| Blues
drummer Sam Carr dies at 83 |
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CP) – 5 hours ago
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JACKSON,
Miss. — Sam Carr, a drummer who was considered an anchor in
the blues scene that continues to draw fans to the poverty-stricken
Delta region where the music form was born, died Monday. He was 83.
Carr died of congestive heart failure, said John Andrews, director
of Century Funeral Home in Clarksdale. Carr had a reputation as one
of the best blues drummers in the country, but he made his living
in the Mississippi Delta where he was raised.
At one time or another, Carr had backed big names like Sonny Boy Williamson
II and Buddy Guy. Carr had received multiple honours, including the
Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2007. He also received
several awards from Living Blues magazine. Carr's father was 1930s
blues guitarist and vocalist Robert Nighthawk who made famous the
song, "Sweet Black Angel." Early in his career Carr often
played with father.
Carr was born Samuel Lee McCollum in 1926 near Marvell, Arkansas.
His name was changed after he was adopted as a toddler by a Mississippi
family with a farm near Dundee, according to a biography written by
Scott Barretta, a blues professor at the University of Mississippi.
He moved back to Arkansas at age 16 and collected money at door of
clubs where his father performed.
He worked as a sharecropper before turning his full attention to blues
music, moving to St. Louis and playing bass with harmonica player
Tree Top Slim. He returned to Mississippi in the early 1960s and formed
the Jellyroll Kings.
Services for Carr will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at the funeral
home chapel in Clarksdale, burial will follow in Thompson Chapel Cemetery
in Dundee.
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Publisher's note: On the Juke
Joint Journey, we had the pleasure of visiting Sam on his farm
and spending some time just hanging out together. Arthur Williams
and Sam shared a lot of history, and we were just happy to have that
'Blues Moment' with them both. Missed by many, may Sam's music be
eternal.
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