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in 1937. Pinetop died, apparently of poisoning, in 1935. Townsend, however, claims that
Pinetop was in the habit of never saying no to a gig; playing all throughout the weekend and consequently work 24 hours without sleep. It was these work habits, combined with heavy drinking (to stay awake) that
155:, to Sullie Gant and Ruth McWhorter. They later took the surname of their stepfather, Carl Sparks. In 1920, the family moved to St. Louis, where Pinetop had "rudimentary music education at school". He and his twin brother formed a group, with Aaron playing the piano in a
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Pinetop Sparks' grave went unmarked for nearly eight decades, before a fan club finally honored him. In 2014, 78 years after Sparks' death, thanks to the work of a non-profit organization, the Killer Blues
Headstone Project, a headstone was laid at
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There were rumors that the brothers did not always get along and did not have steady employment. They also frequently had run-ins with the law. Pinetop drank heavily, and
Lindberg killed a man (in self-defense), for which he spent time in the
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231:, a historically black cemetery in St Louis. A keyboard adorned the lower casing of the stone, with his name, dates of birth and death, and the epitaph "Every Day I Have the Blues".
167:, had a wonderful singing voice. Townsend recalled in his memoir that Pinetop played, like all other St. Louis musicians, in the "speakeasy type places", such as Nettie's on
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Their first recording session was in 1932, when they recorded a number of blues and boogie-woogie songs. Pinetop (who got his nickname from playing
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and "Whiskey Blues" with
Elizabeth Washington, both in 1933. Most often, the brothers played together only occasionally.
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style and Marion singing. They were accompanied by the guitarist Pete Bogans and the trombone player
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in the early 1930s. He died in his twenties from either poisoning or exhaustion.
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201:(Nighthawk, 1992). In 1949, the song was recorded under a different title by
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Aaron and his twin brother, Marion "Lindberg" Sparks, were born in Corona,
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Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2003).
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417:"Headstone Project Brings Recognition to Long-Forgotten Blues Musos"
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All Music Guide to the Blues: The
Definitive Guide to the Blues
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Long
Distance Information: Chuck Berry's Recorded Legacy
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252:. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. p. 114.
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443:"Stories of Standards: Every Day I Have the Blues"
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281:The Story of Boogie-Woogie: A Left Hand Like God
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189:Notable recordings by Pinetop include "
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367:Encyclopedia of the Blues
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161:Ike Rogers
139:active in
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52:1910-05-22
31:Aaron Gant
27:Birth name
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