Editing Blind Lemon Jefferson (section)

===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>