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Although Moore recorded for Columbia, Curtis Jones was never given that

opportunity, and in 1929, after a run-in with the law over bootlegging, he

left the city and worked his way through the Mid-West and South-West, via
Kansas City, to New Orleans. There he married a woman called Lulu

Stiggers.

However, more trouble with the law, this time over illegal gambling
activities, necessitated a rapid departure from another city, this time to

Cheyenne, where he teamed up with the Georgia Strollers minstrel show
for some 9 months of touring.

His continuing Ernest Lawlars aka “Little Son Joe”, Big Bill Broonzy, Lester Melrose,

travels eventually Roosevelt Sykes and ”St Louis Jimmy” Oden, Washboard Sam (bottom
took him to front)

Chicago, where he

arrived in July
1936, and

gathered a small
brass section and

drummer to work

with him on live
dates. Here his

Iuck changed,
when Vocalion

Records talent scout Lester Melrose arranged a session for him, in
September 1937. On that day he recorded ‘Lonesome Bedroom Blues’,

which became a very big selling ‘race’ record, and ensured his recording

career for the next four years. It was a very heartfelt recording, probably
because his wife had just left him, no doubt fed up with the itinerant life

style.

During that time he recorded some 80 titles for Vocalion, Bluebird and Okeh,

but none of these were as successful as his first one, although two of them

- ‘Tin Pan Alley’ and ‘Decoration Day’ were hits for other artistes - not that
Jones ever saw any royalties for them. All of the pre-war recordings are

available on 2 Document label CDs, although they are now quite hard to

find.

It is not known what Jones did during the war years - he was probably too

old to be drafted - but post war times were very hard for him. There were