Arbee Stidham born 9 February 1917

Arbee Perkins Stidham (February 9, 1917– April 26, 1988) was an American blues singer and multi-instrumentalist, active mostly in the late 1940s and 1950s

He was born in De Valls Bluff, Arkansas, to a musical family. His father, Luddie Stidham, played with Jimmie Lunceford, and his uncle briefly led the Memphis Jug Band. Arbie learned to play the harmonica, clarinet and saxophone while enrolled at the Prairie County Training School. As a child he attended Dunbar High in Little Rock and his first group the Southern Syncopators, played radio sessions around Kansas and Tennessee. They even backed  Bessie Smith on tour in 1930 and 1931.

Stidham frequently performed in Little Rock and Memphis until he moved to Chicago in the '40s where he met the legendary scout and producer Lester Melrose, who signed him to a recording contract with RCA Victor in 1947.His first session yielded his only hit "My Heart Belongs to You”, which featured extraordinary sidemen such as King Curtis and Leonard Gaskin. It spent 6 months on Billboard’s R&B chart, reaching No. 1 in June 1948. Stidham often recorded with Sax Mallard during this period. His Victor years ended in March 1950.

                                  

He spent the rest of his career trying to achieve the same success, recording for Checker, States, and other independent record labels as a jazz-influenced blues vocalist, but injuries sustained in a car accident during the 50’s made it impossible for him to play the saxophone, so he took up the guitar, under the tutelage of Big Bill Broonzy..

Stidham performed in the long running musical revue “I Come For To Sing” and gigged regularly at the Club Zanzibar. He recorded for the Abco label and appeared with the lefty Gates Band. In 1960 and 1961 he rcorded for Folkways with Memphis Slim, showcasing his T-Bone Walker influenced guitar and wailing tenor voice.

In the late 60’s Sridham moved to Cleveland and left the Music Industry, but he reappeared on a 1972 Ernie Wilkins Orchestra LP. In 1975 he cut another Folkways album “There’s Always Tomorrow” amd starred in the short film “Bluesman.” 

He occasionally lectured on the blues at Cleveland State University in the 1970s and later in life he returned to Cook County where he died on April 26, 1988, in Cook County, Illinois, aged 71.

(Edited  from  chicagoreader)