Hubert Sumlin took the name of his Grammy-nominated CD, "About Them Shoes," from a hard blow he had as a boy.
As a teenager, he slipped up a stairway to snoop on his daddy's whiskey-making operation and got caught. His father almost knocked him flat.
"I didn't know he had seen me. He snatched me down those stairs and he said, 'You think you got them shoes. You think you the best looking thing in school.'" Sumlin explained. "My daddy, he made me think."
The 75-year-old has his roots in Greenwood on what he calls "the Bob Pillow Plantation" along West River Road Extended. The family moved to Arkansas when he was young.
Some of the best guitarists in the world have recognized this Delta-born man's expertise with a blues guitar.
He has played with Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf. This CD, released by Tone-Cool/Artemis Records stands a tribute to Muddy Waters.
Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and other renowned guitarists join him on "About Them Shoes."
Now, Sumlin, who lives in Milwaukee, Wis., stands to take home a Grammy on Feb. 8, 2006, for Best Traditional Blues Album. B.B. King got a nomination, too, for "80, B.B. King & Friends."
Sumlin and King meet up in Memphis a lot. "He has got a place in Memphis. When I go down there I get a chance to see him."
Last week the Commonwealth found Sumlin and his band on the road in Florida. They had played in West Palm Beach the night before and had another date in Clearwater and then Jacksonville.
He sounded pleased about the Grammy nomination - his third.
Sumlin laughed. "B.B. has been beating me out every time. But I don't mind."
The nomination is Sumlin's first as a solo artist. He had received nominations for the 1998 releases "Legends" and "A Tribute to Howlin' Wolf," which featured Sumlin and other artists.
Sumlin's music gets high ratings. Rolling Stone recently included Sumlin in its list of 100 Greatest Guitarists.
Jimi Hendrix once called Sumlin "my favorite guitarist."
Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin said, "Hubert Sumlin is one important person…I love Hubert. And what a complement he was to Howlin' Wolf's voice. He always played the right thing at the right time. Perfect."
Richard Rosenblatt, the president of Tone Cool, co-distributor of Sumlin's CD, said, "He's the guitar hero's guitar hero."
"He invented some things that are part of the inventory of rock guitar, that are classic building blocks of rock and roll."
Brady Brock, publicity vice president for Artemis Records, said Sumlin's technique and the emotion with which he plays established the groundwork for rock and roll. "The name Hubert Sumlin is known in the blues community and beyond that as a legend."
Sumlin said those compliments and awards make him feel fine but they don't influence who he really is and his music. "It couldn't go to change my life, not even my style - not nothing."
