Rube Lacy
Rubin "Rube" Lacy (or Lacey) (January 2, 1901 – November 14, 1969) was an American country blues musician, who played guitar and was a singer and songwriter. Lacy was born in Pelahatchie, Mississippi, United States, and learned to play the guitar in his teens from an older performer, George Hendrix. Working out of the Jackson area in the Mississippi Delta, he became one of the state's most popular blues singers. His bottleneck style inspired that of the better-known performer Son House. In 1927, he recorded four songs for Columbia Records in Memphis, Tennessee, though none were released, and the masters do not survive. In 1928, Lacy recorded two songs, "Mississippi Jail House Groan" and "Ham Hound Crave", for Paramount Records, which constitute his recorded legacy. Four years later he became a minister. He was later found living in Lancaster, California, by the blues researcher David Evans, who recorded him with his congregation. He died in Corcoran, California, on November 14, 1969, aged 68. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Pelahatchie (town in Rankin County, Mississippi, United States), Died November 14, 1969 (Lancaster (city in Los Angeles County, California, United States) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1927
Roles Represented in DAHR: guitar, vocalist
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | W145347 | 10-in. | 12/9/1927 | Black dog blues | Rube Lacy | Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with guitar | instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist | |
| Columbia | W145348 | 10-in. | 12/9/1927 | Long lonesome blues | Rube Lacy | Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with guitar | instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist | |
| Columbia | W145349 | 10-in. | 12/9/1927 | Railroad blues | Rube Lacy | Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with guitar | instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist | |
| Columbia | W145350 | 10-in. | 12/9/1927 | Red River blues | Rube Lacy | Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with guitar | instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Lacy, Rube," accessed December 26, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/110401.
Lacy, Rube. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 26, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/110401.
"Lacy, Rube." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 26 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Lacy, Rube, 1901-1969 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no96065233
Wikidata: Rube Lacy - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7376130
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/36515931
MusicBrainz: Rube Lacy - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/ce2a71b2-d650-4794-a6c0-7a7a00790650
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/1530924 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/1530924
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