Editing Blind Lemon Jefferson (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
Jefferson was born [[Blindness|blind]], near [[Coutchman, Texas]]. He was the youngest of seven<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/302253/Blind-Lemon-Jefferson |title=Blind Lemon Jefferson: American Musician |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=2015-08-30}}</ref> (or possibly eight) children born to Clarissa and Alex Jefferson, who were [[African-American]] [[Sharecropping|sharecroppers]].<ref name="dicaire"/> Disputes regarding the date of his birth derive from the fact that census records and his draft registration show different dates. By 1900, the family was farming southeast of [[Streetman, Texas]]. Jefferson's birth date was recorded as September 1893 in the [[1900 United States census|1900 census]].<ref>1900 US Census. Census place: Justice precinct 5, Freestone, Texas. Roll T623 1636, p. 3A. Enumeration district 37.</ref> The [[1910 United States census|1910 census]], taken in May, before his birthday, confirms his year of birth as 1893 and indicated that the family was farming northwest of [[Wortham, Texas|Wortham]], near his birthplace.<ref>1910 US Census. Census place: Justice precinct 6, Navarro, Texas. Roll T624_1580, p. 17B. Enumeration district 98. Image 982.</ref>

In his 1917 [[Conscription in the United States|draft registration]], Jefferson gave his birthday as October 26, 1894, stating that he lived in [[Dallas, Texas]], and had been blind since birth.<ref>World War I Draft Registration records, Dallas County, Texas. Roll 1952850. Draft board 2.</ref> In the [[1920 United States census|1920 census]], he is recorded as having returned to [[Freestone County, Texas|Freestone County]] and was living with his half-brother, Kit Banks, on a farm between Wortham and Streetman.<ref>1920 US Census. Census place: Kirvin, Freestone, Texas. Roll T625_1805, p. 3A. Enumeration district 24. Image 231.</ref>

Jefferson began playing the guitar in his early teens and soon after he began performing at picnics and parties. He became a [[busking|street musician]], playing in [[East Texas]] towns in front of barbershops and on street corners.<ref name="dicaire"/> According to his cousin Alec Jefferson, quoted in the notes for the compilation album ''The Complete 94 Classic Sides: Remastered'':

{{blockquote|They were rough. Men were hustling women and selling bootleg and Lemon was singing for them all night... he'd start singing about eight and go on until four in the morning... mostly it would be just him sitting there and playing and singing all night.}}

One of Jefferson's first appearances was at the General Association of Baptist Churches in [[Buffalo, Texas]]. There he would perform classic [[gospel music]] which would later lead to his first album release in 1926 containing two hit gospel songs, &nbsp;"[[Lord, I Want to Be a Christian|I Want to Be Like Jesus in My Heart]]" and "All I Want Is That Pure Religion". According to his friend, the folk musician [[Lead Belly]], in 1917, Jefferson was commonly found on the corner of Elm and Central Tracks in a part of Dallas called [[Deep Ellum]]. Jefferson was restricted in many parts of Dallas by the [[white people|white]] population, leaving his only option to play the African-American neighborhood that made up Deep Ellum.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wolfe |first1=Charles K. |title=The life and legend of Leadbelly |last2=Lornell |first2=Kip |date=1992 |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers |isbn=978-0-06-016862-9 |edition=1st |location=New York, NY}}</ref>

In 1912, Jefferson began traveling frequently to Dallas, where he played with Lead Belly.<ref name=loc /><ref name="dicaire" /> Jefferson was one of the earliest and most prominent figures in the blues movement developing in Deep Ellum. It is probable that he moved to Deep Ellum on a more permanent basis by 1917, where he met Aaron Thibeaux Walker, also known as [[T-Bone Walker]]. Jefferson taught Walker the basics of playing blues guitar in exchange for Walker's occasional services as a guide.<ref>{{cite book|title=Deep Blues|author=Robert Palmer|year=1981|author-link=Robert Palmer (American writer)|publisher=Penguin Books|page=[https://archive.org/details/deepblues00palm/page/107 107]|isbn=978-0-14-006223-6|url=https://archive.org/details/deepblues00palm/page/107}}</ref> By the early 1920s, Jefferson was earning enough money for his musical performances to support a wife and, possibly, a child.<ref name="dicaire" /> However, firm evidence of his marriage and children has not been found.

===Beginning of recording career===
Prior to Jefferson, few artists had recorded solo voice and blues guitar, the first of which were the vocalist [[Sara Martin]] and the guitarist [[Sylvester Weaver (musician)|Sylvester Weaver]], who recorded "Longing for Daddy Blues", probably on October 24, 1923.<ref>Gibbs, Craig Martin (2012). ''Black Recording Artists, 1877–1926: An Annotated Discography''. McFarland & Company. p. 175.</ref> The first self-accompanied solo performer of a self-composed blues song was [[Lee Morse]], whose "Mail Man Blues" was recorded on October 7, 1924.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.washingtonhistory.org/files/library/LeeMorse.pdf |title=Miss Lee Morse: The First Recorded Jazz Singer |author=Nyback, Dennis W. |website=Washingtonhistory.org |access-date=2016-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214164245/http://www.washingtonhistory.org/files/library/LeeMorse.pdf |archive-date=2019-02-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Jefferson's music is uninhibited and represented the classic sounds of everyday life, from a [[honky-tonk]] to a country picnic, to street corner blues, to work in the burgeoning oil fields (a reflection of his interest in mechanical objects and processes).<ref>Specht, Joe W. (2010). "Oil Well Blues: African-American Oil Patch Songs". Paper presented at joint annual meeting of the East Texas Historical Association and [[West Texas Historical Association]], [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]], February 27, 2010</ref>

Jefferson did what few had ever done before him – he became a successful solo guitarist and male vocalist in the commercial recording world.<ref name="Evans 2000 83–116">{{cite journal|title=Music Innovation in the Blues of Blind Lemon Jefferson|journal=Black Music Research Journal |year=2000|first=David|last=Evans|volume=20|issue=1|pages=83–116|doi=10.2307/779317 |jstor=779317}}</ref> Unlike many artists who were "discovered" and recorded in their normal venues, Jefferson was taken to [[Chicago]] in December 1925 or January 1926 to record his first tracks. Uncharacteristically for him, the first two recordings on this session were gospel songs ("[[Lord, I Want to Be a Christian|I Want to Be Like Jesus in My Heart]]" and "All I Want Is That Pure Religion"), and they were released under the name '''Deacon L. J. Bates'''. A second recording session was held in March 1926.<ref name="Russell">{{cite book|first=Tony|last=Russell|year=1997|title=The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray|publisher=Carlton Books|location=Dubai|page=12|isbn=1-85868-255-X}}</ref> His first releases under his own name, "Booster Blues" and "Dry Southern Blues", were hits. Their popularity led to the release of the other two songs from that session, "Got the Blues" and "Long Lonesome Blues", which became a runaway success, with sales in six figures. He recorded about a hundred tracks between 1926 and 1929; forty-three records were issued, all but one of them on [[Paramount Records]]. Almost all of his recordings for Paramount had poor sound quality because Paramount's studio techniques and production were poor during that time. In May 1926, Paramount re-recorded Jefferson performing his hits "Got the Blues" and "Long Lonesome Blues" in the superior facilities at [[Autograph Records|Marsh Laboratories]], and their subsequent releases used these newer versions. Both the original and re-recorded versions appear on modern compilation albums.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

===Success with Paramount Records===
[[File:ParamountLabelBLJefferson.jpg|thumb|Label of one of Jefferson's Paramount records, 1926]]
Largely because of the popularity of artists such as Jefferson and his contemporaries [[Blind Blake]] and [[Ma Rainey]], Paramount became the leading recording company for the blues in the 1920s.<ref>Dixon, R. M. W.; Godrich, J. (1970). "Recording the Blues". Reprinted in Oliver, Paul; Russell, Tony; Dixon, Robert M. W.; Godrich, John; Rye, Howard (2001). ''Yonder Come the Blues''. Cambridge. p. 288. {{ISBN|0-521-78777-7}}.</ref> Jefferson's earnings reputedly enabled him to buy a car and employ chauffeurs (this information has been disputed); he was given a Ford car "worth over $700" by [[Mayo Williams]], Paramount's connection with the black community. This was a common compensation for recording rights in that market. Jefferson is known to have done an unusual amount of traveling for the time in the American South, which is reflected in the difficulty of placing his music in a single regional category.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

