Cat Iron, real name William Carradine, b. c. 1896 in Garden City, LA, d. c. 1958 in Natchez, MS, blues singer and guitarist, active 1950s. 'Cat Iron' was not his actual nickname, but a mishearing of his surname by his "rediscoverer". During the folk and blues revival, "Cat Iron" was "discovered" and recorded in 1957 by Frederic Ramsey Jr.; the recordings were released in the United States in 1958 on the Folkways label, in the United Kingdom in 1969 on the XTRA label. His song, "Jimmy Bell" has been covered by many other musicians, first by Koerner, Ray & Glover on their 1963 album, Blues, Rags and Hollers, later by Stoney & Meatloaf, The Numbers Band, Peter Lang, The Sharks, Tom Doughty and Watermelon Slim.
Cat Iron Biography by Mark A. Humphrey
In 1958, folklorist Frederic Ramsey, Jr. recorded someone named Cat-Iron in Buckner's Alley in Natchez, Mississippi. Ramsey whote a detailed poetic description of his discovery of Cat-Iron for The Saturday Review which, alas, offered no background on the artist. A biographic cipher, Cat-Iron's sole testament is "Cat-Iron Sings Blues and Hymns," described in the 1958 Folkways catalogue as "old-time Negro songs and guitar style."