Pink Anderson (1900-1974) was an American musician from South Carolina. As a child he would sing and dance for money in the streets of Spartanburg. At the age of 15 he began touring as a medicine show entertainer, which he would do until retiring for health reasons in 1957.

The medicine show was a touring group that used entertainers to draw a crowd before delivering a sales pitch for their “miracle cure”. In this role, Anderson would perform old minstrel, folk, and ragtime tunes as well as some early blues songs.

Recordings were rare during Anderson’s medicine show days, limited to 1928 sessions with blind guitarist and early medicine show partner Simmie Dooley as well as a shared album with Reverend Gary Davis in 1950.

The folk revival stirred up interest in Anderson in the early 1960s, leading to several album releases for Prestige Records label Bluesville in the early 1960s as well as occasional live performances. He also appeared in the 1962 documentary The Blues.

Anderson’s main influence is in leaving a record of the type of music that was performed in traveling medicine shows. However, he is perhaps best known for providing half of the name for the rock band Pink Floyd. The story goes that Syd Barrett, one of the band’s founding members, combined Anderson’s first name with that of North Carolina bluesman Floyd Council.

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