b. 12 February 1900; Laurens, SC
d. 12 October 1974; Spartanburg, SC
Pink Anderson’s family moved to Greenville, South
Carolina, when he was one year old but the family
eventually settled in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Anderson began his musical career in the first decade
of the twentieth century by entertaining on the streets
of Spartanburg. He learned the harmonica and, by
the age of seventeen, he was on the road, performing
with Dr. Frank ‘‘Smiley’’ Kerr’s Medicine Show.
Kerr sold ‘‘medicine’’ (better known as ‘‘snake oil’’)
made by the Indian Remedy Company.
Pink buckdanced and performed on the streets and
at parties and picnics in Spartanburg with other entertainers when he wasn’t working for Dr. Kerr. Although
he learned guitar basics from a neighbor as a child,
Pink became much more proficient after he became
the prote´ge´ of Georgia-born guitarist Simeon ‘‘Blind
Simmie’’ Dooley. In April 1928, Columbia Records
recorded four songs by the duo in Atlanta, Georgia.
Around the same time he met Dooley, Anderson
also became acquainted with Arthur Jackson (later
known as ‘‘Peg Pete’’ and ‘‘Peg Leg Sam’’) and they
became lifelong friends. Eventually they worked together on the Kerr show. Both later worked on Leo
Kahdot’s shows. Kahdot, a Potawatomie Indian, was
known as Chief Thundercloud and started his career
as a musician in vaudeville.
Folklorist Paul Clayton recorded Anderson at the
Virginia State Fair in May 1950. Samuel Charters
began recording him at his home in Spartanburg in
1962. This eventually led to a short film called The
Bluesmen, which also featured Charles ‘‘Baby’’ Tate,
another close friend of Anderson’s. The film featured
Pink’s young son, Alvin, known today as ‘‘Little
Pink.’’ Charters also recorded three albums of music
by the elder Anderson.
Forced to stop playing due to a 1964 stroke,
Anderson lived until 1974. He is buried at Lincoln
Memorial Gardens in Spartanburg.
GAILE WELKER
Bibliography
AMG; Harris; Santelli
Discography: DGR; LSFP
The Blues of Pink Anderson: Ballad & Folksinger, Vol. 3
(Prestige/Bluesville OBCCD 577–1).
Carolina Blues Man, Vol. 1 (Prestige/Bluesville OBCCD-
504–2).
Gospel, Blues and Street Songs (Original Blues Classics
524).
Medicine Show Man, Vol. 2. (Prestige/Bluesville OBCCD-
587–2).