Furry Lewis

American country blues singer and guitarist
Born: 6 March 1893 (or 1899), Greenwood, Mississippi, USA
Died: 14 September 1981, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Lewis began recording on the Vocalion label in 1927. His stamping ground - despite the fact he had lost a leg - was in and around the Memphis scene, such as Pee Wee Saloon near his home on Beale Street, with a day job as a street-sweeper until his retirement in 1966.
In 1972 he was part of the renowned Memphis Blues Caravan, along with artists such as Sam Chatmon. He twice opened for The Rolling Stones and even acquired a profile in Playboy magazine. He died of heart-failure aged 82, shortly after contracting pneumonia, and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery, South Memphis.