Floyd Council (September 2 1911–May 9 1976) was an American
blues guitarist and
singer. He became a well-known practitioner of the
Piedmont blues sound from that area, popular
throughout the southeastern region of the US in the 1930s.
Born in
Chapel
Hill
, North
Carolina
to Harrie
and Lizzie Council, Floyd began his musical career on the streets
of Chapel Hill in the 1920s, performing with two brothers, Leo and
Thomas Strowd as "The Chapel Hillbillies". He recorded twice
for ARC at sessions with
Blind Boy
Fuller in the mid-thirties, all fine examples of the Piedmont
style in full bloom.
Council suffered a
stroke in the late 1960s
which partially paralyzed his throat muscles and slowed his motor
skills, but did not significantly damage his cognitive abilities.
Folklorist
Peter B. Lowry attempted to record him one afternoon
in 1970, but he never regained his singing or playing abilities.
Accounts say that he remained "quite sharp in mind".
Council
died in 1976 of a heart attack, after
moving to Sanford,
North Carolina
.
The Floyd in Pink Floyd
Syd Barrett, of English
progressive rock band, Pink Floyd, came up with the band's name by
juxtaposing the first names of Council and South Carolina
bluesman, Pink
Anderson. He noticed the names in the liner notes of a
1962
Blind Boy Fuller LP (Philips
BBL-7512). The text, written by
Paul
Oliver, read:
"Curley Weaver
and Fred McMullen, (...) Pink Anderson or Floyd Council -- these
were a few amongst the many blues singers that were to be heard in
the rolling hills of the Piedmont, or meandering with the
streams through the wooded valleys."
Discography
No records are available which exclusively feature Council's work.
However, the
CD,
Carolina Blues, features six songs which
he recorded: "I'm Grievin' and I'm Worryin'", "I Don't Want No
Hungry Woman", "Lookin' For My Baby", "I'm Broke and I Ain't Got a
Dime", "Runaway Man Blues" and "Working Man Blues".According to a
1969 interview, Council stated he had recorded 27 songs over his
career, seven of them backing
Blind Boy
Fuller. Fuller's series of
Complete Recorded Works
contain many songs in which Council played guitar.
References
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