He was quite a star. Wikipedia almost ran out of words to praise his works: He had prolific output in Piedmont Blues, gospel, country blues, and songs of social protest. He expanded his repertoire to include urban blues, jazz, and traditional folk songs; he was on radio and the Broadway stage as well as in many movies.
‘One Meatball,’ his biggest hit, was the first million-seller for a black artist in the U.S. He sang for FDR in the White House in 1941. He sang at the 1963 March on Washington. He was friends with Bayard Rustin. Discogs has 201 of his records. Sadly, there isn’t anything remarkable about this one. I bought it from my roommate who made sure he had some Lightnin’ Hopkins and John Lee Hooker as well. Man, Hopkins has over 300 records and Hooker nearly 800. I’ll see what’s on streaming.
converselyspeaking 