Sam Collins (musician)

Sam Collins (possibly August 11, 1887 – possibly October 20, 1949),^[1] sometimes known as Crying Sam Collins,^[2] was an early American blues singer and guitarist.^[3] His style has been described as "South Mississippi", rather than Delta blues and "The Jail House Blues" is his best-known recording.^[3]

Collins was born in Louisiana and grew up in McComb, Mississippi, just across the state line.^[4] By 1924, he was performing in local barrelhouses, often with King Solomon Hill; both of them sang falsetto parts and played slide guitar.^[4] Collins's first recording in 1927 was "Yellow Dog Blues", made for Gennett Records and recorded in Richmond, Indiana. His bottleneck guitar was referred to as a "git-fiddle" on record labels of the time, and blues historian Robert Palmer noted that his guitar "seemed to literally weep".^[2]

Collins recorded again in 1931; some of his later recordings appeared under different pseudonyms, such as Jim Foster,^[3] Jelly Roll Hunter, Big Boy Woods, Bunny Carter, and Salty Dog Sam. His rural bottleneck guitar pieces were among the first to be compiled on LP.^[3]

In the late 1930s, Collins relocated to Chicago, where he died from heart disease in October 1949, at the age of 62.^[4]

• 14 Rare Country Blues by Sam Collins & 2 Surprises by King Solomon Hill (Origin Jazz Library, 1965)
• Jailhouse Blues (Yazoo, 1990)
• King of the Blues Vol. 11 (P-Vine, 1992)
• Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order 1927–1931 (Document, 1992)

1927, Richmond, Indiana

• "The Jailhouse Blues"
• "I Want to Be Like Jesus in My Heart"
• "Yellow Dog Blues"
• "Loving Lady Blues"
• "Riverside Blues"
• "Devil in the Lion's Den"
• "Dark Cloudy Blues"
• "Pork Chop Blues"
• "Lead Me All the Way"
• "Midnight Special Blues"
• "Do That Thing"
• "Hesitation Blues"
• "It Won't Be Long Now"
• "The Worried Man Blues"
• "The Moanin' Blues"

1931, New York City

• "Lonesome Road Blues"
• "Slow Mama Slow"
• "My Road Is Rough and Rocky"
• "New Salty Dog"
• "Graveyard Digger's Blues"
• "Signifying Blues"
• "I'm Still Sitting on Top of the World"