The 14 Coolest Nicknames in Jazz and Blues History
Half of these sound like game-show contestants on an I Think You Should Leave sketch (complimentary).
‘Bean’
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was one of the first guys to turn the tenor sax into a jazz instrument. His contemporaries called him Hawk, which rules. But he was also kind of a cheapskate, and made the mistake of saying “I haven’t a bean” in front of his friends, who then called him Bean for the rest of his life.
‘Long Tall Dexter’
There must have been a bunch of Dexters of various dimensions in the mid-20th century jazz scene, because saxophonist, composer and bandleader Dexter Gordon went by “Long Tall Dexter.” Friends and fans also called him the “Sophisticated Giant.”
‘Cleanhead’
Eddie Vinson was a 20th century saxophonist and blues singer with such powerful pipes, he would sing unamplified in his bands. He had to shave his head after a mishap with too much lye in a straightening product one time, and then really leaned into it.
‘Johnny Drummer’
Thessex Johns already had one of the coolest names on the planet when he was born — in Alligator, Mississippi, one of the coolest-named towns on the planet. He decided to sprint in the opposite direction when he saw the 1954 film Johnny Guitar and decided to copy it.
‘The Great Dane with the Never-Ending Name’
Danish jazz double bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen starts with a rare hyphenated first name, and he’s only getting started. Even his other nickname, NHØP, is confusing — how do you pronounce Ø?
Dueling ‘Stovepipe’s
Johnny Watson, born in 1867, was a blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player who performed as a one-man band on the streets of Chicago. He picked up the nickname “Daddy Stovepipe” because of his signature hat. Around the same time, Cincinnati musician Samuel Chambers Jones gained notoriety for playing his stovepipe hat like a jug. He tried to credit himself on an album as “Daddy Stovepipe,” and was pissed to find the name was taken. He settled on “Stovepipe No. 1.”
‘Barrelhouse Buck’ and ‘Barrelhouse Chuck’
They sound like unlockable Mario Kart characters, but they’re two legendary musicians who overlapped on this Earth for a brief four years. Thomas F. McFarland was a blues and boogie-woogie singer who went by Barrelhouse Buck until his death in 1962. Blues pianist Harvey Charles Goering, born in 1958, borrowed the mantle, going by Barrelhouse Chuck throughout his career.
‘Guitar Nubbit’
Alvin Hankerson lost the tip of his thumb in a hurricane when he was three years old, garnering him the nickname “Nubbit.” He tried to learn the guitar several times in his youth, but it wasn’t until he was 31 and could afford lessons that he finally figured it out, going on to become a blues guitar legend.
‘Wurmpth’
Claude Thornhill was a child prodigy who also collected two of the most confusing, possibly insulting nicknames in the genre: “Wurmpth” and “Moonface.”
‘Hip Linkchain’
Willie Richard was a Chicago blues guitarist and singer who combined his childhood nickname with his father’s. People called him Hipstick as a kid, and his dad was known as Linkchain because his swag was off the map: He wore logging chains like jewelry.
‘Spanky DeBrest’
Philadelphia jazz bassist Jimmy DeBrest died decades before the Paul Rudd/Jason Segel hit comedy I Love You, Man, so he tragically never knew how much “Spanky DeBrest” sounds like “slap-a da bass.”
‘Homesick James’
John William Henderson was a legendary slide guitar blues musician who played with a ton of the greats throughout most of the 20th century. His stage name comes from “Homesick,” one of the first tracks he recorded for Chance Records, but it’s fun to imagine, in a world of braggadocious nicknames, one guy timidly saying, “Man, I really miss Somerville, Tennessee.”
‘Backwards Sam Firk’
This guy sounds like a bully on Pete & Pete, but Michael Addison Stewart was a country and blues singer and guitarist. He was a huge fan of musician John Fahey, who went by Blind Thomas, and wanted to come up with a similar nickname. In his words: “My dad used to call me Backwards Sam because my initials are MAS.” Still no word on the “Firk” thing, though.
‘The Devil’s Son-in-Law’
He’s not a blood relative, but he still sees the Devil on major holidays, which is pretty twisted. William Bunch was a wildly prolific blues singer who would sing outlandish autobiographical songs under the name “Peetie Wheatstraw, the Devil’s Son-in-Law” or “Peetie Wheatstraw, the High Sheriff from Hell.” One music historian has said his was a “macho persona that made him the spiritual ancestor of rap artists.” Sounds like Ozzy Osbourne owes Peetie some thanks as well.
