Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller was born March 12, 1896 in Jonesboro, Georgia. A country blues singer and one-man-band, he wrote the classic "San Francisco Bay Blues," among many other songs, and influenced numerous early-60s white folk-blues artists. Jesse played twelve-string guitar with a Piedmont-inspired fingerpicking style, as did many bluesmen from Georgia. He was also known for playing the "fotdella," a homemade bass which he constructed from piano strings and was played with a foot pedal. To this he added harmonica, kazoo, cymbal and a washboard, to re-create the sound of the early southern jug bands. Though he learned to play guitar as a youth, he only began his blues career in earnest in the early 1950s. Prior to that time he hoboed through the South and West, winding up in the early 1920s in Los Angeles, where he worked as an extra in several films including The Thief of Baghdad, East of Suez, and End of the World. He eventually moved to the Bay Area and worked at a series of odd jobs, performing music at parties and on street corners. In 1951, at age fifty- five, he decided to pursue music full time. In 1954 he wrote "San Francisco Bay Blues," which became his trademark song. In 1955 he began his recording career with the release of the album Folk Blues: Working On The Railroad With Jesse Fuller. Recording sessions for the Good Time Jazz, Prestige, and Bluesville labels followed. He performed extensively in the 60s and early 70s. He toured Europe, played at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, and was a regular on the college, coffeehouse and folk club circuit. His repertoire was not restricted to blues, but this traditional songster included ragtime numbers, folk songs, and religious songs in his performances as well. He died on January 29, 1976 in Oakland, California.Information from www.folkloreproductions.com/Html/fuller.html
