Jack Kelly: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Videos
• Photos
• Groups/Boards
• Fan Sites

• Big Walter Horton
• Furry Lewis
• The Dixieland Jug Blowers

• Memphis Jug Band

• Jimmy DeBerry
• Dan Sane
• Will Batts

Died:

Jan 1, 1960

Genres:

Blues Music, Country Blues Music

Decades Active:

1930's|1940's|1950's

Artistic Quality

Low

Cultural Impact

Low

Ratings Guide

Singer/guitarist Jack Kelly was the frontman of the South Memphis Jug Band, a popular string band whose music owed a heavy debt to the blues as well as minstrel songs, vaudeville numbers, reels and rags. Little is known of the hoarse-voiced Kelly's origins; he led the group in tandem with fiddler Will Batts, and they made their first recordings in 1933, followed in 1939 by a second and final session. Although the South Memphis Jug Band's lineup changed frequently, Kelly remained a constant, leading the group in various incarnations until as late as the mid-'50s; he died in Memphis in 1960.

- Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide