BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " SAM COLLINS " WHO WAS SOMETIMES KNOWN AS CRYING SAM COLLINS - WAS AN EARLY BLUES SINGER AND GUITARIST : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

BLACK          SOCIAL         HISTORY                                                                                                                                     Sam Collins (musician)

Sam Collins (August 11, 1887 – October 20, 1949)^[1] who was sometimes known as Crying Sam Collins and also, according to one authoritative website,^[2] as Jim Foster, Jelly Roll Hunter, Big Boy Woods, Bunny Carter, and Salty Dog Sam, was an early American blues singer and guitarist.^[1]

Biography

He was born in Louisiana, United States,^[1] and grew up just across the state border in McComb, Mississippi. By 1924 he was performing in local barrel houses, often with King Solomon Hill with whom he shared the use of falsetto singing and slide guitar. He was first recorded by Gennett Records, on "Yellow Dog Blues", in 1927, and recorded again in 1931, some of his later recordings appearing under different pseudonyms. His rural bottleneck guitar pieces were among the first to be compiled on LP. His best known recording was "The Jail House Blues".^[1]

He relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in the late 1930's, and died there from the effects of heart disease in October 1949, at the age of 62.^[1]