‘Lyin” Joe Holley

b. c.1915, USA. Holley was documented in Apr 1977 by George Paulus of Barrelhouse Information, who approximated his age group as ‘early sixties’. Holley got travelled through the entire southern USA and performed in St. Louis and Detroit before settling in Chicago. He reputedly performed blues piano at home parties with the Provident Barber Store on Saturdays for quite some time, and his recordings reveal a typically structured pianist with a big repertoire and an capability to improvise unforgettable lyrics over a hardcore piano accompaniment. Holley is certainly essential as ‘one from the last of the home party entertainers’ but continues to be an extremely obscure body, although he’s reportedly still surviving in the Chicago region.