Biography

George "Little Hat" Jones was born October 5, 1899, in Bowie County, TX. He was a well-known street singer in San Antonio in the mid-'20s, and made his first recordings there on June 15, 1929, when he cut "New Two Sixteen Blues" and "Two String Blues" for OKeh Records. At the same session he sat in on guitar for an additional nine tracks by Texas Alexander. OKeh brought Jones back six days later to record four more tunes, which included "Rolled from Side to Side Blues," "Hurry Blues," "Little Hat Blues," and "Corpus Blues," and again a year later, on June 14, 1930, when he tracked "Kentucky Blues" (a wonderfully re-imagined version of "Lost John"), "Bye Bye Baby Blues," "Cross the Water Blues," and "Cherry Street Blues." For whatever reason, Jones never recorded again, leaving behind a legacy of ten songs, plus nine more as a sideman for Texas Alexander. He died in Naples, TX, in 1981. Little Hat Jones' trademark style of starting songs uptempo on guitar, only to slow down when he began singing, was oddly endearing, and he managed, either by accident or design, to turn what would be a distinct handicap for most musicians into a signature and an asset. One of his best songs, "Bye Bye Baby Blues," featured prominently in the soundtrack to the movie Ghost World in 2001. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi