He was born Joshua Barnes Howell on March 5, 1888, on a farm in the small town of Eatonton, Georgia. He learned how to play the guitar around 1909 at the age of 21, and became quite skilled at it.
He continued working in the farm up until 1916, at the age of 28, when he got into a heated argument with his shotgun-toting brother-in-law, and suffered a nasty shotgun wound to his right knee, which got so severe that the leg had to be amputated. (Which is where he got the nickname “Peg Leg Howell” from.)
After this, he moved to Atlanta in 1923, and began working as a full-time musician in Atlanta, playing on street corners around the city for money and what not.
Around this time, he was sent to jail for bootlegging liquor, which is where he wrote the sound “New Prison Blues”, which he recorded during his first session for Columbia Records in November of 1926.
Over the next three years, up until 1929, Columbia recorded him on several occasions, often accompanied by a small group; Henry Williams on guitar, and Eddie Anthony on the fiddle.
After the Great Depression hit record sales, Howell and his gang returned to their lives as street corner musicians. Howell also reportedly began selling bootleg liquor again during this time, and served more time in jail for it.
After Eddie Anthony perished in jail in 1930, and Henry Williams passed away in 1934, Howell performed only occasionally, and gradually faded away from the Atlanta blues scene. In the 1940s, he started working at a lumber yard.
In 1952, his remaining leg was amputated as a result of complications from diabetes, and he was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
In 1963, at the age of 75, he was rediscovered in dire poverty by a group of teenage boys, and he was recorded again for the Testament label, 34 years after his last recordings.
3 years after he made his final recordings, Howell died at the Grady Medical Center in Atlanta at the age of 78.
The bar tender says “wow how’d you get that peg leg?” The pirate says one day I was out sailing and a shark jumped aboard and tore it clean off” next the bartender asks “and the hook? How’d you get that?” The pirate responds “well we were out whaling and one leapt out of the water and bit my hand clean off” the bartender then asks, “ok so what about the eyepatch??” The pirate responds “I was out walking on the deck of my ship when I looked up and a seagull shit right in my eye” the bartender is a bit confused and says “that made you lose your eye?” “No” says the pirate “it was my first day with the hook!”
Out of curiosity, has anyone bought the 200 gem diamond box today and received Pirate Peg-Leg Pete? I know I’m probably just having bad luck but it seems impossible to get him lol. I’ve been wanting Pirate Peg-Leg Pete for a long time now and I thought I could finally get him today if I did the 2DT enough times. I have now done 65 pulls with no luck! I know his odds are low but man oh man this is rough.
He was born Joshua Barnes Howell on March 5, 1888, on a farm in the small town of Eatonton, Georgia. He learned how to play the guitar around 1909 at the age of 21, and became quite skilled at it.
He continued working in the farm up until 1916, at the age of 28, when he got into a heated argument with his shotgun-toting brother-in-law, and suffered a nasty shotgun wound to his right knee, which got so severe that the leg had to be amputated. (Which is where he got the nickname “Peg Leg Howell” from.)
After this, he moved to Atlanta in 1923, and began working as a full-time musician in Atlanta, playing on street corners around the city for money and what not.
Around this time, he was sent to jail for bootlegging liquor, which is where he wrote the sound “New Prison Blues”, which he recorded during his first session for Columbia Records in November of 1926.
Over the next three years, up until 1929, Columbia recorded him on several occasions, often accompanied by a small group; Henry Williams on guitar, and Eddie Anthony on the fiddle.
After the Great Depression hit record sales, Howell and his gang returned to their lives as street corner musicians. Howell also reportedly began selling bootleg liquor again during this time, and served more time in jail for it.
After Eddie Anthony perished in jail in 1930, and Henry Williams passed away in 1934, Howell performed only occasionally, and gradually faded away from the Atlanta blues scene. In the 1940s, he started working at a lumber yard.
In 1952, his remaining leg was amputated as a result of complications from diabetes, and he was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
In 1963, at the age of 75, he was rediscovered in dire poverty by a group of teenage boys, and he was recorded again for the Testament label, 34 years after his last recordings.
3 years after he made his final recordings, Howell died at the Grady Medical Center in Atlanta at the age of 78.
