John Henry Barbee

Twentieth-Century Delta Blues Musician

American blues singer and guitarist, born November 14, 1905 in Henning, Tennessee, November 3, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois (heart attack). Barbee recorded four titles for Vocalion in 1938, after which he worked mainly outside of music until making a comeback in the early 1960s, touring with the American Folk Blues Festival in 1964, recording an LP for Storyville in Copenhagen during the tour. Barbee himself claimed that John Henry Barbee was a pseudonym, and that his real name was William George Tucker. However, recent research has shown that John Henry Barbee actually was his real name! Why he claimed otherwise is unclear. Worked with John Lee Williamson, Sunnyland Slim, Moody Jones and others.