This original, pencil drawing on board by local artist Rick Lopes is full of character and charm. Roosevelt Sykes is the Honeydripper!(See other drawing by the same artist of Sleepy John Estes. Hang the two together!)Nicely matted and framed.

Blues man Sykes, born January 31, 1906, begins learning to play the piano and by 1921 he's a regular performer in the barrelhouses of Arkansas and Missouri.


Having hitched up with the pianist Lee Green in 1925, Sykes travels back and forth between New Orleans and St. Louis, living the life of a hobo.


Sykes settles in St. Louis in 1928, where he plays the clubs in the sleazy Deep Morgan area. The following year he make his first recordings, for the OKeh record label in New York.


Sykes becomes one of the first to record for the American arm of the Decca record label.

In 1936 he uses the nickname 'The Honey Dripper' on his recordings. It will stick with him for the rest of his life.