Jefferson's "old-fashioned" sound and confident musicianship made it easy to market him. His skillful guitar playing and impressive vocal range opened the door for a new generation of male solo blues performers, such as [[Furry Lewis]], [[Charlie Patton]], and [[Barbecue Bob]].<ref name="Evans 2000 83–116" /> He stuck to no musical conventions, varying his [[riff]]s and rhythm and singing complex and expressive lyrics in a manner exceptional at the time for a "simple country blues singer." According to the [[North Carolina]] musician Walter Davis, Jefferson played on the streets in [[Johnson City, Tennessee]], during the early 1920s, at which time Davis and the entertainer Clarence Greene learned the art of blues guitar.<ref>Erbsen, Wayne (1981). "Walter Davis: Fist and Skull Banjo". ''Bluegrass Unlimited'', March 1981. pp. 22–26</ref>

Jefferson was reputedly unhappy with his royalties (although Williams said that Jefferson had a bank account containing as much as $1,500). In 1927, when Williams moved to [[Okeh Records]], he took Jefferson with him, and Okeh quickly recorded and released Jefferson's "Matchbox Blues", backed with "[[That Black Snake Moan|Black Snake Moan]]".<ref name="Russell" /> It was his only Okeh recording, probably because of contractual obligations with Paramount. Jefferson's two songs released on Okeh have considerably better sound quality than his Paramount records at the time. When he returned to Paramount a few months later, "Matchbox Blues" had already become such a hit that Paramount re-recorded and released two new versions, with the producer [[Arthur Laibly]]. In 1927, Jefferson recorded another of his classic songs, the haunting "[[See That My Grave Is Kept Clean]]" (again using the pseudonym Deacon L. J. Bates), and two other uncharacteristically spiritual songs, "He Arose from the Dead" and "Where Shall I Be". "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" was so successful that it was re-recorded and re-released in 1928.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wirz.de/music/jefferso.htm|title=Blind Lemon Jefferson Discography|website=Wirz.de|accessdate=August 4, 2021}}</ref>

===Death and grave===
[[File:Blind Lemon Jefferson grave in Wortham, TX.jpg|thumb|Jefferson's grave in [[Wortham, Texas]]]]
Jefferson died in Chicago at 10:00&nbsp;a.m. on December 19, 1929, of what his death certificate said was "probably acute [[myocarditis]]".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Frog Blues & Jazz Annual No. 1: The Musicians, the Records & the Music of the 78 Era |year=2010 |publisher=[[Frog Records]] |isbn=978-0956471703}}</ref> For many years, rumors circulated that a jealous lover had poisoned his coffee, but a more likely explanation is that he died of a heart attack after becoming disoriented during a snowstorm. Some{{Who|date=August 2020}} have said that he died of a heart attack after being attacked by a dog in the middle of the night. In his 1983 book ''Tolbert's Texas'', [[Frank X. Tolbert]] claims that he was killed while being robbed of a large royalty payment by a guide escorting him to [[Chicago Union Station]] to catch a train home to Texas. Paramount Records paid for the return of his body to Texas by train, accompanied by the pianist [[William Ezell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/william-ezell-mn0000585184|title=William Ezell – Biography & History|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=11 January 2019}}</ref>

Jefferson was buried at [[Wortham, Texas|Wortham]] Negro Cemetery (later Wortham Black Cemetery) in Wortham, Freestone County, Texas. His grave was unmarked until 1967, when a Texas historical marker was erected in the general area of his plot; however, the precise location of the grave is still unknown. By 1996, the cemetery and marker were in poor condition, and a new granite headstone was erected in 1997. The inscription reads: "[[See That My Grave Is Kept Clean|Lord, it's one kind favor I'll ask of you, see that my grave is kept clean]]."<ref>{{Cite web|last1=McLeod|first1=Gerald E.|date=January 22, 2021|title=Day Trips: Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery, Wortham|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/columns/2021-01-22/day-trips-blind-lemon-memorial-cemetery-wortham/|access-date=2021-01-24|website=Austinchronicle.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.keeponliving.at/song/see_that_my_grave_is_kept_clean.html|title=See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (Blind Lemon Jefferson)|website=Keeponliving.at|access-date=11 January 2019}}</ref> In 2007, the cemetery's name was changed to Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery, and his gravesite is kept clean by a cemetery committee in Wortham.<ref>[http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fje01 "Jefferson, Blind Lemon"]. ''Handbook of Texas Online''. [[Texas State Historical Association]]. May 30, 2010. "In 2007 the name of the cemetery was changed to Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery."</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g56920-d11739652-i225533906-Blind_Lemon_Memorial_Cemetery-Wortham_Texas.html|title=Blind Lemon's Headstone – Picture of Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery, Wortham|website=Tripadvisor.co.za|access-date=16 September 2018}}</ref>