GEORGE "WILD CHILD" BUTLER

Instruments: Harmonica, Vocals
Date of Birth: October 1, 1936
Place of Birth: Autaugaville, Alabama

George Butler was given the nickname of "Wild Child" by his mother due to his early unruly behavior and, like most born into a sharecropping environment, his formative years were divided between school and helping his parents pick produce. When he was twelve he was shown the rudiments of the harmonica by a family friend. Within a couple of years the desire to play blues beset him and he left home to forge a career as a blues musician in Montgomery, Alabama.

Wild Child's first break in his chosen career of bluesman came in the late fifties when he won a talent contest which resulted in his forming his own trio to play local venues. In the mid-sixties he self-financed the recording of four songs at the Hill & Vaughan studios in Montgomery, two of which subsequently appeared on the Shaw label. Following a move to Chicago in 1966, he signed a contract with the Shreveport based Jewel Records for whom he cut a couple of dozen blues, of which only a handful saw commercial release. There followed a session for Mercury, but due to distribution problems, the resultant album failed to get the sales it rightly deserved. His next release, recorded for TK in 1976, suffered a similar fate but fortunately Butler had the good sense to keep the tapes.

During the 80's & 90's Wild Child Butler continued to work from his new base in Ontario, Canada. He released "These Mean Old Blues" on the BullsEye Blues label in 1991.

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