Delta Blues legend Skip James was a remarkable musician, accomplished on two instruments, guitar and piano. His guitar style was noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique, associated with the Bentonia School of playing.
Indeed, his style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont Blues of the East Coast, than with the Blues of his native Mississippi.
James is chiefly remembered for a concise, albeit obscure body of work; just nine 78rpm shellac discs recorded for Paramount, in Grafton, Wisconsin, in February 1931, which rank among the rarest records known to serious Blues collectors.
His most well-known number, by default, is 'I'm So Glad'; recorded by British Rock band Cream in 1966, it generated the only royalty cheque he ever received, for $10,000.
