John Lee Granderson
Born April 11, 1913 in Ellendale,Tennessee
Died August 22, 19791920s: Played mostly in the Memphis area with Sleepy John Estes, Hammie Nixon, and others. Known to have played later also with John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson.
1922: Began playing guitar.
1928: Moved to Chicago.
1940s-1960s: He is known to have played regularly on Maxwell Street in the 40s, 50s, and 60s and often to have teamed there with Robert Nighthawk, Johnny Young, Big John Wrencher, Carl Martin and others. He was most active in the 1960s. "He was featured as a sideman and a leader on many anthologies, although he never had a full album in his own right."* (The Guinness Who's Who of Blues).
*Note that that statement is no longer true. In early 1998 Testament released a collection of Granderson's work recorded over the years by Pete Welding. It is entitled "Hard Luck John" (Testament TCD 5031).
