1902 James „Stump“ Johnson*
1946 Frank Bey*
1949 Mick Taylor*
1953 Carlos Johnson1966 E.G. Kight*
1961 Simeon Dooley (Blind Simmie Dooley)+
1998 Junior Kimbrough+
2012 Johnny Otis+
1950 Paul Rishell*
1946 Frank Bey*
1949 Mick Taylor*
1953 Carlos Johnson1966 E.G. Kight*
1961 Simeon Dooley (Blind Simmie Dooley)+
1998 Junior Kimbrough+
2012 Johnny Otis+
1950 Paul Rishell*
Happy Birthday
Mick Taylor *17.1.1949
Michael „Mick“ Kevin Taylor, Spitzname Little Mick (* 17. Januar 1948 [1] in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England) ist ein britischer Musiker. Bekannt wurde er vor allem als Leadgitarrist der Rolling Stones. Taylor spielt auch Piano, Bass und Schlagzeug.
Leben
Mick Taylor gründete 1965 zusammen mit dem späteren Uriah Heep-Mitglied Ken Hensley die Band The Gods. Zu den weiteren Musikern gehörten Greg Lake und John Glascock. Taylor verließ die Band und nahm 1966 ein Angebot von John Mayall an, in dessen Band The Bluesbreakers als Nachfolger von Peter Green einzusteigen.
Gitarrist bei den Rolling Stones
Noch als Gitarrist bei John Mayall erhielt er ein Angebot, neuer Gitarrist bei den Rolling Stones zu werden, die sich im Juni 1969 von Brian Jones getrennt hatten. Er nahm das Angebot an und trat erstmals am 5. Juli 1969 als offizielles Bandmitglied mit den Stones auf. Das Konzert fand im Londoner Hyde Park vor etwa 500.000 Menschen statt. Aufgrund des plötzlichen Todes von Brian Jones wurde das Konzert dem ehemaligen Gitarristen und Mitbegründer der Rolling Stones gewidmet.
Einen Monat zuvor hatte Taylor bereits mit den Rolling Stones gearbeitet. Taylor spielte die Overdubs für zwei Titel – Country Honk und Live With Me – auf dem Album Let It Bleed ein. In der folgenden Woche wurde eine neue Version des Songs Country Honk erarbeitet, für die Taylor einen neuen Riff schrieb, nachdem er mit der ursprünglichen Version experimentiert hatte. Die neue Version des Liedes wurde unter dem Titel Honky Tonk Women veröffentlicht und sprang sofort nach ihrer Veröffentlichung im Juli 1969 an die Spitze der Charts.
Ähnlich wie Bill Wyman erschien Taylor auf der Bühne als introvertierter Musiker, der Mick Jagger und Keith Richards die Show überließ. Sein Zusammenspiel mit dem Rhythmusgitarristen Richards trieb die Band in einen rauheren, bluesorientierteren Sound. Etwa 1970 begannen Jagger und Taylor damit, intensiver zusammenzuarbeiten, weil Richards wegen seiner zunehmenden Drogenabhängigkeit immer häufiger nicht zu Studioterminen erschien. Ohne Richards nahmen Taylor und Jagger Songs wie Sway, Moonlight Mile, Winter, Till the Next Goodbye und Time Waits for No One auf, ohne dass Taylor je eine Bestätigung in Form von Tantiemen für seine Beteiligung an der Entstehung dieser Titel erhielt. Einzige Ausnahme bildete der Song Ventilator Blues aus dem Album Exile on Main Street (1972).
Im Dezember 1974 verkündete Taylor, dass er die Rolling Stones verlassen wolle. Ursache für diesen Entschluss war unter anderem Taylors zunehmende Frustration über die Art und Weise, in der Jagger und Richards seine künstlerischen Beiträge übergingen. Beispielsweise wurde Taylor nie als Mitautor der Songs genannt, für die er wichtige Beiträge geleistet hatte. Andererseits verschlechterte sich sein Verhältnis zu Richards in dieser Zeit immer mehr, was sich bei letzterem in zunehmenden Nörgeleien an Taylors Spielweise äußerte. Auf einer Party in London teilte Taylor schließlich Jagger seinen Entschluss mit. Taylors Ausstieg kam für die Rolling Stones zum ungünstigsten Zeitpunkt. Die Band musste in Kürze mit den Aufnahmen für ein neues Album in den Musicland Studios von Giorgio Moroder in München beginnen. Für die Aufnahmen wurden dann eine Reihe von Gastgitarristen verpflichtet. Unter diesen Gastmusikern waren auch Ry Cooder und Ron Wood, der später Taylors Nachfolger bei den Rolling Stones wurde.
Nach seinem Ausstieg war Taylor noch auf folgenden Stones-Alben zu hören: Metamorphosis, Sucking in the 70s, Made In The Shade, Through the Past Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2), auf der Compilation Rewind (die erst in den 1990er Jahren erschien), Jump Back: The Best of the Rolling Stones, The Singles Collection: The London Years, Hot Rocks, More Hot Rocks, Forty Licks und Rarities.
Taylor spielt auch Gitarre auf Tops und Waiting on a friend vom Album Tattoo You (1981). Allerdings handelte es sich hierbei nicht um neue Aufnahmen, sondern um Titel vergangener Sessions, bei denen Taylor noch Mitglied der Rolling Stones war, da die Band keine Zeit hatte, neue Titel zu schreiben und gleichzeitig eine Tournee vorzubereiten.
In einem Artikel über die Rolling Stones, erschienen nach dem Ausstieg von Mick Taylor, schrieb der Musikkritiker Robert Palmer (The New York Times), dass „Taylor der beste Techniker ist, der je bei den Stones gespielt hat. Ein Bluesgitarrist mit einem Gespür eines Jazzmusikers für melodische Erfindungen, Taylor war nie ein Rock ’n Roller und nie ein Showman.“
Solokarriere
1984
Im Vergleich zu seinen sechs Jahren mit den Rolling Stones sind die Solotätigkeiten von Mick Taylor von Presse und Publikum weit weniger beachtet worden, obwohl er seitdem an einer Vielzahl von Projekten gearbeitet hat. Im Juni 1973 bat Richard Branson Taylor, an der Live-Premiere von Mike Oldfields Tubular Bells in der Londoner Queen Elizabeth Hall teilzunehmen. Ebenfalls 1973 war Mick Taylor auch auf dem Soloalbum The Tin Man was a Dreamer des Pianisten Nicky Hopkins sowie auf dem Livealbum von Billy Preston zu hören, das während dessen Tour als Vorgruppe der Rolling Stones im gleichen Jahr aufgenommen wurde.
Nachdem Taylor die Stones verlassen hatte, gründete er mit Jack Bruce, Carla Bley und Schlagzeuger Bruce Gary die Jack Bruce Band. Die Band ging im Jahre 1975 auf eine Europatour. Der Versuch, an die Erfolge der legendären Supergruppe Cream anzuknüpfen, war jedoch zum Scheitern verurteilt. Trotz vielversprechender Konzerte kamen die geplanten Studioaufnahmen aufgrund wachsender Differenzen zwischen Mick Taylor und Jack Bruce nicht zustande – mit Ausnahme des Titels Without a Word von 1974. Die Aufnahmen wurden schließlich erst 1995 auf dem Jack Bruce Album Live On The Old Grey Whistle Test (Sieben Titel mit Taylor an Gitarre) und 2003 auf dem Album der Jack Bruce Band – Live at Manchester Free Trade Hall ’75 offiziell veröffentlicht.
Im Jahre 1977 unterzeichnete Mick Taylor einen Vertrag mit CBS Records in New York. Im Dezember 1978 stellte er in einer Serie von Interviews mit verschiedenen Musikzeitschriften sein Soloalbum Mick Taylor vor, das 1979 veröffentlicht wurde. Das Album wurde zwar von der Kritik hoch gelobt, war kommerziell jedoch eine Enttäuschung.
