Biography
Considered among the more intriguing minor chapters in blues lore, the sparse recordings left by King Solomon Hill reveal a vocalist and guitarist marked by striking originality and raw power. Born Joe Holmes around 1897 in McComb, Mississippi, he first drew notice across Louisiana, where he became a fixture at parties and juke joints. Almost certainly self-taught on guitar, he is said to have wandered the Delta and Panhandle regions, performing alongside Sam Collins, Ramblin' Thomas, Oscar "Lone Wolf" Woods, and possibly Blind Lemon Jefferson. In 1932 Hill signed with Paramount and soon headed to Grafton, Wisconsin, to cut the six tracks—two of them alternate takes—that make up his entire known discography. Numbers such as the eerie "Gone Dead Train" and "Down on Bended Knee" display apocalyptic, seemingly alien vocals that stood apart from anything else of their period and region, backed by a stark guitar tone defined by jagged rhythms and notes reportedly extended with a cow bone. Once the lone session ended, Hill resumed the juke-joint circuit before fading from view altogether. Reputedly a heavy drinker, he suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and died in Sibley, Louisiana in 1949.
Albums
