Samuel Joseph Myers (February 19, 1936 – July 17, 2006)
was an American blues musician and songwriter. He was an accompanist on dozens
of recordings by blues artists over five decades. He began his career as a
drummer for Elmore James but was most famous as a blues vocalist and blues harp
player. For nearly two decades he was the featured vocalist for Anson
Funderburgh & the Rockets.
Myers was born in Laurel, Mississippi. He acquired
juvenile cataracts at age seven and was left legally blind for the rest of his
life, despite corrective surgery. He could make out shapes and shadows, but
could not read print at all; he was taught Braille.
Myers was born in Laurel, Mississippi. He acquired
juvenile cataracts at age seven and was left legally blind for the rest of his
life, despite corrective surgery. He could make out shapes and shadows, but
could not read print at all; he was taught Braille.
He acquired an interest in music while a schoolboy in
Jackson, Mississippi, and became skilled enough at playing the trumpet and
drums that he received a nondegree scholarship from the American Conservatory
of Music (formerly the American Conservatory School of Music) in Chicago. Myers
attended school by day and at night frequented the nightclubs of the South
Side.
In January 2000, Myers was inducted into the Farish Street Walk of Fame in Jackson, Mississippi, an honour he shares with Dorothy
Moore and Sonny Boy Williamson II.
In 2005, Myers was nominated for Traditional Blues Album of the Year for his record, Coming From The Old School. Myers was diagnosed with cancer in February 2005, but he toured as a solo artist, in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, with the Swedish band, Bloosblasters. The following year, the University Press of Mississippi published Myers' autobiography titled Sam Myers: The Blues is My Story. Writer Jeff Horton, whose work has appeared in Blues Revue and Southwest Blues, chronicled Myers' history and
delved into his
memories of life on the road.
In 2006, just months before Myers died, the Governor of Mississippi presented Myers with the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, and was named state Blues Ambassador by the Mississippi Arts Commission.
Sam passed away while at home on July 17, 2006, following his release from the hospital after throat cancer surgery. He was making good progress with his recovery, and his death was totally unexpected. He was laid to rest next to his parents, Ollie and Celeste Myers, near Meridian, Mississippi. (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)
There he met and was sitting in with Jimmy Rogers, Muddy
Waters, Howling Wolf, Little Walter, Hound Dog Taylor, Robert Lockwood, Jr.,
and Elmore James. Myers played drums with Elmore James on a fairly steady basis
from 1952 until James's death, in 1963, and is credited on many of James's
historic recordings for Chess Records. In 1956, Myers wrote and recorded what
was to be his most famous single, "Sleeping in the Ground", a song
that has been covered by Blind Faith, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, and many other
blues artists.
From the early 1960s until 1986, Myers worked clubs in and
around Jackson and across the South in the (formerly) racially segregated
string of venues known as the Chitlin' circuit. He also toured the world with
Sylvia Embry. From 1979 to 1982, Myers fronted the Mississippi Delta Blues Band
and recorded for the TJ 
label out of Palo Alto, California.
label out of Palo Alto, California.
In 1986, Myers met Anson Funderburgh, from Plano, Texas,
and joined his band, The Rockets. Myers toured all over the U.S. and the world
with The Rockets, enjoying a partnership that endured until the time of his
death. Myers and The Rockets collectively won nine W. C. Handy Awards,
including three "Band of the Year" awards and the 2004 award for Best
Traditional Album of the Year.
In January 2000, Myers was inducted into the Farish Street Walk of Fame in Jackson, Mississippi, an honour he shares with Dorothy
Moore and Sonny Boy Williamson II. In 2005, Myers was nominated for Traditional Blues Album of the Year for his record, Coming From The Old School. Myers was diagnosed with cancer in February 2005, but he toured as a solo artist, in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, with the Swedish band, Bloosblasters. The following year, the University Press of Mississippi published Myers' autobiography titled Sam Myers: The Blues is My Story. Writer Jeff Horton, whose work has appeared in Blues Revue and Southwest Blues, chronicled Myers' history and
delved into his
memories of life on the road.In 2006, just months before Myers died, the Governor of Mississippi presented Myers with the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, and was named state Blues Ambassador by the Mississippi Arts Commission.
Sam passed away while at home on July 17, 2006, following his release from the hospital after throat cancer surgery. He was making good progress with his recovery, and his death was totally unexpected. He was laid to rest next to his parents, Ollie and Celeste Myers, near Meridian, Mississippi. (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)
