Jewell Stovall

b. 4 Oct 1907, Tylertown, Mississippi, USA, d. 21 Sept 1974, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Even more properly seen as a songster in the custom of Mance Lipscomb, Stovall surfaced in the blues revival from the middle-60s. The youngest of 12 kids inside a sharecropping family members, he trained himself to try out the guitar, motivated by his schoolteacher. He discovered his first tune, later on twice documented as ‘Maypole March’, from his eldest sibling Myrt Holmes. Through the 20s, Stovall became a part of several music artists, congregated around a mature man, Plant Quinn, that performed for both dark and white viewers. In the middle-30s, Tommy Johnson wedded a local lady, Rosa Youngblood, and remained in the region for a few years. Stovall, along with Arzo Youngblood, O.D. Jones and Roosevelt Holts, discovered Johnson’s ‘Big Street Blues’ and copied his design. Around this period, he wedded, and relocated to Franklinton, Louisiana. In 1957, he started to play around the roads of New Orleans’ French One fourth. He was documented, double in 1958, as soon as with sibling Tom on mandolin in 1961, by Larry Borenstein, the tapes staying unissued until 1988. A complete program, with accompaniment from banjo and string bass, was documented in 1964, but was badly written by Verve Information. Stovall became a member of the folk circuit thereafter, showing up in the 1st five New Orleans Jazz And History Celebrations from 1970-74.