Moss, Buddy, 1914-1984

He began as a musical disciple of Blake. Moss's career was halted in 1935 by a six-year jail term and then by the Second World War, but he lived long enough to be rediscovered in the 1960s, when he revealed that his talent had been preserved through the years. He was reputed to have been cantankerous and mistrusting of others.

In later years, Moss credited his friend and bandmate Barbecue Bob with being a major influence on his playing. Scholars also contend that Blind Blake was a major force in his development, as both share certain mannerisms and inflections. It has also been suggested by Alan Balfour and others that Moss may have been an influence on Blind Boy Fuller, although they never met and Moss's recording career ended before Fuller's began – Moss's first recordings display some inflections and nuances that Fuller did not put down on record until some years later.

Moss died in Atlanta on October 19, 1984, once again largely forgotten by the public. In the years since, his music has been available from Biograph Records, which reissued the 1966 performance, and from Document Records, which has released virtually every side that he released between 1930 and 1941. As a result, his reputation has once again grown, although he is still not nearly as well known among blues enthusiasts as McTell or Fuller.