Blues vocalist and guitarist. Born Charlie Hicks, often identified as "Laughing Charley". One of the Columbia labels more successful blues singers. He teamed often with his brother Robert aka "Barbecue Bob", or with Peg-Leg Howell. His guitar voicings and style were influenced by Curley Weaver, but Lincoln was a colorful singer and flashy player in his own right. In his teens he was taught guitar by Savannah Weaver, the mother of Curley Weaver, and performed in the Lithonia, Georgia area until 1920. He and his brother would perform on 6-strings at fish fries and country balls, playing songs like "John Henry" and "Poor Boy." Around 1923, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, got married, found work, and acquired a 12-string guitar with money he'd earned picking cotton. He continued performing occasionally with his brother, Robert or with Peg Leg Howell. Lincoln, already moody and introverted, became a mean and dangerous drunk after the deaths of his brother and father. He continued to perform into the 1950s. Following a series of scrapes with the law, he reportedly murdered a man in December 1955 and three months later was sentenced to twenty years. He later died in the state penitentiary of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Blues vocalist and guitarist. Born Charlie Hicks, often identified as "Laughing Charley". One of the Columbia labels more successful blues singers. He teamed often with his brother Robert aka "Barbecue Bob", or with Peg-Leg Howell. His guitar voicings and style were influenced by Curley Weaver, but Lincoln was a colorful singer and flashy player in his own right. In his teens he was taught guitar by Savannah Weaver, the mother of Curley Weaver, and performed in the Lithonia, Georgia area until 1920. He and his brother would perform on 6-strings at fish fries and country balls, playing songs like "John Henry" and "Poor Boy." Around 1923, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, got married, found work, and acquired a 12-string guitar with money he'd earned picking cotton. He continued performing occasionally with his brother, Robert or with Peg Leg Howell. Lincoln, already moody and introverted, became a mean and dangerous drunk after the deaths of his brother and father. He continued to perform into the 1950s. Following a series of scrapes with the law, he reportedly murdered a man in December 1955 and three months later was sentenced to twenty years. He later died in the state penitentiary of a cerebral hemorrhage.
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