Biography
10 January 1897, Bolton, Mississippi, USA, d. 2 February 1983, Hollandale, Mississippi, USA. Guitarist Sam Chatmon was one of the many children of ex-slave fiddler Henderson Chatmon, all of whom were musicians. Besides Sam, Lonnie (as the fiddling half of the Mississippi Sheiks), Bo (as Bo Carter) and pianist Harry all made recordings in the 30s. In addition, Sam’s own son, Singin’ Sam, is a bass guitarist. Sam Snr.’s 1936 recordings with Lonnie as the Chatman (sic) Brothers are, not surprisingly, similar to those of the Mississippi Sheiks, who were the one black string band to become major stars on record. When white interest in the blues was aroused in the 60s, Sam proved to be the only member of the family to have survived with his musical faculties intact, and he came out of almost 20 years of musical retirement to perform for the new audience until his death in 1983. A strong, somewhat inflexible vocalist, and a fluent,...
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