Sylvester Weaver (musician)

Sylvester Weaver
Weaver with Sara Martin
Weaver with Sara Martin
Background information
Born(1897-07-25)July 25, 1897
Louisville, Kentucky, United States
DiedApril 4, 1960(1960-04-04) (aged 62)
Louisville, Kentucky, United States
GenresBlues, country blues
Occupation(s)Guitarist
Instrument(s)Slide guitar, guitjo

Sylvester Weaver (July 25, 1897 – April 4, 1960)[1] was an American blues guitar player and a pioneer of country blues.[2][3] He was the son of Walter and Mattie (née Embers or Embry) Weaver. Walter Weaver's 1952 Kentucky death certificate indicates that he was born in Port Gibson, Mississippi. That area's economy was heavily agricultural, relying on African American labor to produce a profitable cotton crop. After Walter Weaver migrated to Louisville, Kentucky, Port Gibson would play a role in the preservation and dissemination of a blues tradition indigenous to the Mississippi Delta. This tradition, in the form in which Walter Weaver experienced it, likely was a foundation upon which Sylvester Weaver built his unique performance style.

  1. ^ Doc Rock. "The 1960s". TheDeadRockStarsClub.com. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
  2. ^ Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music. Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 1-904041-96-5.
  3. ^ Birth and death dates come from 1900 federal census, Louisville, KY, ward 2, district 0020, sheet 4, line 40 and Weaver's death certificate respectively. The census record has the 1896 and the death certificate has the 1897 birth date.