R.L. Burnside (1926–2005) was a Mississippi hill country blues master who farmed most of his life and found international recognition late, through Fat Possum Records. The droning, single-chord vamps of Mr. Wizard (1997) and the remix-heavy Come On In (1998) are the places to start. Shop R.L. Burnside vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Robert Lee Burnside was born in Harmontown, Mississippi on November 23, 1926. He spent most of his life working as a sharecropper and farmer in the Mississippi hill country, performing blues music as a side practice rather than as his primary professional activity until late in his life. He is widely cited as one of the most important figures in the contemporary North Mississippi hill country blues tradition alongside Mississippi Fred McDowell, Junior Kimbrough, and Big Jack Johnson - a regional variation of Mississippi blues distinct from the Delta blues tradition. He achieved international recognition late in life, primarily through his association with Fat Possum Records (Oxford, Mississippi-based blues label that emerged in the early 1990s) and collaboration with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion on the 1996 album A Ass Pocket of Whiskey (controversial for its Spencer reframing of Burnside's traditional approach). His 1998 album Come On In featured remix and electronic-influenced approaches that brought him to new audiences. He died of cardiovascular disease on September 1, 2005 at age 78. His foundational influence on contemporary blues, the Fat Possum aesthetic, and broader American roots music is widely cited.
R.L. Burnside's sound is foundational to North Mississippi hill country blues - combining blues, hill country blues, Mississippi blues, electric blues, acoustic blues, and country blues with his distinctive vocal delivery (Mississippi delta accent), virtuosic acoustic and electric guitar work (use of drone-like rhythmic patterns and single-chord vamps distinct from Delta blues twelve-bar structure), and lyrical content drawing on traditional blues themes and personal experience.
Original Fat Possum Records pressings of the R.L. Burnside catalog are foundational items in contemporary blues collecting.
Listeners new to R.L. Burnside typically start with Mr. Wizard (1997) or Come On In (1998).