Als Solokünstler war Mick Taylor nur mäßig erfolgreich. Er arbeitete unter anderem mit Lowell George von der amerikanischen Band Little Feat, John Phillips von The Mamas and the Papas, ging auf Tournee mit Alvin Lee (1981), machte eine Welt Reunion-Tournee mit John Mayall und John McVie und spielte im Studio (Infidels, 1983) und auf Tournee mit Bob Dylan (Real Live, 1984) zusammen.
Nach seinem Austritt aus den Rolling Stones arbeitete Mick Taylor gelegentlich mit einzelnen oder mehreren seiner früheren Bandkollegen zusammen und er spielt bei seinen Konzerten auch immer wieder einige Lieder der Rockband (z. B. Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Can’t You Hear Me Knocking oder No Expectations).
Am 14. Dezember 1981 stand Taylor fast während des ganzen Konzerts der Rolling Stones in der Kemper Arena in Kansas City mit der Band auf der Bühne. Sein Gastauftritt ließ bei einigen Fans Hoffnungen aufkeimen, dass er wieder Mitglied der Gruppe werden würde. Diese Hoffnungen erfüllten sich allerdings nicht.
Am 28. Dezember 1986 erschien bei Mick Taylors Konzert im New Yorker Lone Star Cafe Keith Richards an Taylors Seite, um mit diesem Key to the Highway und Can’t You Hear Me Knocking zu spielen. Taylor ist auch auf Richards’ erstem Soloalbum Talk Is Cheap in dem Stück I Could Have Stood You Up zu hören. In den frühen 1990er Jahren spielte Taylor in Bill Wymans Soloprojekt Rhythm Kings.
1989 wurde Mick Taylor gemeinsam mit den Rolling Stones in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen. Im November und Dezember 2012 sowie Mai 2013 trat Taylor nochmals zusammen mit den Rolling Stones während derer Jubiläumskonzerte zum 50-jährigen Bestehen der Band auf. Auch bei der 14 on Fire Tour steht er auf der Bühne.
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1966–69) and the Rolling Stones (1969–74). "He is regarded by many Stones aficionados as the best guitarist ever to play with the band, and appeared on some of their classic albums including Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St."[1] Since resigning from The Rolling Stones in December 1974, Taylor has worked with numerous other artists and released several solo albums. From November 2012 onwards he has participated in The Rolling Stones "Reunion shows" in London and Newark and in the band's 50 & Counting... World Tour, which included North America, Glastonbury Festival and Hyde Park in 2013. The band decided to continue in 2014 with concerts in the UAE, Far East & Australia and Europe for the 14 On Fire tour. He was ranked 37th in Rolling Stone magazine's 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.[2] Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash states that Taylor had the biggest influence on him.[3]Biography
1949–69: Early life
Taylor was born to a working-class family in Welwyn Garden City, but was raised in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, where his father worked as a fitter for De Havilland aircraft company.[4] He began playing guitar at age nine, learning to play from his mother's younger brother. As a teenager, he formed bands with schoolmates and started performing concerts under names such as The Juniors and the Strangers. They also appeared on television and put out a single.[5] Part of the band was recruited for a new group called The Gods, which included Ken Hensley (later of Uriah Heep fame). In 1966, The Gods opened for Cream at the Starlite Ballroom in Wembley.
In 1965, at age 16, Taylor went to see a John Mayall's Bluesbreakers performance at "The Hop" Community Centre, Welwyn Garden City.
On the night in question, I had gone to The Hop with some guys from our band, former schoolmates and Ex-Juniors Mick Taylor and Alan Shacklock. It was after John Mayall had finished his first set without a guitarist that it became clear that for some reason Eric Clapton was not going to show up. A group of local musicians, which included myself, Robert 'Jab' Als, Herbie Sparks, and others, along with three local guitarists—Alan Shacklock, Mick Casey (formerly of the Trekkas) and Mick Taylor—were in attendance.
—Danny Bacon, a drummer friend of the Juniors,
Taylor himself has said after seeing that Clapton hadn't appeared, but that his guitar had already been set up on the stage, he approached John Mayall during the interval to ask if he could play with them. Taylor mentioned that he'd heard their albums and knew some of the songs, and after a moment of deliberation, Mayall agreed. Taylor amended, "I wasn't thinking that this was a great opportunity... I just really wanted to get up on stage and play the guitar."
Taylor played the second set with Mayall's band, and after winning Mayall's respect, they exchanged phone numbers. This encounter proved to be pivotal in Taylor's career when Mayall began to look for a guitarist to fill Peter Green's vacancy the following year. Mayall contacted Taylor, and invited him to take Green's place.[6] Taylor made his debut with the Bluesbreakers at the Manor House, an old blues club in North London. For those in the music scene the night was an event... "Let's go and see this 17-year-old kid try and replace Eric".[7] Before he turned 18, Taylor toured and recorded the album Crusade with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. From 1966 to 1969, Taylor developed a guitar style that is blues-based with Latin and jazz influences. He is the guitarist on the Bluesbreaker albums Diary of a Band, Bare Wires, and Blues from Laurel Canyon. Later on in his career, he further developed his skills as a slide guitarist.
1969–74: The Rolling Stones
After Brian Jones was removed from the The Rolling Stones in June 1969, John Mayall recommended Taylor to Mick Jagger. Taylor believed he was being called in to be a session musician at his first studio session with the Rolling Stones.[8] An impressed Jagger and Keith Richards invited Taylor back the following day to continue rehearsing and recording with the band. He overdubbed guitar on "Country Honk" and "Live With Me" for the album Let It Bleed, and for the single "Honky Tonk Women" released in the UK on 4 July 1969.[9][10] Taylor's onstage debut as a Rolling Stone, at the age of 20, was the free concert in Hyde Park, London on 5 July 1969. An estimated quarter of a million people attended for a show that turned into a tribute to Brian Jones, who had died three days before the concert.
The Rolling Stones' 1971 release Sticky Fingers included "Sway" and "Moonlight Mile" which Taylor and Jagger had completed in Richards' absence. At the time Jagger stated: "We made [tracks] with just Mick Taylor, which are very good and everyone loves, where Keith wasn't there for whatever reasons ... It's me and [Mick Taylor] playing off each other – another feeling completely, because he's following my vocal lines and then extemporizing on them during the solos."[11] However, Taylor was only credited as co-author of one track, "Ventilator Blues", from the album Exile on Main St. (1972).[12] Taylor was noted for his smooth lyrical touch and tone which contrasted with Richards's jagged and cutting technique.
After the 1973 European tour, Richards's drug problems had worsened and began affecting the ability of the band to function as a whole.[13] Between recording sessions, the band members were living in various countries and during this period Taylor appeared on Herbie Mann's London Underground (1974) and also appeared on Mann's album Reggae (1974).
1973–74: It's Only Rock 'n Roll
In November 1973, when the band was to begin work on the LP It's Only Rock 'n Roll at Musicland Studios in Munich, Taylor missed some of the sessions while he underwent surgery for acute sinusitis.[14] Not much was achieved during the first 10 days at Musicland. Most of the actual recordings were made in January (Musicland) and April 1974 (Stargroves). When Taylor resumed work with the band, he found it difficult to get along with Richards. At one point during the Munich sessions, Richards confronted him and said, "Oi! Taylor! You're playing too fuckin' loud. I mean, you're really good live, man, but you're fucking useless in the studio. Lay out, play later, whatever." Richards erased some of the tapes where Taylor had recorded guitar parts to some of the songs for It's Only Rock n' Roll.[15] Taylor was, however, present at all the sessions in April at Stargroves, England, where the LP was finished and most of the overdubs were recorded.
Not long after those recording sessions, Taylor went on a six-week expedition to Brazil, travelling down the Amazon River in a boat and exploring Latin music.
