Pittsburgh Blues Legend Chizmo Charles Passes Away
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- His name was Charles Anderson, but the Pittsburgh Blues scene knew him as Chizmo Charles.
He sang with many groups in his 60-plus years on the stage. Fourteen of those years, he shared the spotlight with Gil Snyder and the Mystic Knights.
"I like to call him the troubadour of the Pittsburgh Blues," bandleader Snyder says.
The Hill District bluesman would start his act on the stage. But it wasn't long before the "troubadour" entered the crowd.
"These are my people," Chizmo said, during a 2004 interview. "I'm going to hug all of them, grab all of them at the same time, which is impossible."
That didn't stop him from trying.
Chizmo Charles died of cancer Tuesday night, at the age of 86. He took with him a sound that can't be duplicated. Snyder, the bandleader, says he had an astonishing memory for music.
"For all the lyrics and all different styles of music," he recalls. "Soul and jazz, and actually, he didn't do this too much with me, but I've seen him wear a cowboy hat a couple times. And he was not opposed to a polka; although, we tried to steer him away from that."
He had a knack for making people laugh. But Chizmo said his childhood was nothing to smile about.
"My dad died when I was about 17. My mom died when I was about seven," he once said.
He didn't just sing the blues, he lived it. And yet, he told us, years ago: "When I get so I can't have fun with people, it's time to go home," said Snyder.
Chizmo Charles never stopped having fun.
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