Napoleon Strickland

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Napoleon Strickland (a.k.a. Napolian Strickland) 1924July 21, 2001) was a pioneering fife and drum blues artist. He played guitar, drums, harmonica , fife, and all manner of percussion. He was a songwriter, and vocalist specializing in the northern Mississippi-based genre called country blues. He was born near Como in the northern Mississippi Delta.

[edit] Life

His father introduced him to the music as a boy but it was Otha Turner that taught him how to play. He was adept with guitar, drums, harmonica, diddley-bow, fife, and all manner of percussion. But he was primarily a fie player and singer, playing a great number of festivals, on appearing on several compilation albums of North Mississippi Country Blues. He also appeared in the bopic documentary film The Land Where The Blues Began. [1]