Guitar Shorty

History Shorty was born in either Houston, Texas, or Loughman, Florida. He grew up mainly in Kissimmee, Florida. He was taught by his uncle to play the guitar at an early age, and began leading a band not long after. During his time in Tampa Bay, Florida, at age 16 he received his nickname, Guitar Shorty, when it mysteriously showed up on the marquee of the club he was playing as 'The Walter Johnson Band featuring Guitar Shorty.' He steadily began to garner accolades from his peers and, soon after, he joined the Ray Charles Band for a year.

While in New Orleans, Shorty also fronted his own band which played regularly at the Dew Drop Inn where he was joined by special guests such as T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner and Little Richard. Hendrix was so enthralled with Shorty's playing, he went AWOL several times from his Army base to see him perform. Shorty introduced Hendrix to the wah pedal and loaned him one when Hendrix could not afford to buy his own. Shorty married Marsha in 1962 and they separated in 1970.

Guitar Shorty released his album Trying To Find My Way Back in 2019, produced by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams and Larry "MoogStar" Clemon. He also played lead guitar on Crazy Tomes' single "Livin' on Memories", released in 2020. He continued to tour with his band of many years that included Crazy Tomes (guitar and vocals), Malcolm Lukens (keyboards), Wadada Khufu (bass) and Dan Gerass (drums).

He died on April 20, 2022, in Los Angeles, at the age of 87. He appears in the 2024 documentary film Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted, which was in production at the time of Guitar Shorty's death.

Discography On the Rampage (Olive Branch, 1989) My Way or the Highway (JSP, 1991) Topsy Turvy (Black Top, 1993) Get Wise to Yourself (Black Top, 1995) Billie Jean Blues (Collectables, August 27, 1996) The Blues Is All Right (Collectables, August 27, 1996) Roll Over, Baby (Black Top, 1998) I Go Wild! (Evidence, 2001) Watch Your Back (Alligator, 2004) The Best of Guitar Shorty: The Long and Short of It (Shout! Factory, June 2006) We the People (Alligator, August 2006) Bare Knuckle (Alligator, March 2010) How Blue Can You Get (Janblues, December 2010) reissue of The Blues Is All Right Trying To Find My Way Back (S.D.E.G./Essential Media Group, 2019) [2CD]