'Crying' Sam Collins

Sam Collins (August 11, 1887 - October 20, 1949), Crying Sam Collins was an early American blues singer and guitarist. Aka Jim Foster, Jelly Roll Hunter, Big Boy Woods, Bunny Carter, and Salty Dog Sam. He was born in Louisiana and grew up just across the state border in McComb, Mississippi. By 1924 he was performing in local barrelhouses, often with King Solomon Hill with whom he shared the use of falsetto singing and slide guitar. He was first recorded by Gennett Records, on "The Jail House Blues", in 1927, and recorded again in 1931, some of his later recordings appearing under different pseudonyms. His rural bottleneck guitar pieces were among the first to be compiled on LP. He relocated to Chicago in the late 1930s, and died there in 1949.