One String Sam
{{short description|American singer}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = One String Sam
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| birth_name = Sam Wilson
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| instrument = Vocals, diddley bow
| genre = Detroit blues
| occupation = Singer, diddley bow player
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Sam Wilson, known as One String Sam, was an American Detroit blues musician, who specialised in playing the diddley bow. Details of his life are scant, but he recorded two tracks described as an "eerie, spooky, and riveting version of country blues". He also performed at the 1973 and 1974 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festivals.
Biography
Little is known of the life of One String Sam, apart from his limited recording and concert performances. He was largely a street entertainer, based in Detroit, Michigan.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/one-string-sam-mn0000479877/biography|title=One String Sam | Biography & History|website=AllMusic|access-date=May 6, 2021}} In the same city, Joe's Record Shop was founded in 1945 and then based on 3530 Hastings Street. It was owned by Joe Von Battle, and he sold records and recorded music with such as John Lee Hooker, C. L. Franklin and Aretha Franklin.{{Cite web|url=https://www.marketplace.org/2020/08/21/the-detroitist-on-her-dads-record-shop-and-what-it-really-meant/|title=The "Detroitist" on her dad’s record shop and what it really meant|website=Marketplace.org|date=21 August 2020|access-date=May 7, 2021}} One day, in 1956, One String Sam entered the Shop and, with Battle's assistance, he recorded two distinctive tracks. These were "I Need a Hundred Dollars" and "My Baby, Oooo." Sam accompanied his singing by playing a home-made diddley bow. The musical instrument had an electric guitar pickup fitted and Sam played the fretless, one string instrument utilising an empty baby food jar as a slide. One String Sam used the open jar as a makeshift echo chamber when vocalising into the recording microphone. AllMusic noted that the two tracks presented "an eerie, spooky, and riveting version of country blues". The two sides were issued on a 10" shellac disc on Battle's own J-V-B Recordings record label.{{Cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/40xb|title=One String Sam - My Baby, Oooo|access-date=May 6, 2021|website=45cat.com}} In August 2014, a vinyl copy of the original single was sold at an online auction for $1922.{{Cite web|url=https://www.popsike.com/Blues-78-JVB-40-One-String-Sam-My-Baby-/161392138714.html|title=Blues 78 JVB 40 One String Sam : "My Baby, Oooo" - auction details|website=Popsike.com|access-date=May 6, 2021}}
After the recording was completed, One String Sam returned to playing on Detroit's streets for a number of years. His eventual absence from doing so was noted, although it was subsequently discovered that he had relocated to Inkster, Michigan.
In 1973, One String Sam was persuaded to perform at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. He was recorded performing two tracks, "I Need a Hundred Dollars" and "I Got to Go." These two sides{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/one-string-sam-mn0000479877/biography|title=One String Sam - Biography & History - AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=May 6, 2018}} were released on Motor City Blues / Please Mr. Foreman, on Schoolkids' Records.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/motor-city-blues-please-mr-foreman-mw0000899737|title=Motor City Blues/Please Mr. Foreman - Various Artists - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=May 6, 2018}}
There are sources which suggest that One String Sam also performed at the Festival the following year. The peculiarity was that it was staged at the campus of St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, due to problems in obtaining the necessary permit in Ann Arbor itself.{{Cite web|url=https://aadl.org/aa_news_19780903-jazz_festival_out_to_out_newport_newport|title=Jazz Festival: out to out-Newport Newport! | Ann Arbor District Library|website=Aadl.org|access-date=May 7, 2021}} The Ann Arbor Sun reported in September 1974, that One String Sam's presence was his second appearance at the Festival.{{cite web|url=https://aadl.org/node/197560|title=One String Sam | Ann Arbor District Library|website=Aadl.org|access-date=May 6, 2021}} After this, details of One String Sam's ongoing existence are not recorded.
Live performances
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Event
!Date !Venue |
|---|
| Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival
|September 8, 1973 |Otis Spann Memorial Field, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States |
| B. B. King (One String Sam was support act)
|October 19, 1973 |Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States |
| One String Sam
|October 30, 1973 |Primo Showbar, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States |
| One String Sam
|March 19, 1974 |Primo Showbar, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States |
| 1st Annual CMU Jazz Festival
|March 24, 1974 |Warriner Hall, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States |
| Blues Extravaganza
|April 5, 1974 |Toledo Sports Arena, Toledo, Ohio, United States |
| Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival
|September 8, 1974 |Griffin Hollow Amphitheatre, Windsor, Ontario, Canada |
Discography
=Single=
=Compilation album appearances=
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQlAYfUtzh4 "I Need a Hundred Dollars" @ YouTube]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPswy2dlAnU My Baby, Oooo @ YouTube]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:One String Sam}}
Category:Year of birth missing
Category:Year of death missing
Category:American blues singers
Category:Detroit blues musicians