Some Blues You Just have to Hear Series - Skip James

From a son of a servant mother and a bootlegging father turn religion, Nehemiah Curtis James, more commonly known as Skip James life was a 360 event with the blues weaved all the way through. Skip was born in 1902 in Mississippi. Segregation was still in full swing as well as prohibition. Compared to many blues artist, Skip had a tad bit better of an upbringing then most black kids of the times since his mother worked for a wealthy family, however, it still did not come without its share of up’s and downs. Skips father left him at the tender age of five, escaping from the law some say where others say he was running from the IRS. Skips father would re-enter his life two more times, the first time when he was 14 when his mother tried reuniting with him, and then again, when Skip was in his early 30’s. Both reunions were huge turning points in Skip’s life.

At the age 10, Skip’s mom got him a guitar. Henry Stuckey, age 15 at the time, taught Skip how to play the guitar by teaching him the well-known eight bar staple “Drunken Spree”. It was only two years later when Skip would come into contact with his father again when his mother moved them to Sidon, where his father resided at the time. His mom’s 2-year attempt to reunite with his father failed and at the age of 14 Skip ran away from home to return a year later. Skip tried school only to drop out, however did pick up some piano skills from his aunt.

James composed his first song “Illinois Blues” while working on a construction camp. After a series of different jobs in construction and lumber camps, James moved to Arkansas and began working as a lumber grader. It was there that he met up with a well known pimp of the times, Will Crabtree. Crabtree was an excellent pianist who taught young James how to play as well as how to work the women. James continue his fast paced lifestyle of working as a pianist and working the women to support his new interest in having a flashy wardrobe. This worked well for him for a while, but after a dispute with one of the women he had been hustling, James made fast tracks back to his home state.

By this time prohibition had gone to the way side and James started bootlegging to continue to sport the lifestyle he had become accustomed to. The return home was good for James, as he began to play the guitar again and dabble in singing the blues. He quickly picked up his own style of playing the guitar that he coined “cross note tuning” which was a mix of the three finger pick as done by Charlie Patton, Mississippi Hurt, and Bo Carter, in a e-minor tone. This style got him noticed by Paramount Records that lead to James having 26 singles recorded. James may have recorded many more ground braking blues had it not been for the 30-year furlough he took when he found religion with his father. He did not re-enter the music world again until the early 60’s. Skip James died from cancer only 5 years after re-entering the blues world at the age of 67.