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Biography
Citations|date=November 2011Infobox musical artist | name = Barbecue Bob| image = Barbecue Bob.jpg| caption = Barbecue Bob (1927)| image_size =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Robert Hicks| alias = Barbecue Bob| birth_date = birth date|mf=y|1902|9|11| birth_place = Walnut Grove, Georgia|Walnut Grove , Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia , United States | death_date = death date and age|mf=y|1931|10|21|1902|9|11| death_place = Lithonia, Georgia | origin = Walnut Grove, Georgia|Walnut Grove , Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia , United States | instrument = Guitar , Singing|Vocals | genre = Piedmont blues , Country blues | occupation =| years_active = 1920s–1931| label =| associated_acts = Curley Weaver | website =| current_members =| past_members =| notable_instruments = Twelve string guitar Robert Hicks , better known as Barbecue Bob (September 11, 1902 – October 21, 1931) was an early United States|American Piedmont blues musician . His nickname came from the fact that he was a chef|cook in a barbecue restaurant. One of the two extant photographs of Bob show him playing his guitar while wearing a full length white apron and cook's hat.
Early life
He was born in Walnut Grove, Georgia|Walnut Grove , Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia . He and his brother, Charley Lincoln|Charlie Hicks , together with Curley Weaver , were taught how to play the guitar by Curley's mother, Savannah "Dip" Weaver.Barlow, William. "Looking Up At Down": The Emergence of Blues Culture . Temple University Press (1989), pp. 195–96. ISBN 0-87722-583-4. Bob began playing the 6-string guitar but picked up the Twelve string guitar|12-string guitar after moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 1923–1924. He became one of the prominent performers of the newly developing early Atlanta blues style.
In Atlanta, Hicks worked a variety of jobs, playing music on the side. While working at Tidwells' Barbecue in a north Atlanta suburb, Hicks came to the attention of Columbia Records talent scout Dan Hornsby. Hornsby recorded him and decided to use Hicks's job as a gimmick, having him pose in chef's whites and hat for publicity photos and dubbing him "Barbecue Bob".
Career
During his short career he sound recording and reproduction|recorded 68 gramophone record|78-rpm sides. He recorded his first side, "Barbecue Blues", in March 1927. The gramophone record|record quickly sold 15,000 copies and made him the best selling musician|artist for Columbia Records|Columbia up to that date. Despite this initial success, it was not until his second recording session, in New York City|New York during June 1927, that he firmly established himself on the race market. At this session he recorded "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues", a song inspired by the major floods taking place in Great Mississippi Flood of 1927|Mississippi at that time.cite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher=Carlton Books Limited | location= Dubai | pages= 90 | isbn= 1-85868-255-X This song, as well as his other blues releases, gained considerable popularity, and his records sold much better than those of other local blues musicians.
The two part duet (music)|duet with crosstalk, "It Won't Be Long Now" was recorded with his brother Charlie (a/k/a Charlie Lincoln, or Laughing Charlie) in Atlanta on November 5, 1927. In April 1928 Bob recorded two sides with the female singing|vocalist Nellie Florence, whom he had known since childhood, and also produced "Mississippi Low Levee Blues", a sequel to "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues". In April 1930, he recorded "We Sure Got Hard Times Now", which contains bleak references to the early effects of The Depression . Although Barbecue Bob remained predominantly a blues musician, he also recorded a few traditional and spiritual songs including " When the Saints Go Marching In ", " Poor Boy Blues|Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home " and "Jesus' Blood Can Make Me Whole".
Barbecue Bob also recorded as a member of The Georgia Cotton Pickers in December 1930, a group that included guitarist Curley Weaver and harmonica player Buddy Moss . As a group they recorded a handful of sides including their own adaptation of Blind Blake 's "Diddie Wa Diddie" (recorded as "Diddle-Da-Diddle") and the Mississippi Sheiks ' " Sitting on Top of the World " (recorded as "I'm On My Way Down Home"). These were the last recordings that Bob recorded.
He died in Lithonia, Georgia , of a combination of tuberculosis and pneumonia brought on by influenza , at the age of 29, on October 21, 1931. His recording of "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues" (about the 1927 flood) was apparently played at his graveside before burial.
Musical style
Bob developed a "flailing" or "frailing" style of playing guitar more often associated with the traditional clawhammer banjo (as did his brother, and, initially, Curley Weaver). He used a bottleneck guitar|bottleneck regularly on his 12-string guitar, playing in an elemental style that relied on an open tuning|open Spanish tuning reminiscent of Charley Patton . He had a strong voice that he embellished with growling and falsetto , and a percussive singing style.
Influence
Bob had some influence on Atlanta blues musicians such as the young Buddy Moss (who played harmonica with him on The Georgia Cotton Pickers recordings), but his way of playing was quickly overshadowed by the finger-picked Piedmont blues style that rose in popularity by the late 1920s/early 30s as can be heard in the development of the recordings of Curley Weaver . Barbecue Bob's " Motherless Child Blues " was recorded and performed on stage by Eric Clapton . Bob's elder brother, Charley, also played blues and was recorded by Columbia under the name "Laughing" Charley Lincoln. However, he never received the same acclaim as his brother.
See also
List of blues musicians
List of Country blues musicians
List of guitarists
List of nicknames of blues musicians
List of Piedmont blues musicians
Yazoo Records
Recording sessions
Atlanta, 25 March 1927
New York City, 15 June 1927
New York City, 16 June 1927
Atlanta, 5 November 1927
Atlanta, 9 November 1927
Atlanta, 10 November 1927
Atlanta, 13 April 1928
Atlanta, 21 April 1928
Atlanta, 26 October 1928
Atlanta, 27 October 1928
Atlanta, 2 November 1928
Atlanta, 11 April 1929
Atlanta, 17 April 1929
Atlanta, 18 April 1929
Atlanta, 30 October 1929
Atlanta, 3 November 1929
Atlanta, 6 November 1929
Atlanta, 17 April 1930
Atlanta, 18 April 1930
Atlanta, 23 April 1930
Atlanta, 5 December 1930
Atlanta, 7 December 1930
Atlanta, 8 December 1930
References
Reflist
Swinton, Paul. (2001). The Essential Barbecue Bob . Audio CD Liner notes . Classic Blues 200026.
Document Records Volume 1, 2 & 3 sleeve notes on Barbecue Bob (Robert Hicks)
External links
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p266|label=Barbecue Bob
http://physics.lunet.edu/blues/Robert_Hicks.html Barbecue Bob page from Blues Online site
http://www.mp3.com/barbecue-bob/artists/225/biography.html Barbecue Bob page from MP3.com site
http://facstaff.unca.edu/sinclair/piedmontblues/barbecue.html Biography on East Coast Piedmont Blues site
http://authenticblues.com/component/option,com_musicbox/task,viewAuth/Itemid,26/id,5/ Barbecue Bob at AuthenticBlues.com
Persondata |NAME=Hicks, Roberts |ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Barbecue Bob |SHORT DESCRIPTION=American blues musician |DATE OF BIRTH=September 11, 1902 |PLACE OF BIRTH= Walnut Grove, Georgia , United States |DATE OF DEATH=October 21, 1931 |PLACE OF DEATH= Lithonia, Georgia , United States
Category:1902 births Category:1931 deaths Category:African American guitarists Category:African American singers Category:Country blues singers Category:American blues guitarists Category:American male singers Category:Country blues musicians Category:People from Walton County, Georgia Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Columbia Records artists
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