Charlie Burse
Charlie Burse (August 25, 1901 – December 20, 1965) was an American blues musician, best known for his work with the Memphis Jug Band. His nicknames included "Laughing Charlie," "Uke Kid Burse" and "The Ukulele Kid." The "uke" in his nicknames referred to the first instrument he was known for, the tenor banjo, which was commonly called a "ukulele-banjo" in the South. Later photographs show him with a tenor guitar, a similar instrument that he played in the same tuning. Biography Career Burse was raised in Sheffield, Alabama by his father—a hotel cook—and mother, along with seven siblings. During the 1920s, he moved to Jackson, where he met his wife, Birdie Crawford, and had three children. He then moved his family to Memphis, Tennessee in 1928. Burse played many musical instruments, including the piano, saxophone and spoons, but was only recorded on guitar, tenor guitar and mandolin. As a singer and multi-instrumentalist, Burse recorded over 60 commercial sides with Will Shade's Memphis Jug Band. Burse was described as a "smart mouth" and Roger Brown remarked that he was "boisterous" and "the most irrepressible person I've ever met." This contrasted with Shade, who was businesslike and orderly in managing the band.