Stovall was born in Tylertown, Mississippi, in 1907, the youngest of eleven children (thus his nickname "Babe"). He learned to play the guitar by the age of eight, and his guitar playing style was influenced by Tommy Johnson, whom he had met in Mississippi around 1930. In 1964, he relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he entertained on the streets, and in cafes and galleries of the French Quarter. Stovall frequently took young white musicians under his wing as apprentice performers, teaching them traditional country blues songs and guitar techniques. He variously played his guitar at the back of his neck, and hollered his song lyrics loudly for all in the vicinity to hear. In 1964 he recorded an album for Verve, titled Babe Stovall (which was re-released in 1990 on CD), and undertook more recordings in 1966, released as The Babe Stovall Story. His later work with Bob West resulted in The Old Ace: Mississippi Blues & Religious Songs, which was released on Arcola (2003). He was credited by some as the character inspiration behind Jerry Jeff Walker's, "Mr. Bojangles". Stovall played on the college circuit, in addition to being the regular musician at the Dream Castel Bar on Frenchman Street, and The Quarum club in New Orleans.
His death in 1974 was by natural causes, buried at Holt Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana.
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By Steve Leggett
Jewell "Babe" Stovall was a Mississippi-born songster whose style fell somewhere between the deep Delta sound of Tommy Johnson and the fingerpicking technique of Mississippi John Hurt. Born in 1907 in Tylertown, MS, Babe was the youngest of 11 children, most of them musicians. Stovall learned guitar when he was around eight years old, and was soon playing breakdowns, frolics, and parties in the area, even meeting and learning "Big Road Blues" from Tommy Johnson. He moved to Franklinton, LA, in the 1930s, and split his time between there and Tylertown for several years, picking up whatever work he could as a farmhand.
In 1964 he moved to New Orleans, where he was "discovered" working as a street singer in the French Quarter, his act featuring crowd-pleasing antics like playing his National Steel guitar behind his head and shouting out his song lyrics in a voice so loud that it carried well down the street. He recorded an LP for Verve in 1964, simply titled Babe Stovall (re-released on CD by Flyright in 1990), and did further sessions in 1966 (released on CD by Southern Sound as The Babe Stovall Story) and with Bob West in 1968 (which form the basis of The Old Ace: Mississippi Blues & Religious Songs, released on Arcola in 2003), and became active on the folk and blues college circuit, as well as holding down a house gig at the Dream Castle Bar in New Orleans.
Because he hadn't recorded in the 1920s and 1930s like his rediscovered contemporaries John Hurt, Skip James, and Son House, and was thus harder to package to the media, Stovall had a somewhat less lucrative time of it on the blues circuit, a situation that wasn't helped much by his legendary drinking exploits. Said by some to be the character inspiration for Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles," Stovall died in 1974 in New Orleans. His rough-edged voice, hybrid picking style, and use of the National Steel guitar made his personal blues style unlike any other bluesman of his day.