Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906July 17, 1983) was an American blues musician, also known as "the Honeydripper."

Career

Sykes was born the son of a musician in Elmar, Arkansas. "Just a little old sawmill town," Sykes said of his birthplace. The Sykes family was living in St. Louis by 1909. Sykes often visited his grandfather's farm near West Helena. He began playing the church organ around the age of ten. "Every summer I would go down to Helena to visit my grandfather on his farm," he told biographer Valerie Wilmer. "He was a preacher and he had an organ I used to practice on, trying to learn how to play. I always liked the sound of the blues, liked to hear people singing, and since I was singing first, I was trying to play like I sang." In 1925 Sykes met Leothus "Lee" Green, a piano player in a West Helena theater playing a mix of blues, ragtime, waltz, and jazz to accompany silent movies. They worked the Louisiana and Mississippi work camp and roadhouse circuit together, with the older man acting as mentor and protector to Sykes. the writer of the blues standard "Goin' Down Slow."

After a few years Sykes found work at Katy Red's, a barrelhouse across the river in East St. Louis, Illinois. He was paid room and board, and a dollar a night. The talent scout was Jesse Johnson, who owned De Luxe Music Shop. After Sykes had played a few songs on the store's piano Johnson offered him the opportunity to make his first recordings.

Sykes and Oden moved to Chicago, where Sykes found his first period of fame when he signed a contract with Decca Records in 1934. Sykes and Oden continued their musical friendship into the 1960s.

In 1943 Sykes began performing with his band The Honeydrippers. The band often had as many as twelve musicians, including many of Chicago's best horn players. He moved back to Chicago in 1960 as the folk music revival rekindled interest in the blues. He toured Europe and performed at blues festivals in the United States. In the late 1960s Sykes moved back to New Orleans, where he played at clubs, including the Court of Two Sisters. He lived his final years in New Orleans, where he died from a heart attack on July 17, 1983. He was buried at Providence Memorial Park in New Orleans in an unmarked grave. In 2015 the Killer Blues Headstone Project placed a headstone for him.

Technique

Sykes said in his later years he decided to become a bluesman when he heard St. Louis piano player Red-Eye Jesse Bell. Leothus Lee "Pork Chop" Green, is thought to have schooled Sykes in mastering separate but complementary bass and treble rhythms.

Sykes had a big voice and a heavy foot. In his voice that could be piercing yet had a mellow side, he sang with beautiful vibrato and at times intricate embellishment. His piano style featured a simple left hand, frequently with single repeated notes on the beats, and with great rhythmic complexity in his right hand. Throughout his career his music was harmonically uncomplicated, seldom using more than the three standard blues chords. His technique was more akin to blues guitarists than to other piano players who were recorded at the time.

As his career progressed Sykes showed greater sophistication in the lyrics he wrote, including pop music influences, than in his playing or singing. Some of his later blues are in an 8-bar pattern, like pop or gospel, rather than in his earlier 12-bar manner.

Sykes’ vocal trademark was his practice of singing half a measure ahead of his accompanying piano.

Legacy

Sykes had a long career, spanning the pre-war and postwar eras. His pounding piano boogies and risqué lyrics characterize his contributions to the blues. He was responsible for influential blues songs such as "44 Blues," "Driving Wheel," and "Night Time Is the Right Time."

He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1999.

Discography

  • The Return of Roosevelt Sykes (Bluesville, 1960)
  • The Honeydripper (Bluesville, 1961)
  • Blues (Folkways, 1961) with Memphis Slim
  • Face to Face with the Blues (Columbia, 1961)
  • The Honeydripper: Roosevelt Sykes Plays and Sings the Blues (Columbia, 1962)
  • Roosevelt Sykes Sings the Blues (Crown, 1963)
  • Hard Drivin' Blues (Delmark, 1964) with Homesick James
  • Roosevelt Sykes in Europe (Delmark, 1966 [1969])
  • The Meek Roosevelt Sykes (Carson, 1969; Jewel, 1973)
  • Chicago Blues Festival (Black & Blue, 1970) with Homesick James
  • Feel Like Blowing My Horn (Delmark, 1970 [1973])
  • The Honeydripper's Duke's Mixture (Barclay, 1971)
  • Roosevelt Sykes is Blue and Ribald...A 'Dirty Mother' for You (Southland, 1972)
  • Dirty Double Mother (BluesWay, 1973)
  • Music Is My Business (Blue Labor, 1975 [1977])
  • The Original Honeydripper (Blind Pig, 1977)
  • Boot That Thing 1929–1941 (Acrobat ADDCD-3019 [2CD], 2008) includes material recorded for the OKeh, Victor, Paramount, Champion, and Decca labels.

References

  • Roosevelt Sykes recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
  • Roosevelt Sykes discography at Wirz’ American Music.
  • 1960 interview with Paul Oliver