The other evening, I was downstairs in my blues room organizing wayward items and, to provide some background music, I reached into one of my crammed stacks of CDs, and without looking at it, put it in my CD player.   Immediately, and I can’t stress that point enough, immediately I was captivated by the high wavering, falsetto singing and fluid rural bottleneck guitar style blues blasting from my stereo speakers.  I knew immediately that I had blindly chosen the work of Sam Collins as my night’s blues listening, and I couldn’t have been happier.  The collection I pulled from my stacks was Sam Collins – Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order 1927-1931 – Document Records DOCD-5034, and for the next hour plus I was in country blues heaven.  As I’ve not before briefly offered an overview of Collins’ life and blues career, now seems to be the ideal time to do so.

Collins was born in Louisiana (though the exact town of his birth is unclear) in August, 1887 (and again, the precise date eludes accuracy).  His parents were named Sam Collins, Sr. and Sophie Collins.  Information suggests that Collins was primarily raised in McComb, Mississippi, a town in Pike County in the state’s southcentral region.  Interesting, McComb has a direct link to a different major musical figure who later assisted in evolving blues music into rock-n-roll, Bo Diddley, who also hailed from the town.

As is so often the case with early blues artists, especially those who didn’t achieve significant historical notoriety for their efforts, facts related to how Collins chose the guitar and the blues as his musical aspirations, particularly those who directly helped with his earliest musical lessons and provided him inspirations, remain shrouded in mystery.  Suffice it to say, however, in McComb it is reasonable to assume that the blues was all around him.

What is generally accepted is that once Collins had reached an age where he could take charge of his life, he was known to be offering his brand of blues in the joints and at the public festivities nearby in both Louisiana and Mississippi.  In addition, early on it seems that Collins forged an alliance with a one-time McComb resident and blues musician, Joe Holmes, who had left McComb and taken up residence in Sibley, Louisiana, a town in the state’s Webster Parish in the upper northwest portion of Louisiana.  It has been offered that maybe Collins and Sibley knew each other from their days in McComb, but that point remains also cloaked in uncertainty.  What is definite is that the Collins and Holmes did enjoy a rather slack relationship.  However, Holmes did eventually record for the Paramount label in 1932, an imprint that included major blues artists Ma Rainey and Blind Lemon Jefferson, with his recordings being released under the artist’s name of King Solomon Hill. 

The year 1927 was momentous for Collins, as he began his recording career on the Black Patti label (The Chicago Record Co.) with a 78rpm record of “The Jail House Blues” / “Riverside Blues” (Black Patti 8025).  The year 1927 also saw release of “Devil In The Lion’s Den” on a 78rpm release on the Gennett label with the other side by Jelly Roll Anderson (Gennett 6181-A).  Gennett also released 78s of “Yellow Dog Blues” / “Loving Lady Blues” and “Pork Chop Blues” / “Dark Cloudy Blues” in 1927 (Gennett 6146 and 6260, respectively).  Gennett also released a 78 of “The Jail House Blues” / “Riverside Blues” (Gennett 6167) in 1927.

On his records and in performance, Collins was limited in his slide guitar expertise, and it is obvious from listening to his work that his guitar seems to regularly be out-of-tune.  So interesting was Collins’ guitar style and regulation that it became known as his “git-fiddle” approach.   However, while Collins’ guitar tuning may have been suspect, his previously mentioned unnerving falsetto vocal style pulled the two components of his artistry together.  In fact, due to Collins’ uniquely weeping style of singing, he was also known as Crying Sam Collins.

Often times it seemed as though Collins stitched his blues songs together from shared conventional vocal verses, as has always been the case in the blues, but he made them his own.  Collins, though, was not exclusively a blues performer.  He was known to incorporate vaudeville and religious songs in his repertoire.

Also, Collins employed additional pseudonyms when playing and recording, including Jim Foster (having recorded “Hesitation Blues” on the Champion label in 1927 – Champion 15472, ”I Want To Be Like Jesus In My Heart for the Silvertone label in 1972– Silvertone 5172, and also with the Herwin label releasing “The Jail House Blues” / “Riverside Blues” – Herwin 90243), Big Boy Woods, Bunny Carter, and Salty Dog Sam, among others.

Collins’ overall guitar style and higher register vocals were more indicative of a southcentral Mississippi blues artist, and not representative of one from Louisiana that would’ve been steeped in the classic Delta mold of declamatory singing and precise, more determined and elaborate guitar usage.

In 1928, Collins’ “Midnight Special Blues” / “Do That Thing” were released on Gennett 6307.  Of course, “Midnight Special Blues” has become a very important piece in blues lore.

Collins additionally saw the release of four sides on the Perfect label, two each in 1931 and 1933 under the artist’s name Salty Dog Sam (Perfect 193 and 0222).  There was also a Banner label release (32395) with two selections, though the year of the release is indeterminate.

After Collins’ recording career had run its course, he made a major move northward to Chicago, Illinois.  This relocation returned him to the rather mysterious existence he had when he was a younger man.  He is known to have sporadically performed in Chicago, but for reasons unknown his acoustic rural style was not in keeping with the tastes of the big city’s blues fans.  Collins passed away from the ravages of heart disease in 1949 in Chicago.

Sam Collins’ musical proficiencies would be best offered to blues fans via the magnificent compilations indicated below.  All are highly recommended.

• Sam Collins – Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order 1927-1931 – Document Records DOCD-5034 – On CD
• Crying Sam Collins – Jail House Blues – Yazoo 1079 – On CD
• Crying Sam Collins (with two cuts by King Solomon Hill) – Crying Sam Collins And His Git-Fiddle – Origin Jazz Library OJL-10 – On LP