December 18, 2025
Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson
Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson (born Edward L. Vinson Jr.; December 18, 1917 – July 2, 1988 Houston) was an American jump blues, jazz, bebop and R&B alto saxophonist and blues shouter. He was nicknamed “Cleanhead” after an incident in which his hair was accidentally removed by lye contained in a hair-straightening product, necessitating shaving it off; enamoured of the look, Vinson maintained a shaved head thereafter.Music critic Robert Christgau has called Vinson “one of the cleanest, and nastiest, blues voices you’ll ever hear.”