Bluesman

By Associated Press, 1/24/2002

FAIRFAX, Va. - John Jackson, who went from gravedigger to one of the preeminent blues musicians in the country, died Sunday from kidney failure. He was 77.

During his long career, Mr. Jackson played for presidents and in 68 countries.

Mr. Jackson earned a living as a cook, a butler, a chauffeur, and a gravedigger before his music career took off. He was playing guitar for some friends at a gas station in Fairfax in 1964 when Charles L. Perdue, who teaches folklore at the University of Virginia, pulled in to get some gas. He and Mr. Jackson became friends, and Perdue helped launch Mr. Jackson's career by introducing him to people in the music business.

The seventh son of 14 children, Mr. Jackson had just three months' education at the first-grade level, but he won over fans from all walks of life around the world. B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, and Pete Seeger are among those he has played with and befriended.

Among his numerous awards is the National Endowment for the Arts' Heritage Fellowship Award, which he received in 1986.

This story ran on page B12 of the Boston Globe on 1/24/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.