Lil Son Jackson - Selftitled (Great Blues Album US 1960)

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Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson (August 16, 1915, Tyler, Texas - May 30, 1976, Dallas) was an American blues guitarist. He was a contemporary of Lightnin' Hopkins.

Jackson's mother played gospel guitar, and he played early on in a gospel group called the Blue Eagle Four. He trained to be a mechanic and did a stint in the Army during World War II, then decided to pursue a career in blues music. He recorded a demo and sent it to Bill Quinn, the owner of Gold Star Records, in 1946. Quinn signed him to a recording contract and released "Freedom Train Blues" in 1948, which became a nationwide hit in the U.S. He recorded for Imperial Records between 1950 and 1954, both as a solo artist and with a backing band. His 1950 tune "Rockin' and Rollin" was recast by later musicians as "Rock Me Baby".

He was hurt in a car crash in the middle of the 1950s and gave up his music career, returning to work as a mechanic. In 1960 he released albums for Arhoolie and Limelight Records, but he did not make a major comeback in the wake of the blues revival. He died of cancer in 1976 in Dallas, at the age of 60.

B.B. King covered Jackson's "I Got to Leave This Woman", on his 2000 album, Makin' Love Is Good for You. Eric Clapton covered Jackson's "Travelin' Alone", on his 2010 album, Clapton.

JACKSON, MELVIN [LIL' SON] (1915–1976). Blues singer and guitarist Melvin (Lil' Son) Jackson was born near Tyler, Texas, on August 16, 1915. Jackson's father, Johnny Jackson, was a singer and musician who taught his young son to play the guitar; his mother, Ivora Allen, played gospel guitar. Lil' Son grew up near Barry, Texas, on his grandfather's farm and listened to records of Texas Alexander, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Lonnie Johnson. As a child he often sang and performed in the nearby Holiness church choir.

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As a young adult during the Great Depression he quickly became dissatisfied with the harsh life of a sharecropper. After running away to Dallas he formed a spiritual group, the Blue Eagle Four. Throughout the 1930s the band played for local churches, parties, and family get-togethers. Jackson was drafted into the United States Army during World War II. He served with the Quartermaster Corps in England, France, and Germany. After the war he returned to work in Dallas, where he cut a cheap demo record that he sent to Gold Star Records owner Bill Quinn in Houston. Quinn signed Jackson to a record contract. Starting in 1948 Jackson cut several records for Gold Star and then for Imperial Records. A few of his recordings had some regional success in Texas and on the West Coast. His 1948 song "Freedom Train Blues" made the R&B Top 10.

In 1956 he was involved in a serious automobile accident. After recovering from his injuries he retired from recording and performing to work as a mechanic in a scrapyard. In 1960, however, he was "rediscovered" by California producer Chris Strachwitz, who was on a field trip through Texas and Louisiana looking for talent. Strachwitz persuaded him to come out of retirement and record some of his old songs. Jackson recorded the album Lil Son Jackson for Strachwitz's Arhoolie label in 1960. He followed that up with another album in 1963 on the Houston-based Ames label. That album included newer versions of several of his older cuts, including "Gambling Blues," "Cairo Blues," and "Roberta Blues." Jackson retired permanently in the mid-1960s. He died of cancer in Dallas on May 30, 1976, and was buried in Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery in that city. He was survived by his wife and three sons.

01. Blues Come To Texas

02. Cairo Blues

03. Ticket Agent

04. Louise Blues

05. Sugar Mama

06. The Girl I Love

07. Santa Fe Blues

08. Turn Your Lamp Down Low

09. Groundhog Blues

10. Gambler Blues

11. Charley Cherry (take 1)

12. Charley Cherry (take 2)

13. West Dallas Blues

14. Rollin' Mill Went Down

15. Red River Blues   

16. Roberta Blues

Bonustracks:

17. Buck Dance

18. I Walked From Dallas

19. Rock Me

20. Johnnie Mae

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