Biography

Written By Roy Lockwood

A love letter from a son to his beloved father….

LOCKWOOD, ROBERT, JR.

Birth name: Robert Lockwood Jr.

Also known as: “Robert Junior" Lockwood

LOCKWOOD JR, ROBERT (27 March 1915 – 2 November 2006), was a prolific AFRICAN-AMERICAN (https://case.edu/ech/articles/a/african-americans) blues musician who was taught guitar by Robert Johnson, one of the most influential figures in blues history. Lockwood would build on his early training in traditional blues to create a unique jazz-tinted style of his own, which garnered him accolades from serious blues guitarists over his nearly seventy-year career as a performer. 

Lockwood's early years were immersed in blues tradition. Born the second of two children on a farm in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, Robert Lockwood Jr’s parents, Robert Lockwood Sr., and Esther Reese Lockwood separated early in his life. Young Lockwood started off his musical career playing the organ, but switched to guitar in his teens when his mother began a relationship with Robert Johnson, who became Lockwood's musical mentor.  With and without Johnson, Lockwood honed his musical craft in juke joints and street corners in the Mississippi Delta region. After Johnson, Lockwood formed an important musical relationship with Sonny Boy Williamson II (aka Rice Miller). With Williamson and other studio musicians, Lockwood performed regularly on the King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA in Arkansas, one of the only radio stations to play African American music in the Mississippi Delta region at the time.

Lockwood's later career mirrored the traditions of the Great Migration, when millions of African Americans relocated to Northern industrial cities from rural areas in the South. In the 1950s Lockwood moved to Chicago and worked as a session guitarist for Chess Records, where he played with blues greats such as Muddy Waters and Little Walter among many others.  He also continued his collaboration with Williamson, who recorded an album with Chess during this period.  When Williamson moved to Cleveland in the 1960s, Lockwood followed and eventually established his own path as bandleader and regular blues recording artist. He ended up as a two year long (six night a week) gig at a club called Loving’s Grill. It was there that he met Ms. Annie Wright, whom he later married her in September 23th 1960 and of whom he said “A man needs a woman he can trust. She was a good lady. She was my wife for 37 years and we never had an argument.” Together he and Annie raised four children.  Three rambunction boys Roy Williams, Charles Williams, Larry Lockwood and one lovely daughter Deborah Lockwood. When the children were younger. Robert took a day job with Sherwood Drugs, as a delivery man, while continuing to play various clubs at night. He and Annie also managed a pool hall together during the turbulent 60s.

Annie got him his first 12-String guitar and he played one almost exclusively for the next 31 years.  Robert achieved his optimum entertainment industry due to Annie Lockwood and his son Roy Williams. Annie Lockwood established the Lockwood Record and Annie Lockwood publishing company which she and her son Roy Williams ran.

She also  had the help of two different booking agents and she and her son Roy did booking for Robert Lockwood as well. Roy also established Lockwood Production Inc. in honor of his father. Annie Lockwood made her transition on August 26th at 13:40am 1997 at MetrolHealth Hospital

  • The Memphis-based Blues Foundation bestowed two National Blues Music Awards and four W.C. Handy Awards in 1980 upon Lockwood and inducted him into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1989

  • In 1998, he was inducted into the Delta Blues Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Mississippi.

  • He received honorary doctorates from Case Western Reserve in 2001 and a honorary doctorate in 2002 from Cleveland State universities.

  • A street on the east bank of Cleveland's Flats was named in his honor in 1997. Lockwood Junior Drive

  • As a solo artist, he had a sporadic recording career, although his work did not go unnoticed. He earned Grammy nominations for two albums: 1998's "I Got to Find Me a Woman" and 2000's "Delta Crossroads."

  • He received a key to the city in 1997 of Cleveland under  mayor Mike White

  • He was honored with the National Heritage Fellowship (https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Heritage_Fellowship&action=edit&redlink=1) awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts (https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Endowment_for_the_Arts), which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United States in 1995. by Hillary Clinton.

  • In 2001 he won W.C. Handy Blues Award for Acoustic Album of the Year.

  • He also won Handys for Traditional Male Artist in 1992, 1994 and 1999.

  • Traditional Blues Album in 1980 and 1999 for Hangin On and I got to find me a woman.

Robert spent many recreation hours shooting pool and deeply enjoyed the game of checkers, at which he was a master. I his son played him often but couldn’t beat him.  We also will play cards called casino and I couldn’t be him in that either.  One time I stack the deck when he wasn’t looking and beat him we both laughed about it. My dad was physically fit and healthy. He did 30 push up and 30 knee bends most mornings for years and avoided food chemicals.” I get my meat from the Amish and I don’t drink no tap water either” He was, however, known to enjoy a drink of his favored Hennessy Cognac. He was endlessly accessible to old friends and new acquaintance, with a marvelous ability to breathe life into an often told tale and bless all with his warmth and presence.

Even though Lockwood often toured across the U.S. and internationally, Cleveland would remain Lockwood's home base for the rest of his career. For decades, Lockwood was a fixture in the Cleveland-area music community, gigging at clubs like Pirates Cove and Brothers Lounge. During his later years, Lockwood and his eight-piece band had a weekly standing show every Wednesday at Fatfish Blue, on the corner of Prospect Avenue. and Ontario Street. Robert Lockwood  Jr. left this life and his passion for his music, friends, fans and beloved family on November 21t, 2006. more than 100 musicians and fans came together at Fat Fish Blue to mourn the 91-year-old's passing. It's the downtown club where Robert Lockwood's played on Wednesday-night. Fat Fish Blue became a hallmark of Cleveland nightlife since its inception back in 1989.

"He was definitely a complex guy," recalls Steve Zamborsky, Fat Fish Blue's managing partner. "He was direct and colorful with his opinions on everything, but I'll remember him as being really generous with his ideas and music. Anytime some young person would show up, which happened all the time -- it was amazing how many skinny, 15-year-old white kids would show up and want to emulate him -- he'd take time to sit down and talk about keeping their life on the straight and narrow and respecting the music."

He produced 16 studio albums 12-string semi-hollow bodied guitar is on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (https://case.edu/ech/articles/r/rock-and-roll-hall-fame-and-museum). At the time of his death, he was survived by four children that he raised and took care of with his wife Annie Lockwood.

I want to thank and give my sincere gratitude to Steve “Blu” Goebel, Nick Amster and his wife Sarah Buck, who honor my father memories, and Cindy Barber, owner of the Beachland Ballroom, Treelawn Social Club & Music Hall and Cleveland Rocks Past and Future. Also thanks to Cleveland Blues Society, The Blues Hall Of Fame, The and the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

15711

Waterloo Rf.

Cleveland Ohio 44110-1659

United States