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HENRY SLOAN
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In a sense Henry Sloan may be regarded as one of the founding fathers of the blues yet he was never recorded, and thus his music will now never be heard. Some blues researchers believe that Henry Sloan may have been playing a form of primitive blues by the beginning of the 20th century. His place in blues history is assured as a result of his relationship with Charley Patton. Sloan was a labourer on the Dockery Plantation, near Cleveland, Mississippi, which is where Patton's parents also worked. A part time musician, Sloan was probably at least twenty years older than Patton, and he took him under his wing, teaching him the rudiments of the blues guitar. They even played together for a while until Charley Patton went on the road in search of a wider audience. Some reports indicate that Sloan also left the plantation, possibly moving to Chicago, although this cannot be confirmed and there were no further reports of him what happened to him. |