Kokomo Arnold

He was rediscovered by a younger generation of mostly white blues enthusiasts in the early 1960s during the resurgence of the genre, but unlike many of his contemporaries, he didn't take advantage of this new interest in the older music.

In 1934 he recorded two tracks for Decca Records, "Old Kokomo Blues" (later reworked by Robert Johnson and called "Sweet Home Chicago") and "Milk Cow Blues" (later covered by Elvis Presley).

His recordings in the 1930s are noted for his slide technique, over-the-top sense of timing and his proclivity for sliding the bottleneck up and down the guitar's neck as fast as he could. When he was a young man in Georgia Arnold's main career was as a bootlegger (playing music and singing was basically a sideline), but he eventually left that "career field" and headed north.

That didn't last too long, though--the Chicago mobs didn't appreciate outsiders cutting in on their business--and in 1930 Arnold journeyed to Memphis, TN. There he began singing full time, and eventually cut two records--using the pseudonym "Gitfiddle Jim"--for the Victor Label, "Rainy Night Blues" and "Paddlin' Blues". They weren't big hits, but did bring him some notice.

They were hits, and he recorded several more tracks for Decca, but his career lost momentum and he faded from the music scene by the late 1930s.

He traveled around Pennsylvania and upstate New York doing a variety of odd jobs, until he settled in Chicago in 1929 and, true to his old habits, set up a bootlegging operation.

Born James Arnold in Georgia in 1901, blues guitarist Kokomo Arnold (he picked up the nickname "Kokomo" from the title of his song "Old Kokomo Blues") was an influence on such blues legends as Robert Johnson and Elmore James.