The name apparently stuck when other members of the band noticed that the sun bothered him and he used the brim of a hat to shade his eyes.

His distinctive guitar style has also been identified as that of the uncredited accompanist who backed the Sanctified Church gospel singer Bessie Johnson on record.

The Memphis Jug Band had a fluid membership during the nearly 40 years that it was active, recording under a number of names and in various styles ranging from blues and rags to gospel.

Blues revivalists found Shade and his old partners still playing together into the early 1960s and released several field recordings under the name of the Memphis Jug Band.

Shade died of pneumonia,[4] at John Gaston Hospital, in Memphis, in 1966, aged 68, and was buried in Shelby County Cemetery.

In 2008 a group of musicians based at the Old Town School of Folk Music held a fundraiser and purchased a headstone for his grave.

[6] Famous singles by the band include "Lindberg Hop", "On the Road Again", "Newport News Blues", "K.C.