Cootie Stark (December 27, 1927 – April
14, 2005) was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter.
His best remembered recordings were 'Metal Bottoms' and 'Sandyland.' Stark
was known as the 'King of the Piedmont blues.'
Biography
He was born either James Miller or Johnny Miller, in Abbeville, South
Carolina, United States, the son of sharecroppers, and grew up in Anderson
County. Stark was given his first guitar by his father at the age of 14,
having then relocated to Greenville, South Carolina. His poor eyesight meant
that he was unable to find regular employment. He began busking on street
corners, and learned his art from fellow street performers such as
Peg Leg Sam,
Pink Anderson and
Josh White plus, particularly in his
earliest days, from Baby Tate. He acquired
the nickname, Sugar Man, and continued to work his trade as a songster in
the area. His performing name of Cootie Stark was an amalgam of a childhood
nickname and his grandfather's surname.
His eyesight deteriorated until he was legally registered as blind, but
Stark continued to perform across the State and beyond, often using the name
Blind Johnny Miller. However by the 1980s, with playing prospects
diminishing, Stark settled in Greenville. 'By then, the real Piedmont blues
was pretty much gone,' he stated. 'All them guys were dead and gone and I
wasn't making no headway.' In 1997, when Stark was over seventy years old,
he was heard playing Fats Domino songs by Tim Duffy, the founder of the
Music Maker Relief Foundation. Their record label released Stark's debut
album, Sugar Man, in 1999. In 2003, Stark released his second and final
album, Raw Sugar, when he was again accompanied on record by Taj Mahal. He
received the South Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 2005.
Stark died at the age of 77, in Greenville, in April 2005.