Just before the release of the album in October 1974, Taylor told Nick Kent from the NME magazine about the new LP and that he had co-written "Till the Next Goodbye" and "Time Waits for No One" with Jagger.[citation needed] Kent showed Taylor the record sleeve, which revealed the absence of any songwriting credits for Taylor.
I was a bit peeved about not getting credit for a couple of songs, but that wasn't the whole reason [I left the band]. I guess I just felt like I had enough. I decided to leave and start a group with Jack Bruce. I never really felt, and I don't know why, but I never felt I was gonna stay with the Stones forever, even right from the beginning.
We used to fight and argue all the time. And one of the things I got angry about was that Mick had promised to give me some credit for some of the songs – and he didn't. I believed I'd contributed enough. Let's put it this way – without my contribution those songs would not have existed. There's not many but enough, things like "Sway" and "Moonlight Mile" on Sticky Fingers and a couple of others.
In December 1974, Taylor announced he was leaving the Rolling Stones. The bandmates were at a party in London when Taylor told Mick Jagger he was quitting and walked out. Taylor's decision came as a total shock to many.[16] The Rolling Stones were due to start recording a new album in Munich, and the entire band was reportedly angry at Taylor for leaving at such short notice.[17]
When interviewed by Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone magazine in 1995, Mick Jagger stated that Taylor never explained why he had left, and surmised that "[Taylor] wanted to have a solo career. I think he found it difficult to get on with Keith." In the same interview Jagger said of Taylor's contribution to the band: "I think he had a big contribution. He made it very musical. He was a very fluent, melodic player, which we never had, and we don't have now. Neither Keith nor Ronnie Wood plays that kind of style. It was very good for me working with him ... Mick Taylor would play very fluid lines against my vocals. He was exciting, and he was very pretty, and it gave me something to follow, to bang off. Some people think that's the best version of the band that existed".[18] Asked if he agreed with that assessment, Jagger said: "I obviously can't say if I think Mick Taylor was the best, because it sort of trashes the period the band is in now." [19] Charlie Watts stated: "I think we chose the right man for the job at that time just as Ronnie was the right man for the job later on. I still think Mick is great. I haven't heard or seen him play in a few years. But certainly what came out of playing with him are musically some of the best things we've ever done".[20][page needed] Another statement, made by Keith Richards, is: "Mick Taylor is a great guitarist, but he found out the hard way that that's all he is."[21] Taylor later admitted in the 2012 documentary Crossfire Hurricane that he had become addicted to heroin and hoped to protect his family from the drug culture surrounding the band by leaving.[22]
In an essay about the Rolling Stones, printed after Taylor's resignation, music critic Robert Palmer of The New York Times wrote that "Taylor is the most accomplished technician who ever served as a Stone. A blues guitarist with a jazzman's flair for melodic invention, Taylor was never a rock and roller and never a showman."[citation needed]
Taylor has worked with his former bandmates on various occasions since leaving the Rolling Stones. In 1977 he attended London-based sessions for the John Phillips album Pay Pack & Follow, appearing on several tracks alongside Jagger (vocals), Richards (guitar) and Wood (bass) – taking notable solos on the songs "Oh Virginia" and "Zulu Warrior". A possibly apocryphal story is that after Taylor played a particularly jaw-dropping solo in the studio, Richards half-jokingly exclaimed, "That's why I never liked you, you bastard!".
On 14 December 1981 he performed with the band at their concert at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.[10] Keith Richards appeared on stage at a Mick Taylor show at the Lone Star Cafe in New York on 28 December 1986, jamming on "Key to the Highway" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"; and Taylor is featured on one track ("I Could Have Stood You Up") on Richards' 1988 album Talk is Cheap. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Mick Taylor along with the Rolling Stones in 1989.[23] Taylor also worked with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings in the early 1990s.
In addition to his contributions to Rolling Stones albums released during his tenure with the band, Taylor's guitar is also on two tracks on their 1981 release Tattoo You: "Tops" and "Waiting on a Friend", both of which were originally recorded in 1972. (Taylor is sometimes mistakenly credited as playing on "Worried About You", but the solo on that track is performed by Wayne Perkins.)[24]
Taylor's onstage presence with the Rolling Stones is preserved on the album Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!, recorded over four concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York and the Civic Center in Baltimore in November 1969; in the documentary films Stones in the Park (released on DVD in 2001), Gimme Shelter (released in 1970) and Cocksucker Blues (unreleased); and in the concert film Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones (shown in cinemas in 1974, and released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2010). Bootleg recordings from the Rolling Stones' tours from 1969 through 1973 also document Taylor's concert performances with the Rolling Stones.
In March 2010, rumours started circulating that Taylor had contributed guitar work on the upcoming Exile on Main Street special edition release. This expanded version of the original double album includes 10 outtakes or alternative versions of songs. Taylor later revealed (in an interview with a journalist from Cleveland) that he had indeed recorded new guitar overdubs for the CD, at Mick Jagger's request. On 17 April 2010 (National Record Store Day), the new Rolling Stones single "Plundered My Soul" came out, featuring recently recorded vocals and guitars by Jagger and Taylor.
Around this time, Eagle Rock Entertainment also announced that a first official release of the concert film Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones was planned for autumn 2010. Apart from a one-off cinema screening in the past, the film had previously only been available on bootleg videos and DVDs.
1975–81: Post-Stones
Taylor worked on various side projects during his tenure with the Rolling Stones.
In June 1973, he joined Mike Oldfield onstage at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in a performance of Oldfield's Tubular Bells. Taylor was asked to take part in this project by Richard Branson as he felt Oldfield was unknown, having just been signed to Branson's fledgling label, Virgin Records. Taylor joined Oldfield once more for a BBC television broadcast in November 1973.
After his resignation from the Rolling Stones, Jack Bruce invited him to form a new band with keyboardist Carla Bley and drummer Bruce Gary. In 1975, the band began rehearsals in London with tour dates scheduled for later that year. The group toured Europe, with a sound leaning more toward jazz, including a performance at the Dutch Pinkpop festival, but disbanded the following year. A performance recorded on 1 June 1975 (which was finally released on CD in 2003 as "Live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall" by The Jack Bruce Band) and another performance from the Old Grey Whistle Test seem to be the only material available from this brief collaboration.
Taylor appeared as a special guest of Little Feat at the Rainbow Theatre in London, 1977, sharing slide guitar with then-frontman Lowell George on "A Apolitical Blues": this song appears on Little Feat's critically acclaimed live album Waiting for Columbus.[25] In the summer of 1977 he collaborated with Pierre Moerlen's Gong for the album Expresso II, released in 1978. Taylor began writing new songs and recruiting musicians for a solo album and worked on projects with Miller Anderson, Alan Merrill and others. He was present at many of the recording sessions for John Phillips' prospective second solo album. The recordings for Phillips' album took place in London over a prolonged period between 1973 and 1977. This led to Taylor working with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger who were also working on the Phillips' album. Atlantic Records eventually cancelled the project but copies of the sessions (under the titles "Half Stoned" and "Phillips '77") circulated among bootleg traders. The original tapes were rescued and restored and were officially released in 2002 as Pay Pack & Follow.
In 1977 Taylor signed a solo recording deal with Columbia Records. By April 1978 he had given several interviews to music magazines to promote the new album which was finished but would not be released for another year. In 1979 the album, titled Mick Taylor, was released by Columbia Records. The album material mixed rock, jazz and Latin-flavoured blues musical styles. The album reached No. 119 on the Billboard charts in early August with a stay of five weeks on the Billboard 200.[citation needed] CBS advised Taylor to promote the album through American radio stations but was unwilling to back the guitarist for any supporting tour.[citation needed] Already frustrated with this situation, Taylor took a break from the music industry for about a year.
