Shirley Griffith
{{Short description|American singer (1907–1974)}}
File:Shirley Griffith at AABF 1969 by Jeff Titon.jpg
Shirley Griffith (April 26, 1907 – June 18, 1974){{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues: A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger | location= Santa Barbara, California| pages=219 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/shirley-griffith-mn0000659655|title=Shirley Griffith Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More|website=AllMusic}} was an American male blues singer and guitarist, mainly based in Indianapolis. He is best known for his recordings "Walkin' Blues" and "Bad Luck Blues".{{cite web|url=http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1970.html|title=Shirley Griffith|website=Thedeadrockstarsclub.com|access-date=April 21, 2024}}
Early life
Griffith was born in Brandon, Mississippi, the second child of Willie and Maggie Griffith. He had five sisters and three brothers. He learned to play the guitar at the age of 10.
Music career
In the 1920s, his friend and mentor Tommy Johnson gave him further guitar instruction,{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Blues|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1995|edition=Second|isbn=0-85112-673-1|page=153}} and offered to help him get started in a music career, but, by Griffith's own account, he was too “wild and reckless” in those days.
He settled in Indianapolis, where he lived for the rest of his life, working in automotive factories. While there he became friends with Scrapper Blackwell and Leroy Carr. In 1935, Carr offered to take Griffith to New York for a recording session, but Carr died suddenly, and the trip was never made.
Griffith re-emerged as a musician in the 1960s to record with J. T. Adams, and play at festivals with Yank Rachell.Stapleton-Corcoran, Erin (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=XQU3AgAAQBAJ&dq=%22shirley+griffith%22+blues&pg=PA381 "Shirley Griffith"]. The Blues Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 381 He performed at the first Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1969 and at the Notre Dame Blues Festival in 1971.
Recordings
Art Rosenbaum, who produced Griffith’s Bluesville albums,[http://www.wirz.de/music/grifffrm.htm "Shirley Griffith Discography"]. Wirz.de. Retrieved 30 September 2016, wrote in the liner notes to Saturday Blues:
"I recall one August afternoon shortly after these recordings were made; Shirley sat in Scrapper Blackwell's furnished room singing the Bye Bye Blues with such intensity that everyone present was deeply moved, though they had all heard him sing it many times before. Scrapper was playing, too, and the little room swelled with sound. When they finished there was a moment of awkward silence. Finally Shirley smiled and said, 'The blues'll kill you. And make you live, too.'"
Personal life
Griffith had four children: Elonza Griffith, Walter James Griffith, Freddie M. Proctor and Mary T. Griffith. His first wife was Addie B. McNeil, His second wife was Elizabeth.
He died of heart disease in Indianapolis, at the age of 67.
Discography
;Studio albums
- The Blues of J. T. Adams and Shirley Griffith: Indiana Ave. Blues (LP album), Prestige Bluesville BVLP 1077 (1964)
- The Blues of Shirley Griffith: Saturday Blues (LP album), Prestige Bluesville BVLP 1087 (1965)
- Mississippi Blues (LP album), Blue Goose Records BG-2011 (1973)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.wirz.de/music/griffith.htm Illustrated Shirley Griffith discography]
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Category:American blues singers
Category:American blues guitarists
Category:American male guitarists
Category:Songwriters from Mississippi
Category:20th-century American guitarists
Category:African-American male songwriters
Category:African-American guitarists
Category:20th-century African-American male singers
Category:20th-century American male singers