Biography
Freddie Spruell, sometimes referred to as Papa Freddie, receives frequent mention as the initial artist to commit a genuine blues number to disc, yet that assertion falls short of precision. Between 1926 and 1935 he laid down ten sides for OKeh, Paramount, and Bluebird, though Mamie Smith’s vaudeville-flavored “Crazy Blues” had already surfaced in 1920 and Blind Lemon Jefferson had captured the earliest examples of hard blues at least twelve months prior, during 1925. Spruell may more legitimately claim the distinction of being the first Delta blues musician to record when he waxed “Milk Cow Blues” in Chicago on June 25, 1926. Two additional titles followed in 1928, among them “Tom Cat Blues,” and on April 12, 1935 he completed five further numbers issued under the name Mr. Freddie; that date produced what many regard as his strongest piece, the rag-inflected “Let’s Go Riding,” which included second-guitar work by Carl Martin. His Social Security records list a birth date of December 28, 1893, and while he is routinely identified as a Mississippi bluesman, evidence indicates he relocated to Chicago with his family while still a young child, rendering his Delta connections stylistic rather than geographic. “Let’s Go Riding” later appeared on the 2001 soundtrack for Ghost World.