In 1981, he toured Europe and the United States with Alvin Lee of Ten Years After, sharing the bill with Black Sabbath. He spent most of 1982 and 1983 on the road with John Mayall, for the "Reunion Tour" with John McVie of Fleetwood Mac and Colin Allen. During this tour Bob Dylan showed up backstage at The Roxy in Los Angeles to meet Taylor.[citation needed]
In 1983, Taylor joined Mark Knopfler and played on Dylan's Infidels album. He also appeared on Dylan's live album Real Live, as well as the follow-up studio album Empire Burlesque. In 1984, Dylan asked Mick Taylor to assemble an experienced rock and roll band for a European tour he signed with Bill Graham. Ian McLagan was hired to play piano and hammond organ, Greg Sutton to play bass and Colin Allen, a long-time friend of Taylor, on drums. The tour lasted for four weeks at venues such as Munich's Olympic Stadium Arena and Milan's San Siro Stadium, sharing the bill with Carlos Santana and Joan Baez, who appeared on the same bill for a couple of shows.
1988–present: Later work
Taylor guested with the Grateful Dead on 24 September 1988 at the last show of that year's Madison Square Garden run in New York. Taylor lived in New York throughout the 1980s. He battled with addiction problems before getting back on track in the second half of the 1980s and moving to Los Angeles in 1990.[citation needed] During this time Taylor did session work and toured in Europe, America and Japan with a band including Max Middleton (formerly of the Jeff Beck Group), Shane Fontayne, and Blondie Chaplin. In 1990 his CD "Stranger in This Town" was released by Maze Records backed up by a mini-tour including the record release party at the Hard Rock Cafe in as well as gigs at the Paradise Theater.
He began what was to be a significant series of collaborations with L.A. based Carla Olson with their "Live at the Roxy" album Too Hot For Snakes, the centerpiece of which is an extended seven-minute performance of "Sway". Another highlight is the lead track on the album, "Who Put the Sting (On the Honey Bee)," by Olson's then-bassist Jesse Sublett. It was followed by Olson's Within An Ace which featured Taylor on seven songs, he appeared on three songs from Reap The Whirlwind and then again on Olson's The Ring of Truth, on which he plays lead guitar on nine tracks including a twelve minute version of the Jagger and Taylor song "Winter". Further work by Olson and Taylor can be heard on the Olson produced Barry Goldberg album Stoned Again. Taylor went on to appear on Percy Sledge's Blue Night (1994), along with Steve Cropper, Bobby Womack and Greg Leisz.
After spending two years as a resident of Miami, during which time he played with a band called 'Tumbling Dice' featuring Bobby Keys, Nicky Hopkins and others, Taylor moved back to England in the mid-1990s. He released a new album in 2000 entitled A Stone's Throw. Playing at clubs and theatres as well as appearing at festivals has connected Taylor with an appreciative audience and fan base.
In 2003, Taylor reunited with John Mayall for his 70th Birthday Concert in Liverpool along with Eric Clapton. A year later, in autumn 2004, he also joined John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers for a UK theatre tour. He toured the US East Coast with the Experience Hendrix group during October 2007. The Experience Hendrix group appeared at a series of concerts which were a homage to Jimi Hendrix and his musical legacy. Taylor played with Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin and Robby Krieger.
On 1 December 2010, Taylor reunited with Ronnie Wood at a benefit gig arranged by blues guitarist Stephen Dale Petit to save the 100 Club in London. Other special guests at the show were Dick Taylor (first bassist in the Rolling Stones) and blues/jazz trombonist Chris Barber. Taylor toured the UK with Petit, appearing as his special guest, featured on a Paul Jones BBC Radio 2 session with him and guested on Petit's 2010 Classic Rock magazine Album of the Year, The Crave.
For the 2010 re-release of Exile on Main Street Taylor worked with Mick Jagger at a London studio (November 2009) to record new guitar and vocal parts for the previously unreleased song, Plundered My Soul. The track was selected by the Rolling Stones for release as a limited edition single on National Record Store Day.
He also helped to promote the Boogie For Stu album, which was recorded by Ben Waters to honour Ian Stewart (original Stones pianist and co-founder of the band), by taking part in a concert to mark the CD's official launch at the Ambassadors Theatre, London on 9 March 2011. Proceeds from the event were donated to the British Heart Foundation. Although Mick Jagger and Keith Richards didn't show up, Taylor noticeably enjoyed performing with, amongst others, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and Bill Wyman.
On 24 October 2012, the Rolling Stones announced, via their latest Rolling Stone magazine interview, that Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor were expected to join the Rolling Stones on stage at the upcoming November shows in London. Richards went on to say that the pair would strictly be guests. At the two London shows on 25 and 29 November, Taylor played on "Midnight Rambler".[26][27]
On 8 April 2013 episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Keith Richards stated that Taylor would be performing with the Stones for their upcoming 2013 tour dates.[28] During the Stones' '50 & Counting' North American tour Mick Taylor performed at every single show including sitting in on four songs at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.[29] On 29 June 2013, Taylor joined the band onstage for several songs during their headline set at the Glastonbury Festival.[30]
Guitar history
Throughout his career, Taylor has used various guitars, but is mostly associated with the Gibson Les Paul. His first Les Paul was bought when he was still playing with The Gods (from Selmer's, London in '65). He acquired his second Les Paul in 1967, not long after joining The Bluesbreakers: Taylor came to Olympic Studios to buy a Les Paul that Keith Richards wanted to sell.[31] On the '72/'73 tours Taylor used a couple of Sunburst Les Paul guitars without a Bigsby. Other guitars include a Gibson ES-355 for the recording of Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street, a Gibson SG on the 1969, 1970 and 1971 tours, and occasionally a Fender Stratocaster and a Fender Telecaster.
Personal life
Taylor has been married twice and has two daughters. Chloe (born 6 January 1971) is a daughter by his first wife Rose Millar. Taylor married Rose in 1975 after leaving the Stones, but the relationship was reportedly "on the rocks" before long[32] and resulted in divorce only a few years later.[33] His second daughter Emma was born from a short relationship with an American woman, who sang backing vocals with Taylor's band on one occasion.[34]
Taylor currently resides in Suffolk.
Mick Taylor Band - Live at The New Morning (Live in Paris)1995
James "Stump" Johnson (January 17, 1902 – December 5, 1969)[1] was an American blues pianist and singer from St. Louis.
Biography
James "Stump" Johnson was the brother of Jesse Johnson, "a prominent black business man," who around 1909[2] had moved the family from Clarksville, Tennessee, to St. Louis, where he ran a music store and was a promoter.[3] James, a self-taught piano player,[4] made a career playing the city's brothels.[5] He had an instant hit with the "whorehouse tune"[2] "The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas," "a popular St. Louis party song."[6] The song's title is explained by quoting the lyrics more fully: "Shake your shoulders, shake 'em fast, if you can't shake your shoulders, shake your yas-yas-yas."[2]
He made a number of other recordings (some mildly pornographic) under various pseudonyms.[7] One of the more obscene tunes was a version of "Steady Grinding", which he recorded with Dorothea Trowbridge on August 2, 1933;[8] the song has the "defiant, sexually aggressive lyrics" early blueswomen were noted for,[9] "grind" being slang for copulating.
Biography
James "Stump" Johnson was the brother of Jesse Johnson, "a prominent black business man," who around 1909[2] had moved the family from Clarksville, Tennessee, to St. Louis, where he ran a music store and was a promoter.[3] James, a self-taught piano player,[4] made a career playing the city's brothels.[5] He had an instant hit with the "whorehouse tune"[2] "The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas," "a popular St. Louis party song."[6] The song's title is explained by quoting the lyrics more fully: "Shake your shoulders, shake 'em fast, if you can't shake your shoulders, shake your yas-yas-yas."[2]
He made a number of other recordings (some mildly pornographic) under various pseudonyms.[7] One of the more obscene tunes was a version of "Steady Grinding", which he recorded with Dorothea Trowbridge on August 2, 1933;[8] the song has the "defiant, sexually aggressive lyrics" early blueswomen were noted for,[9] "grind" being slang for copulating.
