Gus Cannon

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Gus Cannon (September 12, 1883 - October 15, 1979) was an African American blues musician who helped to popularize jug bands (such as his own Cannon's Jug Stompers) in the 1920s and 1930s.

Cannon's musical skills came without training; he taught himself to play using an improvised instrument made from a frying pan and raccoon skin. He began playing in Memphis in the 1900s with Noah Lewis and Jim Jackson, then started working in medicine shows in 1914.

Cannon began recording in 1927, both alone and with Lewis, Hosea Wood, Blind Blake and Ashley Thompson. By the end of the 1930s, though, Cannon had retired, returning in 1956 to make a few recordings for Folkways Records. In the 1960s he made one last recording with his fellow Memphis musician, Will Shade, the former leader of The Memphis Jug Band.

A few songs he recorded with the Cannon's Jug Stompers are Minglewood Blues, Pig Ankle Strut, Viola Lee Blues, White House Station, and Walk Right In.