Tom “Blue Coat” Nelson

Blues fiddler “Blue Coating” Tom Nelson, named for the blue army coat he always wore, hailed from Vicksburg, MS. He led an area string music group there, including guitarist T.C. Johnson. In 1928, “Blue Layer” journeyed to Memphis to record at Okeh’s field studio room (just times after Lonnie Johnson got lower “Violin Blues” there). Nelson lower three songs throughout that first go to, including his personal “Blue Layer Blues.” Nelson and Johnson afterwards returned using a musician known as Porkchop to record two even more songs which were both spiritual parodies.