finetune artist: Josh White

b. Joshua White, 11 February 1915, Greenville, South Carolina, USA, d. 5 September 1969, Manhasset, New York, USA. A grounding in church music stood Josh White in good stead, as it was something to which he returned at various points in a long career as a blues singer and, later, folk entertainer. He learned guitar while acting as a guide for blind street singers, and began his recording career at a young age. Between 1932 and 1936, he recorded prolifically. The results often demonstrated a notable versatility, covering blues in local or more nationally popular idioms (sometimes under the pseudonym Pinewood Tom) or sacred material as the Singing Christian. In the mid-30s he moved to New York, where he found a new audience interested in radical politics and folk music. In retrospect, it seemed as if he was diluting as well as tailoring his music for the consumption of white listeners, who were at this time unused to hearing authentic black music. As the years went on, he learned a lot of new material, and turned his repertoire into an odd mixture, encompassing everything from traditional ballads such as "Lord Randall" to popular songs like "Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)", as well as protest songs and blues. He toured overseas in the post-war years and recorded extensively.

Listen to Josh White at Finetune.

House of the Rising Sun
In My Time of Dying
Prison Bound
St. James Infirmary
Strange Fruit