# Booba Barnes

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{{Short description|American blues guitarist and vocalist (1936–1996)}}
{{redirect|Roosevelt Barnes|the American football player|Roosevelt Barnes (American football)}}
'''Roosevelt Melvin "Booba" Barnes''' (September 25, 1936 &ndash; April 2, 1996)<ref name=amg/> was an American [Delta blues](/source/Delta_blues) [guitar player](/source/Guitarist) and [vocalist](/source/vocalist). One commentator noted in 2003 that Barnes, [R. L. Burnside](/source/R._L._Burnside), [Big Jack Johnson](/source/Big_Jack_Johnson), [Paul "Wine" Jones](/source/Paul_%22Wine%22_Jones) and [James "Super Chikan" Johnson](/source/Super_Chikan) were "present-day exponents of an edgier, electrified version of the raw, uncut Delta blues sound."<ref name="Music">{{cite book
| first= Paul
| last= Du Noyer
| year= 2003
| title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music
| edition= 1st
| publisher= Flame Tree Publishing 
| location= Fulham, London
| isbn= 1-904041-96-5
| page= 160}}</ref>

==Career==
Born in [Longwood, Washington County, Mississippi](/source/Washington_County%2C_Mississippi), United States,<ref name="Dead"/> Barnes got his start in 1960 as a member of the Swinging Gold Coasters, a local Mississippi blues outfit. He relocated to [Chicago](/source/Chicago) in 1964, where he played in bars and clubs, but returned to Mississippi in 1971 and continued to perform locally into the early 1980s.<ref name=amg/> In 1984, Barnes  hooked up with [Lil' Dave Thompson](/source/Lil'_Dave_Thompson) when the latter was aged 15, and the duo played on Mississippi's [juke joint](/source/juke_joint) circuit.<ref>{{cite web|author=Steve Huey |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dave-thompson-mn0000827276/biography |title=Dave Thompson &#124; Biography |publisher=AllMusic |date= |access-date=2014-07-31}}</ref> Barnes opened a [nightclub](/source/nightclub), the Playboy Club, in 1985, and played there with a backing group called the Playboys; they became regional blues favorites, and eventually signed to [Rooster Blues](/source/Rooster_Blues), who released Barnes's debut effort in 1990.<ref name=amg/>

The [album](/source/album) was hailed by [Allmusic](/source/Allmusic) as "an instant modern classic",<ref>{{cite web|author=Thom Owens |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-heartbroken-man-mw0000675545 |title=The Heartbroken Man - Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |publisher=AllMusic |date= |access-date=2014-07-31}}</ref> and  ''[Guitar Player](/source/Guitar_Player)'' called Barnes "a wonderfully idiosyncratic guitar player and an extraordinary vocalist by any standard".<ref>Jas Obrecht of ''[Guitar Player](/source/Guitar_Player)'' as quoted in Barnes' [Allmusic](/source/Allmusic) biography.</ref> Barnes toured the U.S. and Europe following the album's release.<ref name=amg>Jim O'Neal and [Stephen Thomas Erlewine](/source/Stephen_Thomas_Erlewine), [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p267/biography|pure_url=yes}} Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes] at [Allmusic](/source/Allmusic)</ref>

Barnes's career was interrupted in the middle of the decade when he was diagnosed with [lung cancer](/source/lung_cancer), and he died of the disease in April 1996 in Chicago, aged 59.<ref name=amg/><ref name="Dead">{{cite web|author=Doc Rock |url=http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1996.html |title=The Dead Rock Stars Club 1996 - 1997 |publisher=Thedeadrockstarsclub.com |date= |access-date=2014-07-31}}</ref>

==Discography==
*''The Heartbroken Man'' ([Rooster Blues](/source/Rooster_Blues), 1990)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Booba}}
Category:1936 births
Category:1996 deaths
Category:American blues guitarists
Category:American male guitarists
Category:American blues singers
Category:Singers from Mississippi
Category:People from Washington County, Mississippi
Category:Blues musicians from Mississippi
Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Illinois
Category:20th-century American guitarists
Category:Guitarists from Mississippi
Category:20th-century American male singers
Category:20th-century American singers

{{US-blues-musician-stub}}
{{US-guitarist-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Booba Barnes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booba_Barnes) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booba_Barnes?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.