[1] He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks, worked with Bo Chatmon and his brothers, and co-wrote the blues standard "Sitting on Top of the World".

[3] After the Sheiks split up in 1933, Vinson moved around the United States, recording with various musicians, including Leroy Carter and Mary Butler.

He played at music festivals and recorded further tracks over the next decade, before the onset of hardening of the arteries curtailed his public appearances.

[6] In 2009, a concert produced by Steve Salter, of the nonprofit organization Killer Blues,[7] raised monies to place a headstone on Vinson's grave.

The concert was held at the Howmet Playhouse Theater in Whitehall, Michigan, and featured the blues musicians Thomas Esparza and Lonnie Blonde.