Real Music: Eugene Powell 
sings "Pony Blues" 

From the album Memphis Blues Caravan 
Volume 1. Used by permission of Mimosa 
Records Productions, Inc. and Steve 
LaVere. http://www.deltahaze.com

Born in 1908 in Utica, MS, Eugene Powell learned guitar at age 7 when his family moved to the Lombardy plantation near Parchman penitentiary. As a child, Powell was often lifted over the fence at the prison to play for the prisoners. "There would be grown men standing there with tears in their eyes to hear a little boy play guitar," says Powell. Taking the name "Sonny Boy Nelson," Powell played with musicians Hacksaw Harney, Bo Carter and the Mississippi Sheiks. Powell's recording debut was a 1936 recording session for Bluebird where he recorded with his wife, blues singer Mississippi Mathilda and harmonica player Robert Hill.  

Powell played and recorded sporadically through his life, choosing to stay near his home in Greenville, MS until his death in November of 1998. Powell's death marked the closing of a chapter in blues history as he was the oldest surviving Mississippi blues man that recorded in the days of the original blues craze.