R.L. Burnside
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R.L. Burnside
(November 23, 1926 – September 1, 2005)
R.L. spent the vast majority of his life around a small area of the Mississippi delta, playing familiar-esque Blues tracks for friends and neighbors and at parties. R.L. lived the life of a bona fide original Delta Blues man. He worked as a sharecropper, lost no less than five close relatives to murders, and even spent six months in the notorious Parchman Farm for killing a man in 1959, who attacked him after Burnside beat him in a dice game. He spent such a short time inside because his farming skills for his powerful white employer were unique. Of the murder, he said in an Observer Music Magazine interview: "I didn't mean to kill nobody. I just meant to shoot the sonofabitch in the head and two times in the chest. Him dying was between him and the Lord."
Like most original Mississippi Delta blues men, he rubbed shoulders with many of the other pioneers in Blues, like his cousin in-law, Muddy Waters. Even though many of his peers in the Delta became well known, R.L. unfairly didn't achieve widespread notoriety until later in his life, though he continued to play his unique style of guitar for Fat Possum Records until his passing in 2005. His style was unlike typical Blues; he was inventive and had a unique penchant for not sticking with traditional 12-bar Blues. He often repeated his rhythm over and over, creating a mesmerizing, deep sound to his songs. R.L. has been survived by generations of musical offspring, including his grandson, the very talented Blues musician Cedric Burnside, whose carried on his father's Blues tradition in excellent form.
Notable songs by R.L. Burnside
Notable Movies with R.L. Burnside
Black Snake Moan is dedicated to R.L. Burnside. many R.L. references are made, and his son Cedric Burnside plays drums in parts of the film.
R.L. Burnside's Record Label
Fat Possum Records
