Local Bluesmen: John Littlejohn - Lake, Mississippi Bluesman

John Littlejohn and Band, 1960's (photo by Raeburn Flerlage)

I have been listening to the blues since I was in my late teens.  I've lived in Mississippi all of my life.  Not the Mississippi Delta, mind you, but there is a bit of a tradition  of blues artists from this area.  The county I've lived in most of my life - Newton County - boasts several artists associated with the blues.

Kenneth Kidd, a.k.a. Prez Kenneth was born in the town where I live, Decatur.  He migrated to Chicago and recorded several 45's in the 60's that are collector's items.  

Willie Nix was a singing drummer who recorded for Sun Records, among others.  He was born in Union, 10 miles north of me.  

Andrew Brown, one of my favorites, was born in Newton County and when he moved to Chicago, he recorded blues, jazz, R&B, and gospel tracks and was featured in Alligator's Living Chicago Blues series.  

I have posted about each of these artists, as well as others - Allman Brothers Band bassist Lamar Williams (also born in Decatur), radio magnate/politician Charles Evers (also born in Decatur), and record store owner/talent scout H.C. Spier (born in Prospect) on the Facebook edition of this blog, but plan to devote a blog post to these guys soon....stay tuned.

There are several other blues artists who were born in the adjacent counties, most notably Otis Rush, who was born in Neshoba County near Philadelphia, and Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, who was born in Scott County near Forest.  

Speaking of Scott County, I recently discovered another blues artist who was born there, pretty close to the Scott/Newton County line.

I had heard John Littlejohn on a couple of compilations over the years, but really didn't have much background on him until a few weeks back when I discovered he was born in Lake via allmusic.com.  That prompted me to dig a little deeper on his background, which was pretty interesting.

He was born John Wesley Funchess on April 16, 1931 in Lake and spent most of his early life there.  Per Bill Dahl's biography at allmusic, he first heard the blues as a young teen at a local fish fry, played by his father's friend named Henry Martin, who was playing guitar.  He worked at plantations when he was young, during which time his father won a guitar, which encouraged him to learn to play with mentoring from Martin.  At 15, he left home, headed to Jackson, MS, then to Arkansas and Rochester, NY before ending up in Gary, IN, working his way into that city's blues scene at age 20.  He was influenced by Elmore James and had become a first-rate slide guitarist by that time.

Littlejohn played in Chicago with James, Jimmy Reed, Eddie Taylor, Jimmy Rogers, Howlin' Wolf, and Muddy Waters, among others, before going solo in the mid 60's.  Also, as a result of his residency in Gary, he became acquainted with Joe Jackson and Littlejohn and his band occasionally served as a rehearsal band for Jackson's family band, better known as the Jackson 5.  

In addition to being an outstanding guitarist, he also proved to be a superb singer and songwriter.  He began cutting singles for several record labels (Margaret Records, T-D-S Records, Joliet Records) around Chicago, beginning in 1966.  His biggest tune was his version of the Brook Benton song, "Kiddio." 

He recorded his first album for Arhoolie Records, John Littlejohn's Chicago Blues Stars, in 1969, which is possibly the best representation of his talents, and cut four sides for Chess Records that weren't released at the time.  

He hit a lean period in the early 70's, going to work at a gas station and working as a mechanic, but was rediscovered by European blues fans.  He released a few other albums for Bluesway (Funky From Chicago), MCM/Storyville (the excellent live album Dream), Black & Blue (another live set from the 1978 Chicago Blues Festival), and in the mid 80's for Rooster Blues (So Called Friends), and was able to work pretty regularly throughout the 80's and early 90's.

Sadly, Littlejohn fell into ill health in the early 90's and passed away in Chicago on February 1, 1994 from renal failure at the age of 62.

Recently, I was able to pick up copies of Chicago Blues Stars (reissued by Arhoolie as Slidin' Home) and the live Dream set.  Both are outstanding and show Littlejohn to be a versatile guitarist and a strong vocalist.  The live set was recorded at Ma Bea's in the mid 70's and is one of the better live sets that I've heard from that era.  

I, for one, think that the Mississippi Blues Commission should consider placing a Blues Marker in Lake to honor John Littlejohn.  He's certainly one of the most underrated Chicago blues guitarists and deserves some recognition for his talents.  Be sure to check him out if you're not familiar.