American blues musician
Musical artist
Admirl Amos Easton (May 7, 1905 – June 8, 1968),[1] [2] better known by the stage name Bumble Bee Slim , was an American Piedmont blues singer and guitarist.
Biography
Easton was born in Brunswick, Georgia , United States.[3] Several original sources confirm that he spelled his first name "Admirl".[4] Around 1920 he joined the Ringling Brothers circus. He then returned to Georgia and was briefly married before heading north on a freight train to Indianapolis , where he settled in 1928. There he met and was influenced by the pianist Leroy Carr and the guitarist Scrapper Blackwell .[2]
By 1931 he had moved to Chicago , where he made his first recordings , as Bumble Bee Slim, for Paramount Records .[3] The following year his song "B&O Blues" was a hit for Vocalion Records , inspiring several other railroad blues and eventually becoming a popular folk song.[3] In the next five years, he recorded over 150 songs for Decca Records , Bluebird Records and Vocalion,[5] often accompanied by other musicians, including Big Bill Broonzy , Peetie Wheatstraw , Tampa Red , Memphis Minnie , and Washboard Sam .
In 1937, he returned to Georgia. He relocated to Los Angeles , California in the early 1940s, apparently hoping to break into motion pictures as a songwriter and comedian . During the 1950s he recorded several albums, but they had little impact.[2] His last album was released in 1962 by Pacific Jazz Records .[6]
He continued to perform in clubs around Los Angeles until he died in 1968.[7]
See also
References
^ Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience . Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. p. 325. ISBN 978-0313344237 .
^ a b c Koda, Cub (1905-05-07). "Bumble Bee Slim: Biography" . AllMusic .com. Retrieved 2016-11-08 .
^ a b c Colin Larkin , ed. (1995). The Guinness Who's Who of Blues (Second ed.). Guinness Publishing . p. 63. ISBN 0-85112-673-1 .
^ Chris Smith, "Words Words Words: Amos Easton", Blues & Rhythm , #342, p.28, 2019
^ Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray . Dubai: Carlton Books. pp. 96–97. ISBN 1-85868-255-X .
^ Eckenrode, Andrew. "East Coast Piedmont Blues: Bumble Bee Slim" . University of North Carolina at Asheville. Archived from the original on 8 February 2006. Retrieved 29 December 2013 .
^ "Bumble Bee Slim" . Thebluestrail.com. Retrieved 2016-11-08 .
Other source
External links
International National Artists Other