Barbecue Bob:  1902 - 1931

One of the more popular country blues players ever put to disc. He stayed true to the vision of country blues laid out by Charlie Patton, with his relaxed vocals, rolling rhythm of guitar playing, and lyrics shaded with both sadness and humor. His kinship with fellow bluesmen Curley Weaver, Eddie Mapp, and Buddy Moss helped spark their recording careers and put Atlanta blues on the map.  Barbecue Bob championed the 12-string guitar and his 60 plus recordings were pivotal in the evolution of Mississippi Delta blues in the late 1920s.

Barbecue Bob’s real name was Robert Hicks and he came from Walnut Grove, Georgia. As a boy he picked cotton to pay for his first guitar. Hicks and his brother Charlie Lincoln took guitar lessons from Savannah “Dip” Weaver (mother of Curley Weaver) and before long were equally adept at six-string and 12-string guitars. The Hicks brothers hobnobbed with Curley and a young harmonica hot shot named Eddie Map. They played together in various configurations at social gatherings in and around Atlanta. By 1924 Hicks had moved to Atlanta and made a living at odd jobs and playing music on street corners.

Hicks was discovered at an Atlanta eatery called Tidwell’s Barbecue, where he cooked and played down home blues for patrons. A Columbia recording scout named Dan Hornsby was passing through on his way to New Orleans and found him playing at Tidwell’s. Hornsby was inspired enough by the young bluesman and his barbecue environs to create a new image that would help sell the singer. So he photographed Hicks in a chef’s hat and apron and “Barbecue Bob” was born.

The stunt worked and combined with his catchy guitar rhythms Hicks scored a hit with a song called “Barbecue Blues.” It also secured more recording sessions for the future. Columbia continued to record Hicks on field trips down south. He was often brought to New York to record and his commercial success gained ground with songs like “Mississippi Heavy Water Blues”, about the catastrophic floods of 1927, and “Motherless Child Blues” (covered by Eric Clapton). In fact, Barbecue Bob became one of the most heavily recorded bluesmen in Atlanta in the 1920s.

Hicks’ fruitful period lasted from 1927 to 1930, recording over 60 sides. He also managed to persuade Columbia to record fellow bluesmen Curley Weaver, Eddie Map, Buddy Moss, and his brother Charlie. All toured in various combinations as the group “The Georgia Cotton Pickers.” By late 1930 the dark age of the blues, brought on by the Depression and plummeting record sales, had begun. Hicks made his last recordings that year, an unfortunate turn of events since his guitar work was just then growing more inventive and expansive in range. More tragically, he died of pneumonia in 1931 at the age of 29.

Barbecue Bob’s affable, confident singing and vibrant 12-string guitar were elements which popularized Atlanta blues. His African singing style punctuated by growls put him in the same status as other true Delta bluesmen. While his percussive guitar sound, a descendant of African-American pre-blues banjo playing lent itself well to a twelve-string guitar. Hicks tacked on curls of deft bottleneck slide making him even more distinctive in his day. Dubbed Newton-County guitar style, it remained popular throughout the late 1920s, mostly due to Barbecue Bob. However, its influence did not broaden and without additional protégés Hicks’ recordings remain the genuine goods. By Tim Kirker

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