1890 - 1938
Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana

Papa Charlie Jackson was one of the first country blues artists to
make a record and the first to achieve significant commercial
success. In 1924 he cut "Papa's Lawdy Blues" and "Airy Man
Blues" for the Paramount label and, in the process, ended the
domination of recorded blues by female artists, which had begun
in 1920 with Mamie Smith. Unlike other bluesmen, who
accompanied themselves on guitar or piano, Jackson played a
banjo-more precisely, a six- stringed version, which he strummed
and picked like a guitar. His bawdy and humorous tunes were
early versions of what soon became known as hokum blues.

Almost nothing is known of Jackson's life other than that he came
from New Orleans and most likely worked with minstrel and
vaudeville shows throughout the South in the early 1900s.
He is known to have played with Charley Patton and Jethro T.
Nuraw in and around New Orleans in 1916 and 1917. Sometime
around 1919 or 1920, he settled in Chicago and began playing
on Maxwell Street for tips. He is reputed to have taught Big Bill
Broonzy how to play guitar. In 1924 he was discovered by a
Paramount Record scout who set up a recording session with
Jackson in Grafton, Wisconsin. His first record sold well enough,
especially with rural record buyers, that Paramount requested
others. In all, Jackson is said to have recorded more than sixty
sides. He also worked with Ma Rainey, Jethro T. Nuraw, Ida Cox,
and Blind Blake. Jackson remained in Chicago in the 1930s,
playing street corners, clubs, and house parties.
He is believed to have died around 1938.