Robert Pete Williams : Prisoner's Talking Blues

Robert Pete Williams (19141980) was a Louisiana-based bluesman. He used unconventional tunings and song structures. He had no formal education, spending his childhood picking cotton and cutting sugar cane. At age 14, he moved to Baton Rouge to work in a lumberyard. At age 20, Williams fashioned a crude guitar by attaching five copper strings to a cigar box. When he had enough money, he bought a cheap, mass-produced one, but kept many of idiosyncratic approaches he'd already developed. He got his start as a performer at church gatherings, fish fries, suppers, and dances. From the 1930s into the 1950s, Robert Pete played music and continued to work in the lumberyards. He was discovered in Angola prison by ethnomusicologists Dr Harry Oster and Richard Allen, where he was serving a life sentence for shooting a man dead in a local club in 1956, an act which he claimed was in self-defense. Oster and Allen recorded Williams on the grounds of Angola, performing songs about life in prison. Under ongoing pressure from Oster, the parole board eventually issued a pardon. In December 1958, Williams was released into 'servitude parole', which required 80 hours of labor per week on a Denham Springs farm without due compensation, and only room and board provided. This parole prevented him from working in music, though Robert Pete kept playing. Williams' music had achieved some favorable word-of-mouth reviews based on the Angola recordings, and he played his first concert outside Louisiana at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. By 1965 he was able to tour the country, traveling to California, Illinois and Massachusetts. In 1966 Robert Pete toured Europe. In 1968 he settled in Maringouin, west of Baton Rouge, and returned to family life and work outside of music. In 1970, Williams began to perform once again, touring blues and folk festivals throughout the United States and Europe. His music appeared in several films notably, the Roots of American Music; Country and Urban Music (1971); Out of the Blues Into the Blacks (1972) and Blues Under the Skin (1972) the last two being French-made films. His most popular recordings included "Prisoner's Talking Blues" and "Pardon Denied Again". Robert Pete Williams was inducted into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame. He died in Rosedale, Louisiana on December 31, 1980, at the age of 66. "Prisoner's Talking Blues" remain one of the saddest blues pieces ever recorded.

Note: This video presentation is made out of love and respect for the artistry of Robert Pete Williams. If anyone objects to it due to copyright infringement, please make contact and it will be promptly removed.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Robert
• Pete
• Williams
• Prisoner's
• Talking
• Blues

[bodoPeeters]

pure & beautiful! love it!

[busessuck1]

Unmatchable stuff....

Nice video

[busessuck1]

@exmachina9001 Nah you gotta give credit to the Honeyboy Edwards and Robert Belfour

[exmachina9001]

Him and RL were the last great blues legends.

[gratno12]

One of the most powerful and moving blues performances I have ever heard. Thanks for posting.

[sinner48]

wise words