Paul Rishell & Annie Raines - Trouble Blues
Frank Bey *17.01.1946
http://beypaule.com/FrankBeyAnthonyPaule/Home.html
Frank
Bey was born on January 17, 1946, in Millen, Georgia, located 42 miles
south of Augusta. He was the seventh of gospel singer Maggie Jordan’s 12
children. He began singing in church at age 4 with the Rising Son
Gospel Singers, a group that included his older brother Robert and two
female cousins. They soon had radio programs of their own on two
stations in the Augusta area. He also sang with his mother, often at
local concerts with such gospel stars as the Five Blind Boys of Alabama,
Harmonizing Four, Soul Stirrers, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. At 14,
Frank began singing with Robert Sharpe and the Untouchables, a local
R&B band. He had to sneak out of the house to do it because his
mother didn’t approve of secular music. At 17, he moved to Philadelphia
to work as a driver for his friend Gene Lawson, Otis Redding’s advance
publicity man. Redding often rode in the backseat, and on occasion, when
one of Redding’s opening acts didn’t show up on time, Frank was asked
to open. Later in the ‘60s, Bey led a racially integrated band called
Modern Mixes that performed throughout the eastern regions of Canada and
the United States. From 1973 to ’77, he was a featured vocalist with
Moorish Vanguard, a large soul band that recorded one single for Polydor
but broke up due to dissention within the group over a dispute with the
label and James Brown, who claimed producer’s credit. Bey’s band mates
stranded him in Florida and left him so devastated that he stopped
singing for 17 years. He returned to Philadelphia, where he became a
building contractor and opened a seafood restaurant and bar. He
eventually resumed performing at the restaurant and later at Warm
Daddy’s, the Philadelphia club at which Noel Hayes first encountered him
in 1999. Bey had recorded his first CD, Steppin’ Out on his own Magg
label, in 1996, but ill health prevented him from properly promoting it.
The singer spent over four years on kidney dialysis before receiving a
transplant. Though weakened, Bey never stopped performing throughout the
ordeal. He recorded his second CD, Blues in the Pocket for Jeffhouse
Records in Philadelphia. A year later KPOO radio host, Noel Hayes first
brought him to San Francisco to work with Anthony Paule and his band.
John Lennon's IMAGINE - Performed by the Frank Bey & Anthony Paule Band
R.I.P.
Johnny Otis +17.01.2012
Johnny Otis (* 28. Dezember 1921[1] in Vallejo, Kalifornien; † 17. Januar 2012 in Los Angeles, eigentlich John Veliotes[2]) war ein US-amerikanischer Bandleader, Multiinstrumentalist, Musikproduzent und Talentsucher, der vor allem in den 1950er Jahren populär war. 1994 wurde er in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen und erhielt den Pioneer Award der R&B Foundation. 2000 wurde er außerdem Mitglied der Blues Hall of Fame.
Leben
Schon als Teenager lernte der Sohn griechischer Einwanderer Schlagzeug spielen und trat zunächst mit der Schülerband Count Matthews & his West Coast House Rockers auf. Später spielte er unter anderem in den Orchestern von Count Basie und Harlan Leonard, bevor er 1945 sein eigenes Jazz-Orchester gründete. Schon bald kam dabei sogar ein rein instrumentaler Mini-Hit zustande: Harlem Nocturne. Ansonsten begleitete er mit seinem Orchester vor allem damalige Stars wie Lester Young oder Charles Brown.[3]
1947 gründete er dann eine Rhythm-and-Blues-Band, die er California Rhythm And Blues Caravan nannte. Die Musiker pickte er sich dabei meistens aus Talent-Wettbewerben heraus, darunter 1949 auch die 13-jährige Esther Phillips. Mit seiner Caravan-Band zog er durch die USA; neben ihm traten dabei neben „Little Esther (Phillips)“ unter anderem auch Little Miss Cornshucks, Mel Walker, Red Lythe, Pete Lewis, Devonia „Lady Dee“ Williams, Sallie Blair und The Robins auf.
In den 1950er Jahren hatte er einigen Erfolg. Inzwischen beherrschte er auch das Klavier und konnte zwischen 1950 und 1952 acht Songs hoch in den R&B-Charts platzieren, darunter den Klassiker Double Crossing Blues. Mit seinem Far Away Christmas Blues kam Otis erstmals in die Pop-Charts und das gleich auf Platz 4. In den 50ern und 60ern gab er mit seiner California Rhythm And Blues Caravan vielen damals noch unbekannten Musikern eine Startchance und betätigte sich auch als Produzent. Zu den Künstlern, mit denen er damals zusammenarbeitete, gehören Johnny Ace, Hank Ballard, Big Mama Thornton, mit der er den Leiber/Stoller-Song Hound Dog produzierte, Jackie Wilson, Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, Marie Adams und Don Cherry. 1954 löste er seine Band auf, um als DJ bei einem Radiosender in Los Angeles zu arbeiten, doch schon kurze Zeit später gründete er eine neue Band, die Johnny Otis Show. 1957 und 1958 gelangen ihm mit der Band einige Hits wie Ma, He’s Making Eyes At Me. Sein damaliger Charts-Erfolg Willie and the Hand Jive feierte Jahre später als Cover-Version von Eric Clapton ein Revival.[4] Bis 1969 brachte Otis noch insgesamt vier Songs in die US-Pop-Charts; mit ihm spielten Musiker wie Johnny Guitar Watson oder Don Sugarcane Harris.
1965 kam seine Autobiografie Listen To The Lambs auf den Markt. 1971 erschien dann nach einem Auftritt auf dem Monterey Jazz Festival mit Eddie „Cleanhead“ Vinson, Gene Mighty Flea Conners, Esther Phillips, Big Joe Turner, Roy Milton, Pee Wee Crayton, Ivory Joe Hunter, Roy Brown, Margie und Delmar Evans sowie Otis' Sohn Shuggie Otis sein erstes Live-Album Live At Monterey, das ausgezeichnete Kritiken erntete. Im Laufe der 1970er Jahre zog sich Otis jedoch mehr und mehr aus der Musik-Szene zurück. Er begann zu malen und modellieren und wurde 1978 Priester seiner Landmark Community Church.
1981 meldete er sich dann mit der 31-köpfigen New Johnny Otis Show zurück, die eine Mischung aus Blues, Soul und Rock ’n’ Roll spielte. Diese Band löste er gelegentlich wieder auf und reformierte sie dann wieder, sodass er zwischendurch weiter seinen geistlichen Beruf ausüben konnte. Außerdem brachte er eine eigene Orangensaft-Marke auf den Markt und moderierte eine Radio-Sendung. 1990 eröffnete der Johnny Otis Market & Deli, in dem sich ein Café, ein Nachtclub und ein Drugstore vereinigten. In dem Nachtclub trat Otis weiterhin regelmäßig auf.
Johnny Otis[1] (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes, December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was an American singer, musician, composer, arranger, bandleader, talent scout, disc jockey, record producer, television show host, artist, author, journalist, minister, and impresario.[2] A seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll, Otis discovered artists such as Little Esther, Big Mama Thornton, Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John and Hank Ballard. Known as the original "King of Rock & Roll",[1] he is commonly referred to as the "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues".[3]
Personal life
Otis was born to Greek immigrants Alexander J. Veliotes, a Mare Island longshoreman and grocery store owner, and his wife, the former Irene Kiskakes, a painter.[1][4] He had a younger sister, Dorothy, and a younger brother, Nicholas A. Veliotes, former U.S. Ambassador to both Jordan (1978–1981) and Egypt (1984–1986)). He grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Berkeley, California, where his father owned a neighborhood grocery store. Otis became well known for his choice to live his professional and personal life as a member of the African-American community.[5][6][7] He wrote, "As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black."[8]
He was the father of musicians Shuggie Otis and Nicholas Otis.
