191 Smiley Lewis (1913-1966) “I Hear You Knockin’” 1955

“His best songs were often covered and sanitized by white artists, and he died before the Jazz Fest generation could discover his music. Plus, the fact he sang about getting his head bad, hard work, womanizing, going to jail for hitting his wife and cheating on his wife kept his singles out of the mainstream and the charts” (Offbeat, 2010).

Smiley Lewis “I Hear You Knockin’”