| Birth: | 1897
Wortham
Freestone County
Texas, USA | | Death: | Dec., 1929
Chicago
Cook County
Illinois, USA | 
Blues Musician. Born in Couchman, near Wortham in Freestone County, Texas, probably in 1893 or 1897. One of seven children, he was blind from childhood, possibly even from birth. His parents were Alec & Cassie Jefferson. Between 1925 and 1929, he made at least 100 recording including alternate versions of some songs. Had 43 records issued, all but one on the Paramount Label. As a young man, Jefferson took up the guitar and became a street musician, playing in Wortham and nearby East Texas towns like Groesbeck (mentioned in his Penitentiary Blues) Buffalo and Marlin, the birthplace of Blind Willie Johnson, who Lemon may well have encountered in his travels. In 1917 after performing at house parties, pinics and dances around Wortham in central Texas, Jefferson moved to the Deep Ellum section of Dallas, where he played on street corners for spare change. Jefferson's reputation as singer-guitarist grew to the point where he attracted regular patrons and he earned enough money through tin-cup offerings to support a wife and child. Blind Lemon Jefferson died just as the first great blue era was coming to close. The fact that no official death certificate has ever been found has given rise to numerous accounts of his passing in December 1929. The most colorful had Jefferson freezing to death in a Chicago snowstorm. Another account blamed a heart attack for his demise. It's quite possible that Jefferson suffered a heart attack during a Chicago snowstorm. (bio by: Cinnamonntoast4)
Search Amazon for Lemon Jefferson | | | Burial:
Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery
Wortham
Freestone County
Texas, USA |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Cinnamonntoast4
Record added: Jan 30, 2002
Find A Grave Memorial# 6142078 |
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