Sticks McGhee
b. 23 March 1918, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, d. 15 August 1961, New York City, New York, USA. Like his more famous brother, Brownie McGhee, Granville learned guitar from his father. After seeing action in the World War II, he moved to New York in 1946. The following year, he made his first record, Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee, under his own name. However, it was a later cut of the same song, made for Atlantic in 1949, with a group that included Big Chief Ellis as well as Brownie, that gave him his biggest success. Over the next few years, he made several more records, and appeared as accompanist on others, most notably to Sonny Terry. However, he did not manage to make the move to the new, young, white audience that his brother tapped into so successfully in the late '50s and onwards.