Kid Bailey

Who is Kid Bailey?

Kid Bailey was a Mississippi Delta bluesman, His one known recording session occurred September 25, 1929, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Little is known about Bailey himself. His voice had a distinctly coarse yet youthful quality, at least four of his recordings have survived: "Rowdy Blues", "Broke and Hungry", "Mississippi Bottom Blues" and "East St Louis Blues", in most digital releases, the tracks have been attributed to "Willie Brown" yet are evidently the same artist credited as "Kid Bailey" on the original 78s.

It has been remarked that, "Although it’s almost a cliché to say this about a blues musician from the American South, Kid Bailey was one of the most enigmatic musicians of the era." There has been some speculation that Kid Bailey was actually blues singer Willie Brown, using a pseudonym.

His songs have been covered by Ian A. Anderson, Rory Block, Doug Cox, The Be Good Tanyas, and Thomasina Winslow with Nick Katzman.

His song, "Rowdy Blues" is included on Yazoo Records' compilation album, Master of the Delta Blues: The Friends of Charlie Patton.