Skip James

by Cub Koda
Among the earliest and most influential Delta bluesmen to record, Skip James was the best known proponent of the so-called Bentonia school of blues players, a genre strain invested with as much fanciful scholarly research as any. Coupling an oddball guitar tuning set against eerie, falsetto vocals, Jamess early recordings could make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Even more surprising was when blues scholars rediscovered him in the 60s and found his singing and playing skills intact. Influencing everyone from a young Robert Johnson (Skips Devil Got My Woman became the basis of Johnsons Hellhound on My Trail) to Eric Clapton (who recorded Jamess Im So Glad on the first Cream album), Skip Jamess music, while from a commonly shared regional tradition, remains infused with his own unique personal spirit.