In 1950, Lockwood settled in Chicago. A 1951 78-rpm single featured "I'm Gonna Dig Myself a Hole" backed with "Dust My Broom" (Mercury 8260), and a 1954 release contained "Aw Aw (Baby)" backed with "Sweet Woman (from Maine)" (J.O.B 1107). In 1954 he replaced Louis Myers as the guitarist in Little Walter's band. He played on Walter's number 1 hit "My Babe" in 1955. He left the band around 1957. In the late 1950s he recorded several sessions with Sonny Boy Williamson for Chess Records, sessions which also included Willie Dixon and Otis Spann. Lockwood also performed or recorded with Sunnyland Slim, Eddie Boyd, Roosevelt Sykes, J. B. Lenoir, and Muddy Waters, among others.

Later career

Lockwood in Knoxville, Tennessee, at the 1982 World's Fair

In 1960, Lockwood moved with Williamson to Cleveland, Ohio, where he resided for the second half of his life. In the early 1960s, as Bob Lockwood Jr. and Combo, he had a regular gig at Loving's Grill, at 8426 Hough Avenue. From the 1970s through the 2000s, he performed regularly with his band the All Stars at numerous local venues, including Pirate's Cove, the Euclid Tavern, Peabody's, Flipside Tavern, Wilbert's, Brother's Lounge, and, in the last years of his career, Fat Fish Blue (on the corner of Prospect and Ontario in downtown Cleveland) every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. He played his regular three sets two days before the illness which led to his death. The All Stars continued the Wednesday residency for two years after his death.

His studio albums as a bandleader include Steady Rollin' Man, with the Aces (recorded 1970, Delmark); Contrasts (recorded 1973, Trix); ...Does 12 (recorded 1975, Trix); Hangin' On, with Johnny Shines (recorded 1979, Rounder); Mister Blues Is Back to Stay, with Shines (recorded 1980, Rounder); What's the Score (recorded 1990, Lockwood); and I Got to Find Me a Woman (recorded 1996, Verve). A 1972 45-rpm single included "Selfish Ways" backed with "Down Home Cookin'" (Big Star BB 020). Reviewing Does 12 in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said, "Lovers of urban blues will cherish this record by Robert Johnson's self-designated heir. It even boasts some adventurously progressive saxophone and twelve-string stylings that do no violence to a notoriously intransigent genre. But Lockwood is an undistinguished vocal interpreter, and only one of his originals—the imperturbable 'Selfish Ways'—is worthy of interpretation itself."

His solo guitar and vocal albums include Plays Robert and Robert (recorded 1982, Evidence), Delta Crossroads (recorded 2000, Telarc) and The Legend Live (recorded 2003, M.C.). A duet session with the pianist Otis Spann in 1960 resulted in Otis Spann Is the Blues and Walking the Blues, released by Candid.

At the age of sixty, in 1975, he discovered the 12-string guitar and preferentially played it almost exclusively for the latter third of his life. His most famous 12-string was a blue instrument custom designed and made by the Japanese luthiers Moony Omote and Age Sumi. It was acquired by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in February 2013 and is displayed there.

A live performance by Lockwood, Henry "Mule" Townsend, Joseph "Pinetop" Perkins, and David "Honeyboy" Edwards, recorded in 2004 and released in 2007 as Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas, won a Grammy Award in 2008 in the category Best Traditional Blues Album. It was the first Grammy Award for Lockwood and Townsend.

Lockwood's last known recording session was at Ante Up Audio studio in Cleveland, with longtime collaborator Mark "Cleveland Fats" Hahn, to record the album The Way Things Go for Honeybee Entertainment.

Lockwood died at the age of 91 in Cleveland, having suffered a cerebral aneurysm and a stroke. He is buried at Riverside Cemetery, in Cleveland.

Awards and honors

His many honors and tributes included: a National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United Statespresented by then-First Lady Hillary Clinton (1995); an honorary Doctorate Of Humane Letters from Case Western Reserve University (2001); an honorary Doctor Of Music from Cleveland State University (2002); induction into the Blues Hall Of Fame (1989); a street in Cleveland named Robert Lockwood Jr. Way (1997); three nominations with one win at the Grammy Awards and twenty-one nominations with seven wins at the W.C. Handy Blues Music Awards.

            

Robert Lockwood Jr., o Robert Jr Lockwood, (27 de marzo de 1915 – 21 de noviembre de 2006) fue un guitarrista de blues estadounidense que grabó para Chess Records en la década del 50 y 60. Fue el colaborador eterno de Sonny Boy Williamson II en sus sesiones de grabación.
Sus inicios
Robert Lockwood Jr. nació en Turkey Scratch, una aldea al oeste de Helena-West Helena, Arkansas. Comenzó tocando el órgano de la iglesia de su padre a los 8 años. El gran bluesman Robert Johnson vivió con la madre de Lockwood por 10 años después que sus padres se divorciaran. Lockwood aprendió de Johnson lecciones de primera mano, no sólo como tocar la guitarra, sino también el manejo del escenario. En consecuencia por la relación personal y profesional con Johnson, empezaron a apodarlo como "Robert Junior" Lockwood.

Inicio de carrera profesional
A los 15 años, Lockwood empezó a tocar música de forma profesional por la zona de Helena, normalmente acompañando a su casi padrastro Johnson, pero también ocasionalmente con Rice Miller o Johnny Shines. Lockwood tocaba en las fish fries, juke joints y en las esquinas a través del Delta en los años 30's. Una anécdota extraída del sitio de Lockwood nos cuenta que en una oportunidad, Robert Johnson tocaba en un extremo del Río Sunflower y Lockwood tocaba en el otro. La forma de ejecución era tal, que la gente que paseaba a través del río, no podían distinguir quien era el verdadero Robert Johnson.

Lockwood tocó con Rice Miller en Clarksdale, Mississippi en 1938 y 1939. También tocó con Howlin' Wolf y otros en el área de Tennessee por ese mismo año.

En el año 1941, Lockwood hizo sus primeras grabaciones con Doc Clayton en las sesiones "Bluebird", en Aurora, Illinois. En estas sesiones, el grabó cuatro singles bajo su nombre, que son primeros esbozos de su repertorio que luego, será el de siempre.

También en el año 1941, Lockwood y Williamson protagonizaron el primer King Biscuit Time, histórico programa de radio en la cadena KFFA en Helena. Por varios años a principios de los 40's, el dúo interpretó por toda la zona de Helena y mientras seguían haciendo el programa de radio. Entre 1944 y 1949 Lockwood tocó en West Memphis, St. Louis, Memphis y Chicago.

Cuando llegaron los años 50, Lockwood residió en Chicago y grabó como guitarrista principal en el segundo álbum de Williamson, que incluía a Willie Dixon y Otis Spann como músicos. Lockwood también tocó y grabó con Little Walter, Sunnyland Slim, Eddie Boyd y Muddy Waters.

Últimos trabajos

En 1961, Lockwood se mudó a Cleveland, Ohio, donde vivió hasta su muerte. A principios de los años 60, como "Bob Lockwood, Jr., and Combo" tenía una performance regular en Loving's Grill, ubicado en la 8426 Hough Avenue. En los años 70 hasta los 90, tocaba normalente con su banda "All Stars" en muchos lugares por Estados Unidos y con músicos locales a través del mundo. "All Stars" lo acompañó hasta su muerte.