{{short description|American singer}} {{Primary sources|date=June 2018}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Percy Strother | image = | caption = | image_size = | birth_name = Percy Lee Strother | birth_date = {{birth date|1946|07|23}} | birth_place = Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|2005|05|29|1946|07|23}} | death_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | instrument = Guitar, human voice | genre = Electric blues | occupation = Guitarist, singer, songwriter | years_active = 1970s–2005 | label = Various including JSP Records }}
'''Percy Lee Strother''' (July 23, 1946 – May 29, 2005) was an American electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter.<ref name="Encyc">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XQU3AgAAQBAJ&q=%22Percy+Strother%22.+%22Obituary%22&pg=PA937 |title=The Blues Encyclopedia |editor=Edward Komara |pages=936/7 |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135958329 |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref><ref name="Bare">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZNfAQAAQBAJ&q=Percy+L.+Strother.+2005&pg=PA234 |title=Blues: A Regional Experience |author1=Bob L. Eagle |author2=Eric S. LeBlanc |page=234 |date= May 2013|publisher=Abc-Clio |isbn=9780313344244 |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref> After a tragic start in life, from the mid 1970s, Strother went on to become a mainstay of the Minneapolis blues scene.<ref name="Obit"/><ref name="Be">{{cite web|url=http://www.parsifal.be/product/cd/percy-strother-a-good-woman-is-hard-to-find/ |title=Percy Strother – A Good Woman Is Hard To Find | Parsifal |website=Parsifal.be |date= |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref> His music was a blend of blues, rhythm and blues and Memphis soul,<ref name="Team"/> and his more noteworthy songs included "Blow Wind Blow", "Down Home Blues", "Killing Floor", "Grits Ain't Groceries", "Red Rooster", and "Take My Love".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/artist/Percy+Strother/a/albums.htm |title=Percy Strother Discography at CD Universe |website=Cduniverse.com |date= |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref>
==Life and career== Strother was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States.<ref name="AMG"/> His father met a violent end when he was hanged for allegedly killing a white man, and his mother died when he was aged 14.<ref name="Obit"/> Opting to not enter an orphanage, Strother drifted from place to place, and job to job. His lifestyle was not aided by becoming an alcoholic, although he slowly taught himself to play the guitar and adopted more sober ways.<ref name="AMG"/> He was influenced by the work of Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf and Wilson Pickett. In the 1960s he moved north away from Mississippi, and having played in various locations, Strother eventually settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota.<ref name="Lucerne"/>
He recorded his debut album, ''A Good Woman is Hard to Find'', in 1992.<ref name="AMG"/> In the ''Living Blues'' Awards, the title song of the album was rewarded as the Best Blues Song of 1992, and the album was runner-up in the Best Blues Album category. Strother was also featured by both ''Block Magazine'' and ''Blues & Rhythm''.<ref name="Team"/> The same year, he supplied guest vocals on R.J. Mischo & the Teddy Morgan Blues Band's album, ''Ready to Go''.<ref name="Team"/><ref name="Lucerne">{{cite web|url=http://www.bluesfestival.ch/index.php/artists/item/percy-strother |title=23. Lucerne Blues Festival - Percy Strother |website=Bluesfestival.ch |date= |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/ready-to-go-mw0000093349/credits |title=Ready to Go - R.J. Mischo | Credits |publisher=AllMusic |date=1997-02-11 |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref> In 1993, Strother undertook a tour which included dates in the Netherlands and Belgium, and he performed live on Dutch radio. By June the following year, his next tour added France and Germany to his list of European concert performance venues.<ref name="Team"/>
His second album, ''The Highway Is My Home'', was released in 1995.<ref name="AMG"/> It included ten tracks written by Strother, and a couple of cover versions of Magic Sam songs in "I'm Tore Down" and "Easy Baby." Pat Hayes of the Lamont Cranston Band played guest harmonica on Strother's reworking of Little Walter's tune, "One Of These Mornings."<ref name="MSN"/> Another track, "Forty Days and Forty Nights",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/highway-is-my-home-mw0000999890 |title=Highway Is My Home - Percy Strother | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |date=1995-05-30 |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref> had earlier appeared as one of Strother's contributions to ''Ready To Go''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/ready-to-go-mw0000093349 |title=Ready to Go - R.J. Mischo | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |date=1997-02-11 |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref> The liner notes to the album quoted Lazy Bill Lucas as saying "Mercy, Mr. Percy!" after hearing Strother sing.<ref name="Be"/> ''The Highway Is My Home'' was released by the Dutch record label, Black Magic Records.<ref name="MSN">{{cite web|url=http://www.mnblues.com/cdreview/strother-highway-cd.html |title=Blues On Stage - Percy Strother CD Review "The Highway Is My Home" |website=Mnblues.com |date= |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref> In April 1995, Strother appeared at the Burnley National Blues Festival, in Burnley, Lancashire, England.<ref name="Team"/> Strother also performed at the Twin Cities Hot Summer Jazz Festival.
