Noah Lewis
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Noah Lewis (born September 3, 1895 in Henning, Tennessee, died February 7, 1961) was an American jug band musician, generally known for playing the harmonica.
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[edit] Early years
Lewis was raised in the vicinity of Ripley, Tennessee. He was noted for being able to blow two harmonicas at once--through his mouth and his nose. He played in local string bands and brass bands, and began playing in the Ripley and Memphis areas with Gus Cannon. When jug bands became popular in the mid-1920s, he joined Cannon's Jug Stompers and recorded for Victor Records in January 1928. The songs from that session included "Minglewood Blues", "Springdale Blues", and "Madison Rag". On a later recording with the Jug Stompers, "Viola Lee Blues", he sang lead vocal and played a melancholy harmonica solo.[1]
[edit] Death
He died in poverty of gangrene brought on by frostbite in Ripley, Tennessee, in 1961. Noah Lewis is buried in a cemetery near Nutbush, Tennessee.[2] After his death, several of his songs become part of the repertoire of the Grateful Dead, including "New, New Minglewood Blues", "Viola Lee Blues", and "Big Railroad Blues".
[edit] References
- ^ Barlow, William. "Looking Up At Down": The Emergence of Blues Culture. Temple University Press (1989), pp. 214-17. ISBN 0-87722-583-4.
- ^ A History of Tennessee Arts, University of Tennessee Press.
[edit] Further reading
- West, Carroll Van & Duncan Binnicker, Margaret (2004). A History of Tennessee Arts. Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 1-57233-239-5.
- Norris, Sharon (2000). Black America Series: Haywood County Tennessee. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-73850-605-2.
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