Artist:Freddie Spruell
Song:Low Down Mississippi Bottom Man
Album:The Paramount Masters
Freddie Spruell is frequently credited as the first Mississippi Delta blues artist to record. Though that is inaccurate, he did record ten songs from 1926-35. He was born Dec. 28, 1893 in Lake Providence, LA. At age ten he moved with his family to Chicago. Blind Lemon Jefferson recorded in 1925 so that was Spruell's likely influence. In 1926 he recorded two songs as Papa Freddie for Okeh Records. Then as Mr. Freddie he recorded Low Down Mississippi Bottom Man for Paramount Records. And then in 1935 he recorded six songs as Mr. Freddie for Bluebird. I wish all of Spruell's songs were on one CD. But they aren't. The one CD I saw is out of print. But you can get the two Paramount recordings on this 5CD box set from JSP. Paramount was a Milwaukee furniture company that manufactured phonograph players. That's how they briefly got into the record business. Fans of acoustic blues will be interested in these recordings. Spruell's mother insisted that he give up secular music. So he became a Baptist minister in the mid-40s. Freddie Spruell died on June 1956 at age 62. Here's a video for Low Down Mississippi Bottom Man by Freddie Spruell.
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