Music career
Otis began playing drums as a teenager, when he purchased a set by forging his father's signature on a credit slip. Soon after he dropped out of Berkeley High School during his junior year, Otis joined a local band with pianist friend 'Count' Otis Matthews called the West Oakland Houserockers. By 1939, they were performing at many of the local functions, primarily in and around the Oakland and Berkeley area, and became quite popular among their peers.
Otis played in a variety of swing orchestras, including Lloyd Hunter's Serenaders,[9] and Harlan Leonard's Rockets,[10] until he founded his own band in 1945 and had one of the most enduring hits of the big band era, "Harlem Nocturne", an Earle Hagen composition. His band included Wynonie Harris, Charles Brown, and Illinois Jacquet, to name a few. In 1947, he and Bardu Ali opened the Barrelhouse Club in the Watts district of Los Angeles. He reduced the size of his band and hired singers Mel Walker, Little Esther Phillips and the Robins (who later became the Coasters).[11] He discovered the teenaged Phillips when she won one of the Barrelhouse Club's talent shows. With this band, which toured extensively throughout the United States as the California Rhythm and Blues Caravan, he had a long string of rhythm and blues hits through 1950.
Otis discovered tenor saxophonist Big Jay McNeely, who then performed on his uptempo "Barrelhouse Stomp". He began recording Little Esther and Mel Walker for the Newark, New Jersey-based Savoy label in 1949,[10] and began releasing a stream of hit records, including "Double Crossing Blues", "Mistrustin' Blues" and "Cupid Boogie"; all three reached no. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. In 1950, Otis was presented the R&B Artist of the Year trophy by Billboard.[12] He also began featuring himself on vibraphone on many of his recordings.[10]
In 1951, Otis released "Mambo Boogie" featuring congas, maracas, claves, and mambo saxophone guajeos in a blues progression. This was to be the very first R&B mambo ever recorded.[13]
Saxophone guajeo in blues progression. "Mambo Boogie" by Johnny Otis (1951).
Around the time Otis moved to the Mercury label in 1951, he discovered vocalist Etta James, who was only 13 at the time, at one of his talent shows. He produced and co-wrote her first hit, "The Wallflower (Roll With Me, Henry)".
In 1952, while in Houston, Texas, Otis auditioned singer Willie Mae 'Big Mama' Thornton. Otis produced, co-wrote, and played drums on the original 1953 recording of "Hound Dog" (he and his band also provided the backup 'howling' vocals).[14] It was also co-written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, He had a legal dispute with the songwriting duo over the credits after he learned that Leiber and Stoller revised the contractual agreement prior to a new version of the song being recorded by singer Elvis Presley, which became an instant no. 1 smash hit. Claiming Leiber and Stoller illegally had the original contract nullified and rewrote a new one stating that the two boys (who were both 17) were the only composers of the song, Otis litigated. However, the presiding judge awarded the case to the defendants based on the fact that their signing of the first contract with Otis was 'null and void' since they were minors at the time.
One of Otis' most famous compositions is the ballad "Every Beat of My Heart", first recorded by The Royals in 1952 on Federal Records[15][16] but then became a hit for Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1961. He also produced and played the vibraphone on singer Johnny Ace's "Pledging My Love", which was at no. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts for 10 weeks. Another successful song for Otis was "So Fine", which was originally recorded by The Sheiks in 1955 on Federal and was a hit for The Fiestas in 1959. As an artist and repertory man for King Records he discovered numerous young prospects who would later become successful, including Jackie Wilson, Hank Ballard, and Little Willie John, among others.[10]
In addition to hosting his own television show titled "The Johnny Otis Show", he also became an influential disc-jockey in Los Angeles, hosting his own radio show on radio station KFOX in Long Beach, California in 1955.[17]
That same year, Otis started his own label, Ultra Records (which he changed to the name Dig after five single releases). Continuing to perform and appearing on TV shows in Los Angeles from 1957. On the strength of their success, he signed to Capitol Records. Featuring singer Marie Adams, and with his band now being credited as the Johnny Otis Show, he made a comeback, at first in the British charts with "Ma He's Making Eyes at Me" in 1957.[18] In April 1958, he recorded his best-known recording, "Willie and the Hand Jive", a clave-based vamp, which relates to hand and arm motions in time with the music, called the hand jive. This went on to be a hit in the summer of 1958, peaking at no. 9 on the U.S. Pop chart, and becoming Otis' only Top 10 single. The single reached no. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. Otis' success with the song was somewhat short-lived, and he briefly moved to King Records in 1961, where he worked with Johnny "Guitar" Watson.[10]
In 1969, Otis landed a deal with Columbia Records and recorded "Cold Shot!" and the sexually explicit Snatch and the Poontangs (which had an "X" rating), both of which featured his son Shuggie and singer Delmar 'Mighty Mouth' Evans.[19] A year later, he recorded a double-live album of his band's performance at the Monterey Jazz Festival titled Johnny Otis Show Live at Monterey! with Little Esther Phillips, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Pee Wee Crayton, Ivory Joe Hunter, and The Mighty Flea, among others. A portion of the performance was featured in the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty For Me.
Although Otis' touring lessened throughout the 1970s, he started the Blues Spectrum label and released a fifteen album series entitled Rhythm and Blues Oldies, which featured 1950's R&B artists Louis Jordan, Roy Milton, Richard Berry, and even Otis himself.
During the 1980s, he had a weekly radio show which aired Monday evenings from 8 to 11 pm on Los Angeles radio station KPFK, where he played records and had guest appearances by such R&B artists as Screamin' Jay Hawkins.[20] Otis also recorded with his sons Shuggie on guitar and Nicky on drums, releasing a slew of albums, including The New Johnny Otis Show (1982), Johnny Otis! Johnny Otis! (1984), and Otisology (1985).[10] In the summer of 1987, Otis hosted his own Red Beans & Rice R&B Music Festival in Los Angeles which featured top-name acts and hosted a Southern-style red beans and rice cook-off. He moved the festival site to the city of San Dimas, where it ran annually for 20 years in association with the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation for twenty years until 2006.
Otis and his family moved from Southern California to Sebastopol, California, a small apple farming town in Sonoma County. He continued performing in the U.S. and Europe through the 1990s, headlining the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1990 and 2000. In 1993, he opened The Johnny Otis Market, a deli-style grocery store/cabaret, where he and his band played sold-out shows every weekend until its doors closed in 1995. He was inducted to both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Blues Hall of Fame in 1994.[21]
Other work
In the 1960s, he entered journalism and politics, losing a campaign for a seat in the California State Assembly (one reason for the loss may be that he ran under his much less well known real name). He then became chief of staff for Democratic Congressman Mervyn M. Dymally.[22]
Otis also founded and pastored the New Landmark Community Gospel Church, which held weekly Sunday services in Santa Rosa, California. Landmark's worship services centered on Otis' preaching and the traditional-style performances of a vocal group and choir backed by Otis' rhythm section and an organist. The church closed its doors in mid-1998.
The Johnny Otis Show was relocated to sister station KPFA in Berkeley, California, where it aired every Saturday morning. After his market opened in Sebastopol in 1994, he would eventually broadcast from it, where his band would play live on the air. After Otis' retirement in late 2004, his grandson Lucky hosted the show at KPFA for two years until its final airing in late 2006, when Otis and his wife relocated back to Los Angeles.
Otis died of natural causes on January 17, 2012, in the Altadena area of Los Angeles just three days before Etta James, whom he had discovered in the early 1950s.
Personal life
Otis was born to Greek immigrants Alexander J. Veliotes, a Mare Island longshoreman and grocery store owner, and his wife, the former Irene Kiskakes, a painter.[1][4] He had a younger sister, Dorothy, and a younger brother, Nicholas A. Veliotes, former U.S. Ambassador to both Jordan (1978–1981) and Egypt (1984–1986)). He grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Berkeley, California, where his father owned a neighborhood grocery store. Otis became well known for his choice to live his professional and personal life as a member of the African-American community.[5][6][7] He wrote, "As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black."[8]
He was the father of musicians Shuggie Otis and Nicholas Otis.
