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Melvin
"Lil' Son" Jackson (August 16, 1915, Tyler, Texas - May 30,
1976, Dallas) was an American blues guitarist. He was a contemporary of
Lightnin' Hopkins.
Jackson's mother played gospel guitar, and he played early on in a
gospel group called the Blue Eagle Four. He trained to be a mechanic and
did a stint in the Army during World War II, then decided to pursue a
career in blues music. He recorded a demo and sent it to Bill Quinn, the
owner of Gold Star Records, in 1946. Quinn signed him to a recording
contract and released "Freedom Train Blues" in 1948, which became a
nationwide hit in the U.S. He recorded for Imperial Records between 1950
and 1954, both as a solo artist and with a backing band. His 1950 tune
"Rockin' and Rollin" was recast by later musicians as "Rock Me Baby".
He was hurt in a car crash in the middle of the 1950s and gave up his
music career, returning to work as a mechanic. In 1960 Arhoolie Records
had him record a full-length self-titled album, but he did not make a
major comeback in the wake of the blues revival. He died of cancer in
1976 in Dallas, at the age of 60.
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