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11 Facts About Cootie Stark

1.

Johnny Miller, known as Cootie Stark, was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter.

2.

Cootie Stark was born Johnny Miller in Abbeville, South Carolina, the son of sharecroppers, and grew up in Anderson County.

3.

Cootie Stark was given his first guitar by his father at the age of 14, having then relocated to Greenville, South Carolina.

4.

Cootie Stark began busking on street corners, and learned his art from fellow street performers such as Peg Leg Sam, Pink Anderson and Josh White plus, particularly in his earliest days, from Baby Tate.

5.

Cootie Stark acquired the nickname, Sugar Man, and continued to work his trade as a songster in the area.

6.

Cootie Stark's performing name of Cootie Stark was an amalgam of a childhood nickname and his grandfather's surname.

7.

Cootie Stark's eyesight deteriorated until he was legally registered as blind, but Stark continued to perform across the State and beyond, often using the name Blind Johnny Miller.

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8.

However, by the 1980s, with playing prospects diminishing, Cootie Stark settled in Greenville.

9.

In 2003, Cootie Stark released his second and final album, Raw Sugar, when he was again accompanied on record by Taj Mahal.

10.

Cootie Stark received the South Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 2005.

11.

Cootie Stark died at the age of 77, in Greenville, in April 2005.