EUGENE POWELL

Biography

Eugene Powell, born December 23, 1908, in Utica, Hinds County, Mississippi, to a Black mother, Rosie Powell, and white father, Homer Powell, grew up amid racial tensions, losing his right eye to a bow and arrow injury as a boy. At age eight, after moving to the Delta region including Lombardy and later Hollandale, his mother ordered him a guitar from Sears and Roebuck; he mastered it in days and began performing at local picnics, suppers, and even entertaining guards at Parchman prison farm with his brother Ben on mandolin. By the early 1920s, Powell became a fixture in the Hollandale music scene, playing blues, ragtime, and popular tunes for both Black and white audiences across Mississippi, Arkansas Delta, Tennessee, and Louisiana.[1][2][7]

In the 1930s, Powell's career peaked with key associations alongside the Mississippi Sheiks' core members—Lonnie Chatmon, Sam Chatmon, and Walter Vinson—and guitarist Richard “Hacksaw” Harney. On October 15, 1936, at the recommendation of Bo Carter, he recorded six sides as 'Sonny Boy Nelson' for Bluebird Records in New Orleans, including classics like “Street Walkin’ Woman” and “Pony Blues,” while providing guitar on tracks by his wife Mississippi Matilda and harmonica player Robert Hill; he likely appeared on Chatman Brothers sessions that day. After a brief stint in Decatur, Illinois, in the early 1950s and separation from Matilda, amplified blues diminished his opportunities, leading him to focus on local life in Greenville, caring for his disabled girlfriend Carrie.[1][2]

Rediscovered around 1970 by Gene Rosenthal and Mike Stewart for Adelphi Records, Powell performed at the 1972 Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife with old partners like Harney, Sam Chatmon, and Houston Stackhouse, appeared in Alan Lomax's 1978 documentary The Land Where the Blues Began, and played festivals including Delta Blues Festival, Chicago Blues Festival (1992), and King Biscuit Blues Festival (1994). His only full-length album, Police in Mississippi Blues, was released by Albatross Records in 1975. Powell remained Mississippi's last active pre-war Delta recording artist until his death on December 23, 1998—his 90th birthday—in Greenville, buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Metcalfe, with a headstone funded by John Fogerty.[1][2][4]

Fun Facts

• Learned guitar in just three days at age eight after his mother ordered one from Sears and Roebuck, soon performing at Parchman prison farm with his brother Ben.
• Recorded under the pseudonym 'Sonny Boy Nelson' for his 1936 Bluebird sides; the group got lost en route to New Orleans, needing a truck driver to guide them.
• Last active pre-war Mississippi Delta recording artist who stayed in the state; turned down broader blues revival tours to care for his disabled girlfriend Carrie, saying, 'Just because somebody wore out, you don’t throw them away.'
• A memorial headstone in Evergreen Cemetery, Metcalfe, MS, was placed November 4, 1998, funded by John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Richard “Hacksaw” Harney - Stylistic influence on guitar playing; considered the best Delta guitarist (Local performances in 1920s-1930s) [1920s-1930s]
• Blind Lemon Jefferson - Recordings as key inspiration (N/A) [1920s]
• Blind Blake - Recordings as key inspiration (N/A) [1920s]
• Lonnie Johnson - Recordings as key inspiration (N/A) [1920s]

Key Collaborators

• Bo Carter - Recommended and co-produced recordings; over 30 songs in 1936 session (1936 Bluebird session) [1936]
• Mississippi Matilda - Wife; guitar accompaniment on her vocals (Four songs, 1936 Bluebird) [1930s]
• Robert Hill - Guitar accompaniment on harmonica tracks (Ten songs, 1936 Bluebird) [1936]
• Lonnie Chatmon - Regular performances; possible on Chatman Brothers recordings (1936 Bluebird session; Mississippi Sheiks nucleus) [1920s-1930s, 1972]
• Sam Chatmon - Regular performances; urged 1970 return to music (Mississippi Sheiks nucleus; 1972 Smithsonian) [1920s-1970s]
• Walter Vinson - Regular performances with Mississippi Sheiks nucleus (Local Delta scenes) [1920s-1930s]
• Brother Willie Harris - Second guitar on recordings (1936 Bluebird as Sonny Boy Nelson) [1936]

Discography

Albums

Top Tracks

1. Greenville Boogie (I Got the Blues This Morning)
2. I Got the Blues and I Can't Be Satisfied (I Got the Blues This Morning)
3. Big Fat Mama (I Got the Blues This Morning)
4. Eugene Powell Discusses Pony Blues (Blues At Home 14: Interviews)
5. Eugene Powell Discusses Forty-Four Blues (Blues At Home 14: Interviews)
6. Eugene Powell Discusses Texas Blues (Blues At Home 14: Interviews)
7. Eugene Powell Discusses Meet Me in the Bottom (Blues At Home 14: Interviews)
8. Eugene Powell Discusses Poor Boy Blues (Blues At Home 14: Interviews)
9. Eugene Powell Discusses M & O Blues (Blues At Home 14: Interviews)
10. Eugene Powell Discusses I've Been a Dog in My Family (Blues At Home 14: Interviews)

External Links

• Spotify