Washboard Sam

Washboard Sam ( born July 15, 1910 in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas; † November 6, 1966 in Chicago, Illinois), born as Robert Brown, was an American blues musician and Hokum. He was the most popular washboard player in Chicago in the late 1930s and 1940s, an expressive singer and excellent songwriter, of which hundreds of recordings document.

Brown, reportedly a half-brother of Big Bill Broonzy, moved in the 1920s to Memphis, where he played with Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon as a street musician. In 1932 he went to Chicago where he performed regularly with Broonzy. He accompanied Broonzy, Memphis Slim, Tampa Red and several other on numerous recordings for Lester Melrose of Bluebird Records.

From 1935 he made ​​recordings under his own name for Bluebird and Vocalion Records, often accompanied by Broonzy. Soon he was one of the hottest stars of the Chicago blues scene. After the Second World War, the success subsided. Brown withdrew, however, had a comeback in the 1960s, which led him to Europe.

Washboard Sam died in 1966 after a long illness due to heart failure.