Junior Kimbrough

Rockabilly pioneer Charlie Feathers singled out Junior Kimbrough, the Mississippi Delta bluesman, as a crucial early inspiration. Kimbrough’s distinctive modal and hypnotic blues approach enjoyed primarily local attention throughout most of his career. Wider recognition finally arrived in the early 1990s after his appearance in the 1991 film Deep Blues and on its Anxious/Atlantic soundtrack, which directly prompted his debut album, All Night Long, for Fat Possum Records.

Born and raised in Hudsonville, Mississippi, Kimbrough taught himself guitar by studying recordings of Delta bluesmen. His first single, “Tramp,” appeared on the local Philwood label in 1968. Over the following two decades he recorded only sporadically, releasing the single “Keep Your Hands Off Her” on High Water and placing the track “All Night Long” on the Southland Records various-artists collection National Downhome Festival, Vol. 2.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he performed regularly in Mississippi juke joints, where music journalist Robert Palmer encountered him in the late 1980s. Palmer included Kimbrough in the documentary film Deep Blues, an exposure that secured a national recording deal with Fat Possum and resulted in the 1992 full-length All Night Long. Both the album and the film along with its soundtrack drew strong praise from blues and mainstream outlets alike, opening the door to appearances beyond the Delta, including several dates in England.

Following that burst of activity, Kimbrough resumed playing juke joints at home while continuing to record from time to time. His second album, Sad Days, Lonely Nights, arrived in 1993, followed by Most Things Haven’t Worked Out in 1997 and God Knows I Tried a year later. He suffered a fatal heart attack on January 17, 1998.