Hambone Willie Newbern

William "Hambone Willie" Newbern (probably 1901 – April 15, 1965)[1] was an American guitar-playing country blues musician.[6]

Hambone Willie Newbern
Birth nameWilliam Newbern
Bornprobably 1901
Tennessee, U.S.
(probably Haywood County[1] or Brownsville[2][3])
Died(1965-04-15)April 15, 1965
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
GenresCountry Blues
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)
Years active1920s - 1940s[5]

Life and career

Few details are known of his life. He is believed to have been born in Haywood County, Tennessee,[1] close to Brownsville along Tennessee State Route 19.[7] He was reported to have played with Yank Rachell and Sleepy John Estes (from whom most of our knowledge of Hambone was gained) in the 1920s and 1930s.[8] He recorded one of the earliest known versions of the blues standard "Rollin' and Tumblin'", which was waxed in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929.[9] He only recorded six tracks in total, which also included, "She Could Toodle-Oo" and "Hambone Willie's Dreamy-Eyed Woman's Blues."[8]

Newbern was reputedly a hot-tempered man, but reports that he was beaten to death in a prison brawl, around 1947,[8] are disputed by researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc who assert that he died at home in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1965.[1]

References
  1. Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 240. ISBN 978-0313344237.
  2. Sullivan, Steve (2017). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (3nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 86. ISBN 9781442254497.
  3. "Hambone WILLIE NEWBERN". thebluestrail.com. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  4. Congress, Richard (2010). Blues Mandolin Man: The Life and Music of Yank Rachell. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 42. ISBN 9781628467635.
  5. Komara, Edward; Lee, Peter (2004). The Blues Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 722. ISBN 9781135958312.
  6. Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (1st ed.). Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 1-904041-96-5.
  7. A History of Tennessee Arts, University of Tennessee Press
  8. "Biography by Jason Ankeny". Allmusic.com. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  9. Robert Palmer (1981). Deep Blues. Penguin Books. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-14-006223-6.
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