Charley Patton

Charley Patton is widely regarded as the father of Delta blues and one of the most important figures in the early development of the genre. Raised on the Dockery Plantation near Ruleville, Mississippi (the same plantation that later nurtured Howlin' Wolf, Roebuck Staples, and other blues musicians) Patton developed a percussive, rhythmically complex guitar style and a rough, impassioned vocal approach that established the template for Delta blues performance. He was also a charismatic entertainer who played guitar behind his head and between his legs decades before Hendrix. His 1929-34 recordings for Paramount, including 'Pony Blues,' 'High Water Everywhere,' 'Moon Going Down,' and 'Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues,' are among one of the most important documents in American music. He directly influenced Son House, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, and through them, the entire modern blues tradition. He died in 1934 of a chronic heart condition, having recorded roughly 60 sides.