Lonesome Sundown

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Lonesome Sundown
Birth nameCornelius Green III
Born(1928-12-12)December 12, 1928
Donaldsonville, Louisiana, United States
DiedApril 23, 1995(1995-04-23) (aged 66)
Gonzales, Louisiana, United States
GenresBlues
Occupation(s)Musician, singer, songwriter, minister
Instrument(s)Guitar, vocals, harmonica
Years activeEarly 1950s–1980
LabelsExcello
HighTone

Cornelius Green III (December 12, 1928 – April 23, 1995),[1] known professionally as Lonesome Sundown, was an American blues musician, best known for his swamp blues recordings for Excello Records in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Early life

Green was born in 1928 on the Dugas Plantation near Donaldsonville, Louisiana.[2] In 1948, at the age of 18, he moved to New Orleans and worked in various jobs, including porter at the New Southport Club, a casino in Jefferson Parish, at a hotel, a rice mill, and with a construction company.[2] He returned to Donaldsonville by 1948 and, inspired by Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, began taking guitar lessons from a cousin. "Boogie Chillun," by John Lee Hooker was the first song that he learned to play.[2]

Music career

In 1953, after a brief period as a truck driver in

Bumps Blackwell but failed to get a contract.[2][3][4][5]

Green married later in 1955, left the Zydeco Ramblers, and moved to

Fabulous Thunderbirds), "My Home Ain't Here", and the much-covered "Gonna Stick to You Baby".[2][3][4][5]

Sundown continued to work with Miller into the early 1960s. In 1964 he recorded "Hoo Doo Woman Blues" backed with "I've Got a Broken Heart", recordings which have been described as among "the last ethnic down-home blues

45s aimed exclusively at the Negro market".[2] However, by 1965 Sundown had become disillusioned with his lack of success. He also endured a difficult divorce around this time, retired from the music industry to work as a laborer, and joined the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith Fellowship Throughout the World Church, of which he eventually became a minister.[3][5] He was persuaded back to the recording studio in 1977 and recorded another blues album, Been Gone Too Long, co-produced by Bruce Bromberg and Dennis Walker, originally for Joliet Records.[3] Despite its quality, its sales were disappointing, even after it was reissued by Alligator Records.[3] His final single release was "I Betcha (You Gonna Do Your Thing Tonight)", in 1978.[6][7]

Sundown played several concerts, including an appearance at the 1979 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and tours of Sweden and Japan with Phillip Walker, but then walked away from the music business for good.[4][5] In 1994 he suffered a stroke and was no longer able to speak. He died in Gonzales, Louisiana, in April 1995, aged 66.[8] He was posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame in 2000.[4]

Musical style and influences

Unusually for Louisiana musicians, Sundown's style of the blues was more in keeping with the sound of Muddy Waters than that of Jimmy Reed.[3] His sombre and melancholic recordings and instantly recognizable style were described by Miller as "the sound of the swamp".[4] Reviewing the Been Gone Too Long LP in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said:

"With his rounded rhythms, entertaining arrangements, good-hearted vocals, and

bayous are to the Delta—not as deep, but more fun."[9]

Selected discography

See also

  • List of swamp blues musicians

References

  1. ISBN 978-0313344237
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780882896083
    . Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Dahl, Bill. "Lonesome Sundown: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e Hannusch, Jeff. "Masters of Louisiana Music: Cornelius Green, 'Lonesome Sundown'". Offbeat.com. Retrieved November 23, 2009.
  5. ^
    ISBN 1-85868-255-X
    .
  6. ^ a b "Illustrated Lonesome Sundown (Cornelius Green) discography". Wirz.de. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  7. ^ "Lonesome Sundown - I Betcha (You Gonna Do Your Thing Tonight)". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  8. ^ Doc Rock. "The Dead Rock Stars Club 1994–1995". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  9. ISBN 089919026X
    . Retrieved March 13, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  10. ^ "Lonesome Sundown: Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 27, 2014.

External links

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