The Atlanta Journal -Constitution is reporting that blues guitar legend Eddie Kirkland, xe2x80x9cThe Gypsy Of The Bluesxe2x80x9d, was killed Sunday morning in a Florida wreck.
The Jamaican-born Kirkland, 88, was a former bandleader for Otis Redding and recorded with John Lee Hooker, among others. Kirkland performed Saturday night at the Dunedin Brewery, outside of Tampa, according to his website.
Shortly before 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Kirkland was driving his 1998 Ford Taurus when he attempted a U-turn and turned into the path of a Greyhound bus, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The bus hit the right side of the Taurus, pushing it about 200 yards.
No one on the bus was injured, according to the FHP. Kirkland was transported to Tampa General hospital, where he died from injuries sustained in the crash. The crash remains under investigation.
Kirkland, who was born on a cotton plantation, moved with his mother to New Orleans when he was a year old. The two later moved to Mobile and southwest Alabama.
xe2x80x9cThatxe2x80x99s where I came to hear the blues . . ., xe2x80x9d Kirkland told the AJC in 1989. xe2x80x9cMy first experience with the blues was when I was a little baby about 2 years old. My mama used to take me to the cotton field and put me at the end of a row in the shade. Youxe2x80x99d have people coming down the row, and it was a long field, and you could hear them singing. As a little baby, the music got into me.xe2x80x9d
His mother gave him a harmonica when he was 4, he said. At 12, he played guitar with the Sugar Girls Medicine Show before heading to Detroit.
In 1949, Kirkland traveled to Macon while on tour with Hooker. The middle Georgia town would later become Kirklandxe2x80x99s home.
xe2x80x9cIf one person appreciates what Ixe2x80x99m doing itxe2x80x99s just as good as a million,xe2x80x9d Kirkland said. xe2x80x9cA lot of places wexe2x80x99ve played, after I paid the band I didnxe2x80x99t have a dime. But it was a good show. I was happy. Thatxe2x80x99s it for me. Itxe2x80x99s my life.xe2x80x9d
Kirkland also appears on the 2010 studio album by classic blues rockers Foghat, xe2x80x98Last Train Homexe2x80x99 performing two tracks with the band.
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