Pianist, vocalist, and songwriter Mose Allison was born in 1927 in Tippo and grew up hearing blues records on the jukebox at his father’s service station and music played at home by his father and Percy Walker. Encouraged by his mother to take piano lessons at age five, he soon learned to play by ear, favored bluesy songs, wrote his first song in his early teens, and performed at local parties, school events, and clubs while also playing trumpet and leading a Dixieland group in high school at Charleston. After attending the University of Mississippi and playing with the Mississippians, he spent 18 months in the U.S. Army, became immersed in jazz, returned to Ole Miss, then moved into the blues and jazz scenes of Memphis after seeing performers including John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson. He left the university to perform on the road with his own group in the style of the Nat "King" Cole trio, finished his studies at Louisiana State University in 1952, and moved to New York City in 1956, where he soon gained acclaim as a jazz artist and recorded with Al Cohn, Stan Getz, and Shelly Manne. His music retained a strong blues influence, and he covered songs by Sonny Boy Williamson No. 2, Muddy Waters, and Willie Dixon while also writing blues standards including “Parchman Farm.” One of the few jazz artists acclaimed as both a vocalist and an instrumentalist, he recorded under his own name beginning in 1957 with Back Country Suite and later wrote songs marked by dark humor and pathos, including “Your Mind is On Vacation,” “Gettin’ There,” “Ever Since I Stole the Blues,” and “Everybody Cryin’ Mercy.” His work as a vocalist and songwriter strongly influenced blues-rock artists from the United Kingdom, including Van Morrison, Ray Davies, Jack Bruce, and Pete Townshend, and the Who recorded his “Young Man Blues” on several albums.