JANUARY 21, 1992

BLUES/BOOGIE WOOGIE MUSICIAN CHAMPION JACK DUPREE DIED—CHEROKEE HERITAGE

Born possibly in July of 1910 in New Orleans (NO), Louisiana, Dupree grew up in NO’ Colored Waifs’ Home for Boys. Learning his piano skills from barrelhouse 88s ace Willie “Drive ’em Down” Hall, Dupree left NO in 1930 for Chicago and Detroit. By 1935, he was boxing professionally in Indianapolis, battling in an estimated 107 bouts. In 1940, Dupree made his recording debut adding a strong Crescent City tinge to Chicago blues. After a stint in the Navy during World War II (he was a Japanese P.O.W. for 2 years), Dupree gave up fighting and went to New York where he became a prolific recording artist often with Brownie McGhee and using a variety of pseudonyms. In 1955, he hit the charts with “Walking the Blues.” Dupree was one of the first bluesmen to leave the U.S. for a less racially polarized European existence in 1959. In the 1960s, he recorded with British blues greats John Mayall and Eric Clapton. Dupree finally returned to NO in 1990 and recorded 3 more albums before dying in Hamburg, Germany.

Source: “Champion Jack Dupree Biography, Songs, & Albums,” AllMusic.  Retrieved 8/5/2022,   Champion Jack Dupree Biography, Songs, & Albums | AllMusic

Photo: Champion Jack Dupree, undated.  Permissive Use pursuant to Creative Commons license.