Eddie Mapp

Biography

This fine blues harmonica man played and recorded with two legendary guitar pickers and singers, Blind Willie McTell and Barbecue Bob, also called Robert Hicks. Therefore, Mapp includes a company membership within the top notch circle of nation blues harmonica players, but those whose attention stretches toward the morbid is going to be interested to learn of his regular membership inside a decidedly even more peculiar group of blues performers. And to place it politely, that might be those blues performers whose careers could have eliminated on a lot longer experienced they not really been murdered. Mapp was initially heard about as a new player around age 12, when he’s said to possess hooked up using the amazing guitarist Curley Weaver, each of them playing at nation dances and celebrations, occasionally like a duo and occasionally in tandem with Barbecue Bob and his sibling Charlie Hicks. His design was reported to be immediately recognizable as well as the tale is informed of two old-timers from the region who immediately chosen Mapp from his single recording after devoid of noticed him play for 40 years; neither guy acquired any proven fact that he previously ever documented. Mapp more regularly played in the roads for guidelines than in the studio room, but he do enter the studio because of Barbecue Bob in 1929 within the group the Georgia Natural cotton Pickers. He also documented one single, the extremely uncommon “Operating the Window blinds,” trim for the QRS label in 1929. Mapp finished up playing back-up harp on a number of sides trim with various performers because of this Atlanta-based label, but distribution was minimal and several of these information disappeared off the facial skin of the planet earth. His employer Hicks passed away only a month before Mapp do. The harmonica participant was discovered stabbed in the part of Houston and Butler in Atlanta. The brachial artery of his still left arm have been severed, based on the loss of life certificate; no-one was ever imprisoned because of this murder. The actual fact that his job was shown as musician in the loss of life certificate is provided as proof his advanced of profession accomplishment, since it would not have already been a typical issue for the coroner’s workplace to show also anywhere near this much respect for the bluesman. There’s some issue about whether he was in fact as early as 20 when he passed away, the possibility getting that the entire year normally related to his delivery might be incorrect. Of re-released materials featuring Mapp, the best option is certainly Georgia Blues in the Record label, which features both his single piece in addition to his accompaniment on almost half the tunes.

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