Music career
Otis began playing drums as a teenager, when he purchased a set by forging his father's signature on a credit slip. Soon after he dropped out of Berkeley High School during his junior year, Otis joined a local band with pianist friend 'Count' Otis Matthews called the West Oakland Houserockers. By 1939, they were performing at many of the local functions, primarily in and around the Oakland and Berkeley area, and became quite popular among their peers.
Otis played in a variety of swing orchestras, including Lloyd Hunter's Serenaders,[9] and Harlan Leonard's Rockets,[10] until he founded his own band in 1945 and had one of the most enduring hits of the big band era, "Harlem Nocturne", an Earle Hagen composition. His band included Wynonie Harris, Charles Brown, and Illinois Jacquet, to name a few. In 1947, he and Bardu Ali opened the Barrelhouse Club in the Watts district of Los Angeles. He reduced the size of his band and hired singers Mel Walker, Little Esther Phillips and the Robins (who later became the Coasters).[11] He discovered the teenaged Phillips when she won one of the Barrelhouse Club's talent shows. With this band, which toured extensively throughout the United States as the California Rhythm and Blues Caravan, he had a long string of rhythm and blues hits through 1950.
Otis discovered tenor saxophonist Big Jay McNeely, who then performed on his uptempo "Barrelhouse Stomp". He began recording Little Esther and Mel Walker for the Newark, New Jersey-based Savoy label in 1949,[10] and began releasing a stream of hit records, including "Double Crossing Blues", "Mistrustin' Blues" and "Cupid Boogie"; all three reached no. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. In 1950, Otis was presented the R&B Artist of the Year trophy by Billboard.[12] He also began featuring himself on vibraphone on many of his recordings.[10]
In 1951, Otis released "Mambo Boogie" featuring congas, maracas, claves, and mambo saxophone guajeos in a blues progression. This was to be the very first R&B mambo ever recorded.[13]
Saxophone guajeo in blues progression. "Mambo Boogie" by Johnny Otis (1951).
Around the time Otis moved to the Mercury label in 1951, he discovered vocalist Etta James, who was only 13 at the time, at one of his talent shows. He produced and co-wrote her first hit, "The Wallflower (Roll With Me, Henry)".
In 1952, while in Houston, Texas, Otis auditioned singer Willie Mae 'Big Mama' Thornton. Otis produced, co-wrote, and played drums on the original 1953 recording of "Hound Dog" (he and his band also provided the backup 'howling' vocals).[14] It was also co-written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, He had a legal dispute with the songwriting duo over the credits after he learned that Leiber and Stoller revised the contractual agreement prior to a new version of the song being recorded by singer Elvis Presley, which became an instant no. 1 smash hit. Claiming Leiber and Stoller illegally had the original contract nullified and rewrote a new one stating that the two boys (who were both 17) were the only composers of the song, Otis litigated. However, the presiding judge awarded the case to the defendants based on the fact that their signing of the first contract with Otis was 'null and void' since they were minors at the time.
One of Otis' most famous compositions is the ballad "Every Beat of My Heart", first recorded by The Royals in 1952 on Federal Records[15][16] but then became a hit for Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1961. He also produced and played the vibraphone on singer Johnny Ace's "Pledging My Love", which was at no. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts for 10 weeks. Another successful song for Otis was "So Fine", which was originally recorded by The Sheiks in 1955 on Federal and was a hit for The Fiestas in 1959. As an artist and repertory man for King Records he discovered numerous young prospects who would later become successful, including Jackie Wilson, Hank Ballard, and Little Willie John, among others.[10]
In addition to hosting his own television show titled "The Johnny Otis Show", he also became an influential disc-jockey in Los Angeles, hosting his own radio show on radio station KFOX in Long Beach, California in 1955.[17]
That same year, Otis started his own label, Ultra Records (which he changed to the name Dig after five single releases). Continuing to perform and appearing on TV shows in Los Angeles from 1957. On the strength of their success, he signed to Capitol Records. Featuring singer Marie Adams, and with his band now being credited as the Johnny Otis Show, he made a comeback, at first in the British charts with "Ma He's Making Eyes at Me" in 1957.[18] In April 1958, he recorded his best-known recording, "Willie and the Hand Jive", a clave-based vamp, which relates to hand and arm motions in time with the music, called the hand jive. This went on to be a hit in the summer of 1958, peaking at no. 9 on the U.S. Pop chart, and becoming Otis' only Top 10 single. The single reached no. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. Otis' success with the song was somewhat short-lived, and he briefly moved to King Records in 1961, where he worked with Johnny "Guitar" Watson.[10]
In 1969, Otis landed a deal with Columbia Records and recorded "Cold Shot!" and the sexually explicit Snatch and the Poontangs (which had an "X" rating), both of which featured his son Shuggie and singer Delmar 'Mighty Mouth' Evans.[19] A year later, he recorded a double-live album of his band's performance at the Monterey Jazz Festival titled Johnny Otis Show Live at Monterey! with Little Esther Phillips, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Pee Wee Crayton, Ivory Joe Hunter, and The Mighty Flea, among others. A portion of the performance was featured in the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty For Me.
Although Otis' touring lessened throughout the 1970s, he started the Blues Spectrum label and released a fifteen album series entitled Rhythm and Blues Oldies, which featured 1950's R&B artists Louis Jordan, Roy Milton, Richard Berry, and even Otis himself.
During the 1980s, he had a weekly radio show which aired Monday evenings from 8 to 11 pm on Los Angeles radio station KPFK, where he played records and had guest appearances by such R&B artists as Screamin' Jay Hawkins.[20] Otis also recorded with his sons Shuggie on guitar and Nicky on drums, releasing a slew of albums, including The New Johnny Otis Show (1982), Johnny Otis! Johnny Otis! (1984), and Otisology (1985).[10] In the summer of 1987, Otis hosted his own Red Beans & Rice R&B Music Festival in Los Angeles which featured top-name acts and hosted a Southern-style red beans and rice cook-off. He moved the festival site to the city of San Dimas, where it ran annually for 20 years in association with the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation for twenty years until 2006.
Otis and his family moved from Southern California to Sebastopol, California, a small apple farming town in Sonoma County. He continued performing in the U.S. and Europe through the 1990s, headlining the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1990 and 2000. In 1993, he opened The Johnny Otis Market, a deli-style grocery store/cabaret, where he and his band played sold-out shows every weekend until its doors closed in 1995. He was inducted to both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Blues Hall of Fame in 1994.[21]
Other work
In the 1960s, he entered journalism and politics, losing a campaign for a seat in the California State Assembly (one reason for the loss may be that he ran under his much less well known real name). He then became chief of staff for Democratic Congressman Mervyn M. Dymally.[22]
Otis also founded and pastored the New Landmark Community Gospel Church, which held weekly Sunday services in Santa Rosa, California. Landmark's worship services centered on Otis' preaching and the traditional-style performances of a vocal group and choir backed by Otis' rhythm section and an organist. The church closed its doors in mid-1998.
The Johnny Otis Show was relocated to sister station KPFA in Berkeley, California, where it aired every Saturday morning. After his market opened in Sebastopol in 1994, he would eventually broadcast from it, where his band would play live on the air. After Otis' retirement in late 2004, his grandson Lucky hosted the show at KPFA for two years until its final airing in late 2006, when Otis and his wife relocated back to Los Angeles.
Otis died of natural causes on January 17, 2012, in the Altadena area of Los Angeles just three days before Etta James, whom he had discovered in the early 1950s.
Junior Kimbrough (eigentlich David Kimbrough; * 28. Juli 1930 in Hudsonville, Mississippi; † 17. Januar 1998 in Holly Springs, Mississippi) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Musiker.
