Holmes County, especially Lexington and nearby communities, made a significant contribution to the legacy of African American blues and gospel music in Mississippi through artists including Elmore James, Lee "Shot" Williams, Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers, Lonnie Pitchford, and B. B. King, who lived in Lexington for two years as a teenager after moving there in 1940 to live with his father Albert. Lexington was also home to Blues Hall of Famers B. B. King and Elmore James, and to many accomplished blues, soul, jazz, and gospel performers whose family and community ties linked Lexington, Tchula, Holmes County, Chicago, and beyond. James, a key figure in Mississippi and Chicago blues history, lived on various farms in Holmes County in his early years, while Williams, Otis Smothers, Albert "Little Smokey" Smothers, Lester Davenport, and Arelean Brown were part of an extended family network that produced important blues and soul musicians. Otis Smothers recorded his own blues, performed with Howlin' Wolf, and wrote songs for Muddy Waters, while Williams later gained renewed popularity on the Southern soul circuit. The Pitchford family of Lexington all played blues or gospel guitar, and Lonnie Pitchford carried on the music of Elmore James and Robert Johnson while helping bring the homemade one-string diddley bow to prominence. Other musicians with Lexington roots included the Roseby brothers and John "Brick" Roseby in jazz and dance bands, guitarist Lee Cooper in Chicago recording sessions, James Scott, Jr. in Mississippi, Memphis, and Chicago blues, Geneva Morganfield, and jazz bassist Malachi Favors of the Art Ensemble of Chicago.