Sam Collins

Country blues singer and guitarist, known for his falsetto singing and slide guitar.
Born: August 11, 1887 in Louisiana, United States
Died: October 20, 1949 in Chicago, United States (heart disease)

Collins was born in Louisiana and grew up in McComb, Mississippi, just across the state line. By 1924, he was performing in local barrelhouses, often with King Solomon Hill; both of them sang falsetto parts and played slide guitar. Collins's first recording in 1927 was "Yellow Dog Blues", made for Gennett Records and recorded in Richmond, Indiana. His bottleneck guitar was referred to as a "git-fiddle" on record labels of the time.

Collins recorded again in 1931; some of his later recordings appeared under different pseudonyms, such as Salty Dog Sam. His rural bottleneck guitar pieces were among the first to be compiled on LP. In the late 1930s, Collins relocated to Chicago, where he died from heart disease at the age of 62.