Arvella Gray
Arvella Gray | |
---|---|
Birth name | James Dixon |
Also known as | Blind Arvella Gray |
Born | January 28, 1906 Somerville, Texas |
Died | September 7, 1980 Chicago, Illinois | (aged 74)
Genres | Blues, Folk and Gospel |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument | Guitar |
Blind Arvella Gray (January 28, 1906 - September 7, 1980)[1] was an American blues, folk and gospel singer and guitarist.[2]
Gray was born James Dixon, in Somerville, Texas.[1] He spent the latter part of his life performing and busking folk, blues and gospel music at Chicago's Maxwell Street flea market and at rapid-transit depots.[3] In the 1960s, he recorded two singles for his own Gray label, including "Freedom Rider" backed with "Freedom Bus."
Gray's only album, The Singing Drifter (1973),[3] was reissued on the Conjuroo[4] record label in 2005. The reissue was produced by Cary Baker, who wrote the liner notes for the original vinyl LP, released by Birch Records.
Gray died in Chicago, Illinois, in September 1980, at the age of 74.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Doc Rock. "The 1980s". The Dead Rock Stars Club. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
- ^ Lewis, Catherine P. (November 22, 2005). "Blind Arvella Gray - The Singing Drifter". Paste Magazine. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
- ^ a b Colin Larkin, ed. (1995). The Guinness Who's Who of Blues (Second ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 151. ISBN 0-85112-673-1.
- ^ "Blind Arvella Gray, The Singing Drifter". Conjuroo.com. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
External links
[edit]
- 1906 births
- 1980 deaths
- American blues singers
- American blues guitarists
- American male guitarists
- Songwriters from Texas
- American street performers
- Blind musicians
- 20th-century American guitarists
- Guitarists from Texas
- African-American male songwriters
- African-American guitarists
- 20th-century African-American male singers
- 20th-century American male singers
- 20th-century American singers
- Burials at Restvale Cemetery
- American blind people
- American musicians with disabilities
- 20th-century American songwriters
- American blues musician stubs