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Lightnin' Hopkins
 

Lightnin' Hopkins

Fact Sheet

OccupationGuitarist  
Musical genre:Country, Blues  
Birthday15 March 1912
SignPisces
Birthplace  Houston, Texas, USA
Date of deathJanuary 30, 1982 (age 69)
Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins was a country blues guitar legend, from Houston, Texas.

Born in Centerville, Texas, he learned the blues when young in Buffalo, Texas from Blind Lemon Jefferson and his older cousin, country-blues singer Alger 'Texas' Alexander. When Hopkins and Alexander were playing in Houston in 1946, he was discovered by Lola Anne Cullum of Los Angeles' Aladdin Records (although Alexander would not make it out to LA). Hopkins' fast finger style is very distinct. He settled in Houston in 1952 and gained much atttention. Solid recordings followed including his masterpiece song Mojo Hand in 1960. He was an influence on Jimmie Vaughan's work, and, more significantly, on the vocals and blues style of Pigpen, the keyboardist of the of the Grateful Dead until 1972.




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