Bill Cox

Born William Jennings Cox at Eagle, West Virginia in 1897, Bill very soon learned to play the harmonica and later the guitar. From 1927 onwards Cox had a little daily show on Walter Fredericks' local radio station WOBU and so his Dixie Songbird's show quickly became quite popular.
Fredericks also was the guy who convinced Cox in 1929 to finally go to Richmond, Indiana and cut some records to be played on the air when he would fail to appear the show. This was the beginning of Bill Cox's long-term recording career. After covering Jimmie Rodgers songs in the beginning, Cox increasingly developed his very own style performing a variety of older sentimental songs and original compositions, often including comical content from domestic everyday situations.In 1937 he recorded two songs that have become national country standards, "Filipino Baby" and "Sparkling Brown Eyes". Although it is said that there was no doubt about Cox's authorship of "Filipino Baby", he ended up making very little from it.

In 1965 an amateur folklorist found Cox living in poverty in a tiny shack in a slummy part of Charlston. He then received some financial aids and got to cut his last album before he died in December 1968.

Bill Cox - "Midnight Special"
Bill Cox - "Georgia Brown Blues"

Bill Cox - "The Clouds Gwine Roll Away"
Bill Cox - "The Trial of Bruno Richard Hauptman" Pt.1
Bill Cox - "The Trial of Bruno Richard Hauptman" Pt.2
Bill Cox & Cliff Hobbs - "Filipino Baby"

Enjoy!

maz