''It's My Time'' was Strother's third album, which was issued by JSP Records in 1997.<ref name="AMG"/> One reviewer noted that it "has a set of terrific original songs which effectively showcase his raging, soulful roar and his blistering guitar".<ref name="Time">{{cite web|author=Thom Owens |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/its-my-time-mw0000031866 |title=It's My Time - Percy Strother | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |date=1997-11-18 |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref> This was followed by ''Home at Last'' (1998), which was recorded in Europe during one of his tours.<ref name="AMG"/> The album was aimed as a tribute to those earlier blues musicians who had inspired him in his early years.<ref name="Encyc"/> By this time, Strothers had become a local celebrity in Minneapolis,<ref name="Lucerne"/> as he and Lazy Bill Lucas amongst others had helped develop the blues scene in that area.<ref name="Obit">{{cite web|url=http://blues-l.com/pipermail/blues-l/2005-June/075532.html |title=NBC: Percy Strother Obituary Information |website=Blues-l.com |date=2005-05-29 |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref>
Strother was later diagnosed with liver cancer, and he died in his adopted hometown on May 29, 2005, at the age of 58.<ref name="Team">{{cite web|url=http://teamrock.com/artist-directory/p/percy-strother?id=55t0X0xyUoNn42xoZOEELO |title=Percy Strother - Artist Directory |website=TeamRock.com |date= |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref><ref name="AMG">{{cite web|author=Jason Ankeny |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/percy-strother-mn0000308510 |title=Percy Strother | Biography & History |publisher=AllMusic |date= |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref>
==Discography==
===Albums=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year || Title || Record label |- | 1992 || ''A Good Woman is Hard to Find'' || style="text-align:center;"|Blue Loon Records |- | 1995 || ''The Highway Is My Home'' || style="text-align:center;"|Black Magic Records |- | 1997 || ''It's My Time'' || style="text-align:center;"|JSP Records |- | 1998 || ''Home at Last'' || style="text-align:center;"|Black & Tan Records |}<ref name="Albums">{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/percy-strother-mn0000308510/discography |title=Percy Strother | Album Discography |publisher=AllMusic |date= |accessdate=2017-01-22}}</ref>
==See also== *List of electric blues musicians
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.discogs.com/artist/2875250-Percy-Strother Discogs.com entry]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strother, Percy}} Category:1946 births Category:2005 deaths Category:American blues singers Category:American blues guitarists Category:Electric blues musicians Category:Songwriters from Mississippi Category:Musicians from Vicksburg, Mississippi Category:Deaths from liver cancer in Minnesota Category:Guitarists from Mississippi Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:African-American male songwriters Category:African-American guitarists Category:20th-century African-American male singers Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:21st-century African-American male singers Category:21st-century American male singers Category:20th-century American songwriters