Drink Small facts for kids

Drink Small, born on January 28, 1933, is an American musician. He plays soul blues and electric blues music. He is a talented guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter. People often call him The Blues Doctor. His music has been shaped by many styles, including gospel and country music.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Growing Up in South Carolina

Drink Small was born in Bishopville, South Carolina. His family were sharecroppers, meaning they farmed land owned by someone else and shared the crops. His mother was Alice "Missie" Small, and his father was Arthur Jackson. They were both singers and musicians. Drink Small's unique name is his real name, and there is no special story behind it.

He went to a small, two-room schoolhouse. He taught himself to play the guitar when he was about six or seven years old. He started by learning on his uncle's one-string guitar. As a child, he even made his own guitar using an old inner tube for strings. He also learned to play an old pump organ that was in his home.

Overcoming Challenges and Finding Music

When he was eight, Drink Small had a serious accident. He was thrown from a mule-drawn wagon and got caught under its wheel, hurting his back badly. He had to wear a special body cast for many weeks. This injury meant he could no longer pick cotton in the fields. Instead, he spent his time listening to the radio and learning to play songs on his guitar. This helped him focus even more on his musical journey.

Later, when he was a teenager, he started a local gospel group called the Six Stars. In high school, he sang in the school glee club and with a quartet. He also sang in his church. Around this time, he began performing with a professional gospel group called the Golden Five.

Music Career Highlights

Starting a Full-Time Music Career

After high school, Drink Small studied barbering at the Denmark Area Trade School in South Carolina. On weekends, he would go home and perform at house parties with the Golden Five. He found it hard to play music at night and cut hair all day. So, he decided to stop barbering and become a full-time musician.

In 1955, he moved to Columbia, South Carolina. There, he joined another gospel group called The Spiritualaires as their guitarist. This group performed in famous places like the Apollo Theater in Harlem. They also appeared on the Shirley Caesar Caravan TV show. The Spiritualaires toured with well-known singers like Sam Cooke, The Staple Singers, and The Harmonizing Four. Even Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a famous gospel singer, once asked Small to be her permanent guitar player.

His first recording was a single with The Spiritualaires in 1956. It was released by Vee-Jay Records.

Developing a Unique Musical Style

Drink Small was influenced by many different types of music. He listened to artists like Tennessee Ernie Ford, Merle Travis, John Lee Hooker, and Fats Domino. He also enjoyed watching TV shows like Soul Train and The Lawrence Welk Show, which gave him musical ideas.

His musical style is a mix of different traditions. It includes Piedmont blues, gospel, rhythm and blues, boogie-woogie, and Delta and Chicago styles of blues. In the 1950s, he was considered one of the best gospel guitarists. Later in that decade, he started playing secular music, which is music not related to religion. His fans from the gospel world helped him make this change to playing blues full-time. In 1959, he released a single called "I Love You Alberta."

Performing and Recording

Drink Small is known for his ability to play many styles of music. He has a deep blues voice and a lively stage presence. He often tells funny stories and jokes during his shows. In the 1960s, he became very popular with college students in the Carolinas. He performed his blues music at almost every college in South Carolina. He also played often at nightclubs and blues clubs across the state.

Throughout his long career, Small wrote hundreds of songs. He recorded albums for various small record labels. He released six albums between 1990 and 2008. In the 1970s, he even started his own record label called Bishopville Records. He recorded songs that were sometimes playful and sometimes more serious, like "The Lord Been Good to Me."

Small has toured all over the United States and in other countries. He has performed at famous events like the Chicago Blues Festival and the King Biscuit Blues Festival. He also played at three international World's Fairs. He was the opening act for musicians such as Little Milton, Bobby "Blue" Bland, and Koko Taylor. He performed at the 2005 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the first Julius Daniels Memorial Blues Festival in 2010. In 2009, he was the final act at the first Pee Dee Blues Bash in Florence, South Carolina.

In February 2010, Drink Small was featured in a TV documentary series called Carolina Stories. The episode was titled "Juke Joints and Honky Tonks." As of 2015, he was featured weekly on Blues Moon Radio, which is broadcast from Columbia, South Carolina.

Personal Life

Drink Small is married to Andrina Small. His favorite guitar is named Geraldine.

He moved to Columbia, South Carolina, in 1955 and brought his mother to live with him. Even though he toured a lot, he preferred to perform closer to home. This was because he had a fear of flying and wanted to be there to care for his mother. She passed away in 1988.

Drink Small did not always earn enough money from music alone. So, he sometimes had other jobs, like selling fishing worms from his backyard between music gigs. He once said, "Rich people got the blues because they are trying to keep the money, poor people got the blues because they are trying to get some money, and Drink Small got the blues because I ain't got no money."

He is known for his short, clever sayings about life, which people call "Drinkisms." Sadly, he lost his eyesight in 2014.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards and Recognition

Drink Small has received many awards and honors for his contributions to music:

• His 1988 album Blues Doctor: Live & Outrageous was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award, a major blues music award.
• In 1990, he received the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award. This is South Carolina's highest honor for people who have achieved a lot in traditional arts.
• In July 1992, he was featured on the cover of Living Blues magazine.
• He was inducted into the South Carolina Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in 1999.
• In 2001, he was inducted into the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame.
• In 2012, his song "Living in a BBQ World" became the official song of the South Carolina Festival of Discovery.
• He received the Bobby "Blue" Bland Ambassador for the Blues Award from the Jus' Blues Foundation in 2013.
• In 2015, he was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts. This is the highest honor for folk and traditional arts in the United States government.
• On July 30, 2015, Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin declared it "Drink Small Day" in Columbia, South Carolina. This has become an annual celebration.
• In 2018, a mural featuring Drink Small's image was painted in the Five Points neighborhood of Columbia, South Carolina.
• On February 4, 2023, "Drink Small Day" was celebrated at the South Carolina State Museum to honor his 90th birthday. Drink Small performed at this event.

See also

• List of electric blues musicians
• List of soul-blues musicians