Willie Lee Brown was one of the four great pioneers of the Mississippi Delta blues. From Clarksdale, he was primarily known as a guitar player, and he performed and recorded with Son House, Charlie Patton, and Tommy Johnson, the other key early pioneering musicians of the Delta Blues form. Brown was a significant influence on Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters as well.
In addition to recording as a guitar player with his important early colleagues, Brown also recorded solo. Three of the most known records are the highly regarded “M & O Blues,” “Make Me a Pallet on the Floor,” and especially “Future Blues.” Six of his records were recorded at Paramount Records in Grafton, Wisconsin, in 1930. He also did a few recordings for the Library of Congress in the early 1940’s.
