Background
Small was born in Bishopville, South Carolina, United States.
Small was born in Bishopville, South Carolina, United States.
He is known as the "Blues Doctor", and has been influenced by gospel and country music and Blind Boy Fuller. He was self-taught on the guitar and organised a local gospel group, the Six Stars. He had eclectic musical influences including Tennessee Ernie Ford, Merle Travis, John Lee Hooker and Fats Domino.
He was rated as one of the best gospel guitarists in the 1950s, before he turned his attention to secular music later in that decade.
In 1959, he released the single "I Love You Alberta" on Sharp Records. Small had a long career, recording spasmodically for small record labels, before issuing six albums between 1990 and 2008.
He recorded dirty blues tracks such as "Tittie Manitoba" and "Baby, Leave Your Panties Home", with more righteous offerings such as "The Lord Been Good to Maine". Small appeared at the 2005 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
He also performed at the first Julius Daniels Memorial Blues Festival in Denmark, South Carolina, in October 2010.
He was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in 2015 from the National Endowment for the Arts.