| Papa Lightfoot | |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Name: | Alexander Lightfoot |
| Alias: | Papa George Lightfoot |
| Birth Date: | 2 March 1924 |
| Birth Place: | Natchez, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Natchez, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 1940s–1971 |
Alexander "Papa" Lightfoot (March 2, 1924 – November 28, 1971), also known as Papa George Lightfoot, was an American blues singer and harmonica player.[1]
Born in Natchez, Mississippi, Lightfoot recorded several sessions in his late twenties—for Peacock Records in 1949[1] (which were never issued), Sultan Records in 1950, Aladdin Records in 1952, and Imperial Records in 1954. After final singles for Savoy Records in 1955 and Excello Records in 1956,[2] Lightfoot quit recording, still an obscure Southern blues harmonica player.[1]
As interest grew in rural Delta blues in the 1960s, Lightfoot's name became more well-known and, in 1969, record producer Steve LaVere went to Lightfoot's home town of Natchez, and asked him to record again.[3] The result was the album Natchez Trace, released on Vault Records in 1969, which brought Lightfoot briefly to the forefront of the blues revival.[1] Rural Blues Vol. 2 followed on Liberty Records later that same year.[4]
However, his comeback was cut short by his death in November 1971 of respiratory failure in Natchez, Mississippi.[5]
The recordings were reissued in 1995 as Goin' Back to the Natchez Trace, with six additional tracks and recorded monologue.[6]
In 2009, Lightfoot was posthumously honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Natchez, granted by the Mississippi Blues Foundation.[7] [8]