John Lee Zeigler, from Kathleen, Georgia, was a unique blues singer and guitar stylist who played the guitar left-handed and upside-down. Ziegler's recordings appeared on the following collections: Georgia Blues Today (issued by Flyright in 1981 and reissued by Fat Possum), John Lee Ziegler: The George Mitchell Collection Vol. 6 (the same tracks appear on The George Mitchell Collection 7-CD box set) plus Expressin' The Blues, Blues Sweet Blues, Georgia Blues Today and Cames So Far all on the Music Maker label. He also appeared at Blues Estafette in Holland in 1996.
Part of John Lee Ziegler's unorthodox style comes from the fact that he was a left-handed guitarist who played a right-handed guitar upside-down, with the bass strings at the bottom. Born in 1929 in Houston County, Ziegler started playing guitar at age 15 as a fluke: when his parents couldn't find him the bicycle he requested as a gift, they returned from Macon with a guitar instead. It didn't take Ziegler long to get good enough to play local clubs and house parties; he even spent some time in New York playing with a band. He also told Mitchell he'd spent some time with John Lee Hooker in Hawkinsville, Georgia. When Mitchell came across him in the late 1970s, Ziegler was still residing in Houston County, working as a plumber and playing at his house for any neighbors interested in stopping by to hear. He had one of the most diverse repertories of any Chattahoochee performer Mitchell encountered, playing John Lee Hooker songs, Sam Cooke's pop hits, and traditional Chattahoochee songs like "If I Lose Let Me Lose" all in his distinctive style. Ziegler could sing some gospel, but while a lot of the musicians Mitchell recorded had given up blues for the church, Ziegler was content in his choice to stick with secular music.
George Mitchell: John Lee had a spoons player named Rufus and people would gather out in the front yard and listen to them play as we'd be recording. And kids would be dancin' all over the yard. We recorded a version of John Lee doing "John Henry" where he shouts in the middle, "Look at that little kid dancin', there!" It was some scene. John Lee wanted his own record, which was fine by me, but I told him, "John Lee you got to come up with some more songs of your own. You can't just come record all this Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker shit." And be did eventually come up with a bunch of new songs. He was a nice, gentle guy, but he was hard to deal with – he thought I was ripping him off, and wanted to get lawyers involved and all this shit – and the record never happened. But he was something else.
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"My name is spelled ZEIGLAR, John Lee Zeiglar spelled with an EI and an A."
I makes up these. I makes these up, what I mean. I sit down and I makes these up. That's the way I get my songs... And when I come up with 'em, well, then I sing 'em. That's the way it is... And them songs worry peoples, I tell you. I just don't know why, but... I had a lot of peoples to go out behind 'em cryin'. Well, they had problems. Problem brings about a whole lots, you know. I've had some problems too. I ain't gonna say I ain't never had no problems. 'Cause I done had some problems. Everybody done had some problems... But the time I'm writin' them songs, it really ain't no problem with me. I just sit down and put 'em together. And when I put 'em together, I play 'em and see how they gonna sound... I got this music from my personal self. I didn't get this music from nobody else. Never heard it. Nobody played like it. I play by ear. I didn't go to school for this. Same way about plumbing. I'm a plumber. I've plumbed 38 years. And I didn't go to school for it. I learned it by motherwit. What you learn by that, can't nobody take away from you but the Good Lord.
I was born in Peach County and I was raised in Georgia, so this here is my home...Well, my family come up poor. They come up on a farm, and I come up on a farm... They raised 18 of us, and they raised all us up on a farm... One mother... 18 children. Nary a twin. They all come single... I think it was twixt two men... I went barefoot a little bit, what little bit I went to school... and I had to walk six miles. But I quit. I had to quit and go to work... I went to work when I was nine. Started on that farm. Plowin' that mule out there... There was plenty older peoples out singin' behind the mules. They were singin' church songs, they were singin' blues. I heard the moanin' and all... I never did do none of that.
Mama never would let me get out. I was about 16, 17 years old 'fore I got to gettin' out anywhere, 'cause they kept me close. We couldn't run around like children do now... When I got 18, 19, then they started to let me go out, I went out to parties a little bit. I couldn't stay out no longer than 12 then. I had to report back home... I married when I was goin' on 21, then I got out on my own. And that's when I really started to playin' out... Along in then, peoples was givin' a lot of house parties and things. You'd have a jig every weekend... Wasn't but a little bitty money, but that was big money then. So they kept me busy 'round home... And on the weekend they'd have them fish fries and them folks would be havin' a good time. They would really have a good time. Which it ain't now, but they had a good time then... It wasn't nothin' like it is now goin' on. You wouldn't have to be worried. I've swung my old guitar over my back a heap of times and walked. Me and a friend of mine, we walked, sometimes three miles to these jigs. Too dangerous to get out there now, which they ain't goin' on now... They can't afford it now. Back a few years back people had that money, well they got the money now, but it's living expenses so high till the people can't pay you what it worth to play... I had drummers played with me. And I had a bass player play with me a while. He went into the preachin', he got religion. So Rufus [McKenzie], he beat the spoons with me. He played a lot of house parties with me. After he went to drivin' long distance [trucks], well he couldn't be with me. But I mostly played by myself. That's the way I mostly enjoyed it... I had one of the best drummers in the world. I put him up amongst anybody beatin' drums... He played with me four and a half years and got on them drugs and he just went wild.
You know, you get out and get to thinkin'... you think about a lot of things in life sometimes. Everybody do... and you can think about these songs and things, when it come into your mind then that's the time you write 'em down. That's the way they come into my life... I've put quite a few songs together. Then I play a lot of other people's songs. Lightnin' Hopkins is my favorite. John Lee Hooker is a good player. Which, me and him done played together some. We played in Hawkinsville down there some. But he used to be up here, way back when we was younger, he'd be up here in all these clubs up here on the weekend... But Lightnin' Hopkins now, that's my favorite man... Lightnin' Hopkins, he got some chords, what I mean, that lots of 'em can't record. Just like my chords, I got some chords that nobody can record... I don't know how many done been around my place or been tryin' to learn how to play. Some players come around and they try to learn my chords but they couldn't learn 'em. They just couldn't learn my chords... 'Cause I play bottom upwards, and they play right-handed, so my bass string supposed to be this top here... See, these strings here supposed to be up here when I'm playing, but I got 'em down here. And they can't understand that... That's the way I learned how to play. I never did move these bass strings up... So it's just natural to me with these strings down here like this... The way I learned, I learned without a slide, then a little later on, then I went to usin' a slide... Lot of people use knifes, different things, but I never did. That copper tubing, right there, that's what I use. Cut me off a piece of that copper tubing and go right on with it, and that's what I work with. Yeah, it amazing, but you know, that's the way it is.
(Music Maker Relief Foundation)