One of those homemade guitars, the one most see him playing on stage, was leaning on a wall recently near his kitchen table in his Pelzer home.

[6][7] Arnold moved to Chicago in 1965, where he worked with A.C. Reed prior to joining Muddy Waters' band in 1966.

[11][14] By the 1990s, Arnold had grown weary of the road life and returned home to Pelzer, South Carolina and virtual retirement from the spotlight [15] until 2006, when he was convinced to front his own band, Plate Full O' Blues.

In 2013, Arnold opened his own restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina's historic West End,[20] where he hosted his popular yearly music event, The Cornbread and Collard Greens Blues Festival.

[21][22][23] Despite much local success in the food business, he decided to close the restaurant in August 2017[24] to once again concentrate on music, especially after his nomination into the Alabama Blues Hall of Fame.