Editing Blind Lemon Jefferson (section)

===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}}