Roosevelt Charles

No details are for sale to the day and host to birth of the obscure American blues singer, nor for his loss of life, that is presumed. Charles was documented in the past due 50s/early 60s by blues historian Dr. Harry Oster alongside other inmates at Louisiana’s Angola jail. Additional prisoners on the initial vinyls, released 1st on Oster’s Louisina Folklore Culture label and by Arhoolie Information, are Robert Pete Williams, Hogman Maxey, Acoustic guitar Welch and Clara Small, the latter among three feminine blues performers Oster arranged down while at the penitentiary. When reissued on Compact disc, the recording was extended by way of a substantial quantity of previously unheard materials. Charles’ efforts, performed within a wealthy baritone, including a speaking blues, ‘Hit At Camp 1’, a hardcore stone-breaking hammer tune, ‘Berta’, and an psychologically powerful edition of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s 1928 ‘Find That My Grave Is certainly Kept Clean’, retitled ‘Possess You HAVE YOU EVER HEARD The Cathedral Bells Build’. The Vanguard Information label also released an record of Charles’ recordings in 1964.