Casey Bill Weldon Born: 1909 Died: Unknown

Although not very well known, Casey Bill Weldon was one of the best guitarists to come out of the 1920s Beale Street scene.  Playing a Hawaiian Lap Steel Guitar, Weldon was able to click off crisp, clear notes on recordings with very good fidelity.

Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1909 Weldon found himself in Memphis by the early 1920s.  He is possibly best known for his work in the Memphis Jug Band and for being the first of Memphis Minnie's three husbands.  That marriage ended by the late 1920s.  He recorded off and on with the Memphis Jug Band while in Memphis, but migrated to Chicago in the early 1930s.  While in Chicago he recorded with the Vocalion and Bluebird labels, sometimes working with Big Bill Broonzy.

Casey Bill Weldon sometimes recorded topical songs such as the WPA Blues, but he will always be remembered for his early mastery of the slide guitar.  Weldon moved west in the 1940s.  One blues historian places him in Detroit during the 1960s, but little is known of the latter part of his life.