Charley Patton (born Charlie Patton in Edwards, Mississippi, May 1, 1891, died in Indianola, Mississippi, April 28, 1934) was a Blues musician, singer and guitarist. He was known as the "Father Of The Delta Blues" and therefore one of the most significant figures of American popular music. Charley Patton was one of the first mainstream stars of the Delta blues genre. Patton, who was born in Hinds County, Mississippi near Edwards or Bolton, lived most of his life in Sunflower County, in the Mississippi Delta. ...show more

Charley Patton (born Charlie Patton in Edwards, Mississippi, May 1, 1891, died in Indianola, Mississippi, April 28, 1934) was a Blues musician, singer and guitarist. He was known as the "Father Of The Delta Blues" and therefore one of the most significant figures of American popular music. Charley Patton was one of the first mainstream stars of the Delta blues genre. Patton, who was born in Hinds County, Mississippi near Edwards or Bolton, lived most of his life in Sunflower County, in the Mississippi Delta.

He was extremely popular across the U.S. South, and (in contrast to the itinerant wandering of most blues musicians of his time) was invited to perform at plantations and taverns. He is credited with creating an enduring body of American music and personally inspiring just about every Delta blues man (Robert Palmer, 1995). Palmer considers him among the most important musicians that America produced in the twentieth century.

Long before Jimi Hendrix he was the entertainer's entertainer with dazzling showmanship, often playing guitar on his knees and behind his head, as well as behind his back. Patton was born in Southern Mississippi, near Edwards in 1891 but there is still some debate about this. In 1900, however, his family moved 100 miles north to the legendary 10,000 Acre Dockery Plantation sawmill and cotton farm near Ruleville, Mississippi. It was here that both John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf fell under the Patton spell. ...show less