Biography
Born on 12 December 1920 in Mobile, Alabama, USA, Dallas spent the 1930s and 1940s journeying across the South, where he joined forces at intervals with Frank Edwards. He spent time performing on Chicago sidewalks before moving permanently to New York in 1943. The sides he recorded for Sittin’ In With in 1949 were cut with a compact unit that featured Brownie McGhee—whom Dallas had accompanied on guitar and washboard in the 1930s—and Big Chief Ellis. These performances retain a distinctly rural character, with his buoyant guitar lines giving an unmistakably country cast to “Jump Little Children, Jump,” a number more often associated with blues shouters. Although he had stopped working as a professional musician by 1962, he continued to demonstrate solid guitar technique and a persuasive vocal style. His subsequent location has never been established.