Elijah Douglas Quattlebaum was born in Florence,
South Carolina, as the only child of his mother's first marriage. He spent the
first thirteen years of his life there and was initially inspired by the music
of Blind Boy Fuller.
Elijah recorded solo in 1953, as a blues singer and guitarist, for
Gotham Records. He cut three tracks for the label, Don't Be Funny, Baby, Lizzie
Lou, and Foolin' Me. The
recordings were not a success, and Elijah
fell into obscurity.
By 1961 he was back, playing accompaniment for the Ward
Singers.
In
June the same year, he was rediscovered playing blues songs through
the public address system of his Mister Softee ice cream van. The story goes,
he was heard singing and playing in his van, subsequently it was arranged for him to record an album, this one was never released, fortunately, he had another go.
The
front cover of this one displayed a photograph of Elijah in his ice cream uniform.
The
album was well received by critics, who noted his powerful voice and his Blind
Boy Fuller–inspired guitar playing.
Elijah
wrote a number of his own compositions, but the collection contained his
versions of songs previously recorded by others. This led to Elijah making a number of appearances
on the folk circuit, during the revival of the 1960s. It is believed ​Elijah entered the ministry around 1970. He died in March 1996, aged
67, in Philadelphia. His lost album, If You've Ever Been Mistreated, was
finally issued the following year.
