Years active 1960s–1970s | Instruments Guitar, vocals Genre Country blues | |
Birth name Michael Addison Stewart Born September 18, 1943Asheville, North Carolina, United States ( 1943-09-18 ) Occupation(s) Singer, guitarist, songwriter, record collector and dealer Similar | ||
Michael Addison Stewart (September 18, 1943 – October 11, 2007), who performed and recorded as Backwards Sam Firk, was an American country blues singer, fingerstyle guitarist, songwriter, and record collector. Less well known than such contemporaries as Alan Wilson of Canned Heat and John Fahey, Backwards Sam Firk spent much of his music-based existence working with and supporting older blues artists. According to his old friend, Stephan Michelson: "He was, simply put, masterful. More than technique, he had taste. And more than technique and taste, he had originality. From his mentors and from records he did not so much copy notes as learn sounds and how to make them. He played old-time blues as if he was living in the 1930s, as if this was the music of his day. For him, it was."
Life and career
Michael Addison Stewart was born in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. His use of his alias, Backwards Sam Firk, came firstly as a homage to John Fahey, who had utilised his own 'Blind Thomas' pseudonym of some recordings. Stewart also explained that, "My dad used to call me Backwards Sam because my initials are MAS."
His first recordings used his stage name and were made for Joe Bussard's Fonotone Records label in the early 1960s. He later collaborated on recordings with Fahey, when they were jointly billed as the Mississippi Swampers. Backwards Sam Firk's debut solo recording was the album, The True Blues and Gospel, which was mainly a collection of cover versions of older blues numbers. It was released by Adelphi Records, an independent blues label based in Silver Spring, Maryland, partly owned by his then-wife. Adelphi conducted field trips, usually attended by Backwards Sam Firk, in search of largely forgotten blues musicians from an earlier generation. He thus met and befriended the guitarist Richard "Hacksaw" Harney, Johnny Shines, Sunnyland Slim, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, and Big Joe Williams. In St. Louis, he also met and played with the pianist Henry Brown and Henry Townsend. Most notably, he backed Yank Rachell on a session for Blue Goose Records. His work with Townsend resulted in their joint album, Henry T. Music Man (1973).
Stewart again used the Backwards Sam Firk identity for a couple of duet albums he made with fellow guitarist Stephan Michelson, alias Delta X. Backwards Sam Firk gained an entry in the dirty blues category, by recording tracks such as "Cigarette" and "West Side Blues".
However, by the mid-1970s, Backwards Sam Firk stopped recording and started to earn a living dealing in rare blues, folk and country records. He assembled one of the most important collections of vintage recordings ever held by one individual. He owned and operated his own record label, Green River Records, which issued compilation albums utilising his collection of old recordings.
Following divorce from his first wife, Carol Rosenthal, he returned to his birth state in 1991 and settled in Mill Spring, North Carolina. He also remarried.
He suffered a fatal heart attack at his home on October 11, 2007, aged 64.