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R.L. Burnside was inspired to pick up the guitar after hearing the John Lee Hooker 45 "boogie chillen" (which inspired numerous other rural bluesmen, among them Buddy Guy, to start playing). He learned music largely from Mississippi Fred McDowell, who lived nearby in an adjoining county. He was also cites his cousin in law, Muddy Waters, as an influence. Except for a short period in Chicago in the 1950s, he has spent his entire life in his home state.
Living in one area has not led to a quiet existence, however. He claims to have been convicted for murder and sentenced to six months of incarceration for the crime. Burnside's boss at the time reputedly pulled strings to keep the murder sentence short, due to having need of his skills as a tractor driver.
His earliest recordings were in 1969 by George Mitchell and released on Arhoolie Records. That and another album of acoustic material were recorded that year and little else before "Hill Country Blues", in the early 1980s, followed by an album's worth of singles released on ethnomusicology professor Dr. David Evans' Highwater Records in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Oxford, MississippiOxford is a city located in Lafayette County, Mississippi. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 11,756. It is the county seat of Lafayette County 6. Geography Oxford is located at 34°21'35" North, 89°31'34" West (34. 359837, -89. label Fat Possum was founded by Living Blues magazine editor Peter Lee and Matthew Johnson to record aging North Mississippi bluesmen such as Burnside and his friend Junior Kimbrough . Burnside has remained with Fat Possum since then and has been mostly playing with his friend and understudy, the white slide guitarSlide guitar is a particular method for playing the guitar. Instead of altering the pitch of the strings in the normal manner, by pressing the strings against the fretboard with the fingers, a slide is used. The slide is a tube of some hard material. player Kenny Brown, whom he claims as his 'adopted son'.
Since the death of Kimbrough and the burning of Kimbrough's juke joint in Chulahoma, Mississippi, Burnside quit recording studio matterial for Fat Possum, though he did continue to tour untill 2001 when, after a severe heart attack, his docter ordered him to stop drinking, a move which he claims left him unable to play. Members of his large extended family continue to play blues in the Holly Springs area (his grandson Cedric Burnside tours with Kenny Brown while his grandson Garry Burnside plays bass with the North Mississippi Allstars).
Selected Albums
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