Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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HOPKINS, Lightnin'

(b Sam Hopkins, 15 March 1912, Centerville TX; d 30 January 1982, Houston) Blues singer, guitarist; but more than a blues singer: a minstrel, the last of the street singers: many of the large numbers of songs credited to him were musical stories made up on the spot. Raised in Leona, Texas; to Houston in the late 1920s and never left it for long, though he toured the world, recording prolifically. He played and sang on city buses with Texas Alexander '45-50s; played Carnegie Hall '60. He adopted his nickname working with pianist Wilson 'Thunder' Smith, with whom he recorded on Aladdin '46-7; recorded with his brother Joel (b 3 January 1904; d 15 February 1975, Galveston) on Gold Star in Houston '47-9, brother John Henry (b 3 February 1901) on Arhoolie '64. Apart from many radio and festival appearances, TV and films including The Blues '62, The Sun's Gonna Shine '67, The Blues According To Lightnin' Hopkins '68, Blues Like Showers Of Rain '70 (UK), Sam Lightnin' Hopkins (Artists in America series) and Boboquivari (both '71 for PBS- TV), soundtrack for film Sounder '72 (with Taj Mahal). Tracks with his brothers and Barbara Dane (b 12 May 1927, Detroit) were on Arhoolie; two volumes of The Gold Star Sessions on Arhoolie CDs; but there was no end to his stories and his recording was exhaustive: almost 50 CD titles listed in Schwann in 1997 included eleven on Collectables alone, plus a six-CD Complete Prestige/Bluesville Recordings.