Lowell Fulson

Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921 – March 7, 1999)^[1] was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most important figure in West Coast blues in the 1940s and 1950s.^[2][3]

Lowell Fulson
Performing in Paris in 1980
Background information
Born	(1921-03-31)March 31, 1921 Atoka, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	March 7, 1999(1999-03-07) (aged 77) Long Beach, California, U.S.
Genres	West Coast blues soul blues
Occupations	Musician singer songwriter
Instrument	Guitar
Years active	1940s–1999
Labels	Swing Time Checker Kent Rounder

Early life

Fulson was born on a Choctaw reservation in Atoka, Oklahoma, to Mamie and Martin Fulson. He stated that he was of Cherokee ancestry through his father but also claimed Choctaw ancestry. His father was killed when Lowell was a child, and a few years later, he moved with his mother and brothers to live in Clarita and attended school at Coalgate.^[4]

Career

At the age of eighteen, he moved to Ada, Oklahoma, and joined Alger "Texas" Alexander for a few months in 1940,^[1] but later moved to California, where he formed a band which soon included a young Ray Charles and the tenor saxophone player Stanley Turrentine. Fulson was drafted in 1943 and served in the U.S. Navy until 1945.^[1]

Lowell Fulson at the 1970 Ann Arbor (Mich.) Blues Festival.

Fulson recorded for Swing Time Records in the 1940s, Chess Records (on the Checker label) in the 1950s, Kent Records in the 1960s, and Rounder Records (on Bullseye Blues) in the 1980s/1990s. He wrote "3 O'Clock Blues" (B.B. King's first hit), "Reconsider Baby" (a blues standard), and "Tramp" (co-written with Jimmy McCracklin and recorded by several artists). His 1965 song "Black Nights" was his first hit in a decade, and "Tramp" did even better, restoring him to R&B stardom.^[1] In 1966 his brother Robert Fulson married former member of The Raelettes Margie Hendrix and they both started performing live with Lowell before they divorced in 1968.

A show entitled California Blues: Swingtime Tribute opened in 1993 at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California, with Fulson, Johnny Otis, Charles Brown, Jay McShann, Jimmy Witherspoon, Jimmy McCracklin and Earl Brown.^[5] Fulson's last recording was a duet of "Every Day I Have the Blues" with Jimmy Rogers on the latter's 1999 Atlantic Records release, The Jimmy Rogers All-Stars: Blues, Blues, Blues.

Death

Fulson died in Long Beach, California, on March 7, 1999, at the age of 77.^[6][7] His companion, Tina Mayfield said that the causes of death were complications from kidney disease, diabetes, and congestive heart failure. He was the father of four and grandfather of thirteen. Fulson was interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery, in Inglewood, California.

Awards and recognition

• 1993: Induction into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame
• 1993: Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, Classics of Blues Recording – Singles or Album Tracks, for "Reconsider Baby"
• 1993: Blues Foundation Blues Music Award, Traditional Album of the Year, for Hold On
• 1993: Rhythm and Blues Foundation, Pioneer Award
• 1995: Grammy Awards, nomination as Best Traditional Blues Album of the Year, for Them Update Blues
• 1995: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, "Reconsider Baby" included in the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll"
• 2010: Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, Classics of Blues Recording – Albums, for Hung Down Head

Partial discography

Charting singles

^[8]

Year	Title	Label	R&B Chart no.
1948	"Three O'Clock Blues"	Down Town	6
1949	"Come Back Baby"	Downbeat	13
1950	"Every Day I Have the Blues"	Swing Time	3
	"Blue Shadows"		1
	"Lonesome Christmas (I & II)"		7
	"Low Society Blues"		8
1951	"I'm a Night Owl (I & II)"		10
1954	"Reconsider Baby"	Checker	3
1955	"Loving You"		14
1965	"Black Nights"	Kent	11
1967	"Tramp"		5
	"Make a Little Love"		20
	"I'm a Drifter"		38
1976	"Do You Love Me"	Granite	78

Selected albums

^[9]

Year	Title	Label
1959	Back Home Blues	Night Train Int'l
1962	Lowell Fulson	Arhoolie
1965	Soul	Kent
1967	Tramp
1969	Now
	In a Heavy Bag	Jewel
1970	Hung Down Head	Chess
1971	Let's Go Get Stoned	Kent
1973	I've Got the Blues	Jewel
1975	Lowell Fulson (Early Recordings)	Arhoolie
	Ol' Blues Singer	Granite
1976	Lowell Fulson (Chess Blues Masters)	Chess
1984	Every Day I Have the Blues	Night Train Int'l
	One More Blues	Black & Blue
1988	San Francisco Blues	Black Lion
	It's a Good Day	Rounder
1992	Hold On	Bullseye Blues/Rounder
1995	Sinner's Prayer	Night Train Int'l
	Them Update Blues	Bullseye Blues/Rounder
1996	Mean Old Lonesome Blues	Night Train Int'l
1997	The Complete Chess Masters (50th Anniversary Collection)	Chess/MCA
2001	I've Got the Blues (... and Then Some) (complete Jewel recordings)	Westside [UK]
2002	The Complete Kent Recordings 1964–1968	P-Vine
2004	1946–1953, Vols. 1–4 (complete Big Town, Downbeat/Swing Time recordings)	JSP

With John Lee Hooker

• I Feel Good! (Carson, 1970; Jewel, 1971)
• I Wanna Dance All Night (America, 1970)