Jesse Fuller facts for kids

Jesse Fuller was an amazing American musician. He was famous for being a "one-man band." This means he played many instruments all by himself! He is best known for his song "San Francisco Bay Blues." Jesse was born on March 12, 1896, and passed away on January 29, 1976.

Jesse Fuller's Early Life

Jesse Fuller was born in Jonesboro, Georgia, near the city of Atlanta. When he was a young child, he went to live with foster parents. He had a difficult childhood growing up in the countryside.

Jesse worked many different jobs as a kid. He grazed cows for a small fee. He also worked in factories that made barrels and brooms. He even worked at a rock quarry, which is a place where stones are dug up. Jesse also shined shoes and sold wooden snakes he carved. By the time he was 10 years old, he was already playing the guitar. He used two different ways of playing: "frailing" and "picking."

In the 1920s, Jesse lived in southern California. He ran a hot-dog stand there. He even became friends with the famous actor Douglas Fairbanks. Jesse also worked briefly as an extra in movies. These included The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and East of Suez.

In 1929, Jesse settled in Oakland, California. This city is across the bay from San Francisco. He worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad for many years. He was a fireman and helped build and fix railroad tracks. Jesse got married to Gertrude, and they started a family. During World War II, he worked as a welder in shipyards. After the war, it became harder for him to find work. Around the early 1950s, Jesse started thinking about becoming a full-time musician.

Jesse Fuller's Music Career

Jesse Fuller had never been a full-time musician before. But he was a very skilled guitar player. He always carried his guitar with him. He would play music on the streets for money, a practice called busking. Jesse had a great memory for songs. He knew many different types of music. These included country blues, work songs, ragtime, jazz songs, ballads, and spirituals. He also played instrumental songs without singing. For a while, he had a shoe-shine stand. There, he would sing and dance to entertain people walking by.

Jesse started writing his own songs. Many of them were about his experiences working on the railroads. He also took older songs and changed them. He played them in his own unique, syncopated style. When he decided to become a professional musician, it was hard to find other musicians to play with. This is how his "one-man band" idea was born. He started calling himself "The Lone Cat."

Jesse began playing in clubs and bars in San Francisco and nearby cities like Oakland and Berkeley. He became more famous after performing on television in California. In 1958, when he was 62 years old, he recorded his first album. It was released by Good Time Jazz Records.

Jesse Fuller played many instruments. He played 6-string and 12-string guitars. He also played the harmonica, kazoo, cymbal (high-hat), and his special instrument, the fotdella. He could play several instruments at the same time. He used a special holder for his harmonica, kazoo, and microphone.

Bob Dylan learned how to use a harmonica holder from Jesse Fuller.

Jesse often included tap dancing in his shows. He would dance while playing his 12-string guitar. His style was friendly and fun. Like many street performers, he would talk to his audience. He would tell funny stories and jokes between songs.

In the summer of 1959, Jesse was playing in Denver. The famous musician Bob Dylan was there for several weeks. Bob Dylan learned how to play the harmonica using a neck-brace from Jesse Fuller.

A British music company called Topic Records released Jesse's album Working on the Railroad in 1959. This album included his popular song "San Francisco Bay Blues."

The Fotdella

Jesse's Silvertone guitar is now in the Smithsonian Museum.

The fotdella was a musical instrument that Jesse Fuller invented and built himself. He made at least two of them. They looked a little different from each other. You can see them in pictures and videos of his performances.

As a one-man band, Jesse wanted to have a stronger bass sound. Other street musicians often used a cymbal or a bass drum. Jesse's solution was the fotdella. It was a foot-operated percussion bass. It looked like the top part of a double bass. It had a short neck at the top. Six piano bass strings were attached to the neck. They stretched down over the body of the instrument.

Jesse played the strings using six piano or organ pedals. Each pedal was connected to a padded hammer. This hammer would hit a string when he pressed the pedal. Jesse would take off his shoe and put his sock-covered foot into a special holder. Then, he would play the six pedals of the fotdella like a piano. With its six notes, he could play bass lines in several musical keys. Sometimes, he played without it if a song had notes outside its range.

His wife gave the instrument its name. She called it a "foot-diller," meaning a "killer-diller" instrument played with the foot. This name was shortened to fotdella. Some musicians and music experts also call this type of instrument a foot piano.

Jesse Fuller's Death

Jesse Fuller passed away on January 29, 1976. He died in Oakland, California, from heart disease. He was 79 years old. He was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland. His fotdella and his 1962 Silvertone Electric-Acoustic guitar are now at the Smithsonian Institution. He bought the Silvertone guitar from a store in Detroit. It replaced his old Maurer guitar, which was stolen during a tour.

Jesse Fuller's Influence

Jesse Fuller had a big impact on many musicians. Many artists have performed his songs. These include Bob Dylan ("You're No Good"), Johnny Cash ("The Legend of John Henry"), and Grateful Dead ("The Monkey and the Engineer" and "Beat It On Down the Line"). Other famous musicians who covered his songs are Hot Tuna, Peter, Paul and Mary, Janis Joplin, Jim Croce, Eric Clapton, Phoebe Snow ("San Francisco Bay Blues"), and Paul McCartney.

In 1965, Jesse Fuller toured the UK. A musician named Don Partridge organized a sold-out concert for him. Don Partridge was so inspired by Jesse. He then created his own one-man band style for playing music on the streets in the UK. This later helped him become a successful pop artist.

Selected Music Albums

• Working on the Railroad (World Song, 1954)
• Frisco Bound (Cavalier, 1956)
• Jazz, Folk Songs, Spirituals & Blues (Good Time Jazz, 1958)
• San Francisco Bay Blues (Good Time Jazz, 1963)
• San Francisco Bay Blues (Prestige Folklore, 1963)
• Move on Down the Line (Topic, 1965)
• Jesse Fuller's Favorites (Prestige, 1964)
• Negro Minstrel (Folk-Lyric Records, 1962(?))
• God Made the Blues (Folk Art Records, 1964)

See also

In Spanish: Jesse Fuller para niños