You want blues credibility?  Well, he was one of the first individuals to ever record a blues song.  The year was 1924, and he displayed his incomparable dexterity by performing on both guitar and harmonica.     

Coming into the world way back in 1867 as Johnny Watson (eventually to be primarily known as Daddy Stovepipe, but also as Jimmy Watson, Sunny Jim, and Rev. Alfred Pitts) in Mobile, Alabama.  Many of Stovepipe’s recordings were in conjunction with the jug band format, and often with his wife Sarah Watson, a woman also known as Mississippi Sarah for her recording moniker.

It is believed that Stovepipe’s earliest performing opportunities aligned with being a member of a number of mariachi bands in Mexico before the turn of the 20^th century, exercising his dexterities on the 12-string guitar.  Additional valuable performing experience was gleaned when Stovepipe became a member of the famed Rabbit’s Foot Minstrels as they traversed the southern U.S.

The early 1920s found Stovepipe in Chicago primarily performing as a street performer on the legendary Maxwell Street open-air market.  While entertaining there, Stovepipe performed in the one-man band format, singing, playing guitar, along with employing either a harmonica or kazoo.  It was on Maxwell Street that he acquired the “Daddy Stovepipe” nickname due to the black top hat he adorned himself with. 

1924 was a turning point in Stovepipe’s blues career.  He travelled to Richmond, Indiana to record for the first time, cutting three songs for the Gennet label; “Stovepipe Blues”, “Sundown Blues”, and “Tidewater Blues.”  It would be another three years before Stovepipe would again record, and in 1927, he was in Birmingham, Alabama as part of a duo named Sunny Jim & Whistlin’ Joe, again laying down tracks for Gennet Records.

In 1931 in Chicago, all the while remaining a street performer, he again recorded, this time with his wife under her guise as Mississippi Sarah, with the songs in the jug band structure where she sang and played the jug.  It should be noted that Sarah had a very good voice. The two had a light-hearted, amusing way on record, rendering their output distinctive and desired by the buying public.  Stovepipe and Sarah did not record again until 1935, after the fall of record sales due to the ongoing Great Depression.  The two returned to the recording studio for Bluebird Records, but unfortunately, their output was not as well-received by the record buying public.  Due to this, Stovepipe and Sarah moved Greenville, Mississippi. 

In 1937, Sarah passed away, and Stovepipe returned to performing, taking to the road, spending time in Texas, mostly in the western part of the state, and then again with mariachi bands in Mexico, both on his own, and then performing with zydeco bands in Louisiana. 

By 1948, Stovepipe was again in Chicago, returning to work as a street musician.  A decade later, as the folk and blues music revival period was picking up steam, Stovepipe was rediscovered.  Due to this, a 1960 recording session presented itself, with the 93-year-old performer virtuously giving it all he had.  Unfortunately, Stovepipe’s performance reflected the ravages of time and ill health.  It was a scant three years later that Stovepipe passed away due to pneumonia after a gall bladder surgery.

There are many performers in the blues genre like Stovepipe who spend their entire careers on the fringes.  But these entertainers carry great heft in the blues, and their contributions are not to be dismissed.  Document Records has a compilation CD entitled Alabama Black Country Dance Bands 1924 – 1949 (Document Records DOCD-5166) that includes a generous 20 selections that include Stovepipe.  The link to that CD is Alabama: Black Country Dance Bands (1924-1949) (thedocumentrecordsstore.com)

Daddy Stovepipe was yet another character in the blues realm, and one well worth your time to consider.  I don’t think you will be disappointed spending time learning about this unique blues musician, and listening to his fine recorded yield.