Furry Lewis was one of the foremost figures in Memphis blues, both during the 1920s when he made his first recordings and again during the blues revival of the ’60s and ’70s. Lewis was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, possibly on March 6, 1899, although dates of 1893 and 1895 have also been cited. Just after the turn of the century, he moved with his mother to Memphis, which was home to Lewis for most of his life. In his early musical years he traveled with medicine shows and played with musicians such as Jim Jackson and Gus Cannon, picking up not only blues but minstrel songs, folk ballads, and jug band tunes. He also claimed to have played with W.C. Handy’s band, and said that Handy gave him a Martin guitar. In 1927 Lewis became one of the first Memphis bluesmen to record when he cut "Furry’s Blues," "Jelly Roll," and other songs for Vocalion. His records for Vocalion and Victor from 1927 to 1929 displayed nimble guitar work and a talent for putting together songs peppered with memorable verses, some from traditional sources, others from own mother wit. Decades would pass before Lewis could depend on music for a living, however, and he kept a job with the city of Memphis that entailed garage work, sweet sweeping, and other duties. In 1959, after decades of playing music only for friends and neighbors, Lewis again was at the forefront of a new Memphis blues recording movement when author Sam Charters produced Lewis’ debut LP for the Folkways label. Lewis recorded several more albums, appeared at festivals, on television, and in movies, enjoying his final decades while surrounded and supported by a coterie of young musicians and fans, who shared the tasks of retrieving Lewis’ guitar and wooden leg from the pawn shop. Upon his death on Sept. 14, 1981, the New York Times entitled his obituary "Furry Lewis, a Gentle Giant of Blues."
