Slide guitar master Robert Nighthawk was one of the first bluesmen to achieve regional stardom in the Delta through radio broadcasting. Following on the heels of Sonny Boy Williamson’s King Biscuit Time radio show, Nighthawk went on the air during World War II on the same station, KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. Helena was where Nighthawk born and died, but in between he ranged far and wide, living in Mississippi, Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Florida, the southern Illinois town of Cairo, and other stopping points.
He seemed to have as many wives and girlfriends (many of whom sang or played drums in his band) as he had addresses, and he had several different names as well. His real name was Robert Lee McCollum, born in November 30, 1909 — in Helena, he always said, although recent census research has placed the McCollum family in the nearby town of Searcy in both 1900 and 1910. His first records in 1937 appeared under the name Robert Lee McCoy on the Bluebird label, and on subsequent releases he was billed as Rambling Bob, Peetie’s Boy (a reference Peetie Wheatstraw), the Nighthawks, and, finally, by the early ’50s, Robert Nighthawk.
The record that most musicians remember him by was the 1949 single by the Nighthawks on Aristocrat Records that paired Annie Lee Blues and Black Angel Blues (Sweet Black Angel). Both were electrified versions of songs Nighthawk heard from one of his major influences, Tampa Red, and Nighthawk’s recordings, in turn, influenced up-and-coming musicians such as Elmore James, B.B. King, and Earl Hooker. Muddy Waters was a close friend and admirer as well – Nighthawk had played at Muddy’s first wedding in Mississippi in 1932. Nighthawk’s intermittent stays in Chicago resulted in more excellent sides on Aristocrat, Chess, and United, and a classic album, Live on Maxwell Street 1964.
Nighthawk made his way back to Helena and Dundee, Mississippi, where his son, drummer Sam Carr, had been carrying on his legacy with the Nighthawks band (Frank Frost and Big Jack Johnson, later renamed the Jelly Roll Kings). Nighthawk took over King Biscuit Time for a while and though he was struggling with what he believed to be the effects of poisoned whiskey, he managed to do a final recording session with his mentor, guitarist Houston Stackhouse. He died on November 5, 1967.
— Jim O’Neal
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