Kimbrough lebte im Norden von Mississippi in der Nähe von Holly Springs. Er nahm ab 1992 Platten für das Fat Possum Blues Label auf. Außerdem spielte er seine Musik in seiner Bar mit dem Namen „Junior's Place“ in Chulahoma, die viele Besucher aus aller Welt anzog, darunter Mitglieder der Band U2 und der Rolling Stones.
Junior Kimbrough starb am 17. Januar 1998 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Nach seinem Tod unterhielten seine Söhne Kinney und David Malone Kimbrough, welche ebenfalls Musiker sind, die Bar in Chulahoma, bevor „Junior's Place“ am 6. April 2000 niederbrannte.
Die Band The Black Keys, deren Mitglieder Kimbrough als einen ihrer Haupteinflüsse nennen, veröffentlichte ihm zu Ehren im Jahr 2006 die EP Chulahoma, auf der ausschließlich Coverversionen von Kimbroughs Songs enthalten sind.
David "Junior" Kimbrough (July 28, 1930 – January 17, 1998) was an American blues musician. His best known work included "Keep Your Hands Off Her" and "All Night Long".[1] Music journalist Tony Russell stated "his raw, repetitive style suggests an archaic forebear of John Lee Hooker, a character his music shares with that of fellow North Mississippian R. L. Burnside".[2]
Overview
Junior Kimbrough was born in Hudsonville, Mississippi,[1] and lived in the North Mississippi Hill Country near Holly Springs. He recorded for the Fat Possum Records label. He was a long-time associate of labelmate R. L. Burnside, and the Burnside and Kimbrough families often collaborated on musical projects. This relationship continues today. Rockabilly musician and friend Charlie Feathers called Kimbrough "the beginning and end of all music." This is written on Kimbrough's tombstone outside his family's church, the Kimbrough Chapel Missionary Baptist Church near Holly Springs.
Beginning around 1992, Kimbrough operated a juke joint known as "Junior's Place" in Chulahoma, Mississippi, which attracted visitors from around the world, including members of U2, Keith Richards, and Iggy Pop. Kimbrough's sons, musicians Kinney and David Malone Kimbrough, kept it open following his death, until it burned to the ground on April 6, 2000.
Junior Kimbrough died of a heart attack in 1998 in Holly Springs following a stroke, at the age of 67.[1] According to his artist bio on the Fat Possum Records website, he is survived by his claimed 36 children.
Music
Kimbrough began playing guitar in his youth, and counted Lightnin' Hopkins as an early influence. In the late 1950s he began playing in his own style, which made use of mid-tempo rhythms and a steady drone he played with his thumb on the bass strings of his guitar. This style would later be cited as a prime example of regional north hill country blues.[3] His music is characterized by the tricky syncopations between his droning bass strings and his mid-range melodies. His soloing style has been described as modal and features languorous runs in the mid and upper register. The result was described by music critic Robert Palmer as "hypnotic". In solo and ensemble settings it is often polyrhythmic, which links it explicitly to the music of Africa. Fellow North Mississippi bluesman and former Kimbrough bassist Eric Deaton has suggested similarities between Junior Kimbrough's music and Malian bluesman Ali Farka Touré's.
Career
In 1966 Kimbrough traveled to Memphis, Tennessee from his home in North Mississippi and recorded for the R&B/gospel producer and owner of the Goldwax record label, Quinton Claunch. Claunch was a founder of Hi Records (whose entire catalog will be reissued by Fat Possum) and is known as the man that gave James Carr and O.V. Wright their start. Kimbrough recorded one session in one afternoon at American Studios. Claunch declined to release the recordings, deeming them too country. Forty some years later, Bruce Watson of Big Legal Mess Records approached Claunch to buy the original master tapes and the rights to release the recordings made that day. These songs were released by Big Legal Mess Records in 2009 as First Recordings. Kimbrough's debut release was a cover version of Lowell Fulson's "Tramp" released as a single on independent label Philwood in 1967. On the label of the record Kimbrough's name was spelled incorrectly as Junior Kimbell and the song "Tramp" was listed as "Tram?" The b-side was "You Can't Leave Me".
Among his other early recordings are two duets with his childhood friend Charlie Feathers in 1969. Feathers counted Kimbrough as an early influence and Kimbrough gave Feathers some of his earliest lessons on guitar.
Kimbrough recorded very little in the 1970s, contributing an early version of "Meet Me in the City" to a European blues anthology. With his band, the Soul Blues Boys, Kimbrough recorded again in the 1980s, releasing a single in 1982 ("Keep Your Hands Off Her" b/w "I Feel Good, Little Girl"). The High Water label recorded a 1988 session with Kimbrough and the Soul Blues Boys, releasing it in 1997 with his 1982 single as "Do The Rump".
Kimbrough came to national attention in 1992 with his debut album, All Night Long.[2] Robert Palmer produced the album for Fat Possum Records, recording it in a local church with Junior's son Kent "Kinney" Kimbrough (aka Kenny Malone) on drums and R. L. Burnside's son Garry Burnside on bass guitar. The album featured many of his most celebrated songs, including the title track, the complexly melodic "Meet Me In The City," and "You Better Run" a harrowing ballad of attempted rape. All Night Long earned near-unanimous praise from critics, receiving four stars in Rolling Stone. His stock continued to rise the following year after live footage of him playing "All Night Long" in one of his juke joints appeared in the Robert Mugge directed, Robert Palmer narrated film documentary, Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads. This performance was actually recorded earlier in 1990.
A second album for Fat Possum, Sad Days, Lonely Nights, followed in 1994. A video for the album's title track featured Kimbrough, Garry Burnside and Kent Kimbrough playing in Kimbrough's juke joint. The last album he would record, Most Things Haven't Worked Out, appeared on Fat Possum in 1997. Following his death in 1998 in Holly Springs, Fat Possum released two posthumous compilation albums of material Kimbrough recorded in the 1990s, God Knows I Tried (1998) and Meet Me in The City (1999). A greatest hits compilation, You Better Run: The Essential Junior Kimbrough, followed in 2002. Fat Possum also released a tribute album, Sunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough, in 2005, which featured Iggy & The Stooges (Kimbrough once toured with frontman Iggy Pop), The Black Keys and Mark Lanegan. The Black Keys have released an album composed entirely of covers of Junior's music, Chulahoma. Richard Johnston, a Kimbrough protégé, keeps this musical tradition alive with one of Junior's sons, via live performances on Beale Street in Memphis.
Overview
Junior Kimbrough was born in Hudsonville, Mississippi,[1] and lived in the North Mississippi Hill Country near Holly Springs. He recorded for the Fat Possum Records label. He was a long-time associate of labelmate R. L. Burnside, and the Burnside and Kimbrough families often collaborated on musical projects. This relationship continues today. Rockabilly musician and friend Charlie Feathers called Kimbrough "the beginning and end of all music." This is written on Kimbrough's tombstone outside his family's church, the Kimbrough Chapel Missionary Baptist Church near Holly Springs.
Beginning around 1992, Kimbrough operated a juke joint known as "Junior's Place" in Chulahoma, Mississippi, which attracted visitors from around the world, including members of U2, Keith Richards, and Iggy Pop. Kimbrough's sons, musicians Kinney and David Malone Kimbrough, kept it open following his death, until it burned to the ground on April 6, 2000.
Junior Kimbrough died of a heart attack in 1998 in Holly Springs following a stroke, at the age of 67.[1] According to his artist bio on the Fat Possum Records website, he is survived by his claimed 36 children.
Music
Kimbrough began playing guitar in his youth, and counted Lightnin' Hopkins as an early influence. In the late 1950s he began playing in his own style, which made use of mid-tempo rhythms and a steady drone he played with his thumb on the bass strings of his guitar. This style would later be cited as a prime example of regional north hill country blues.[3] His music is characterized by the tricky syncopations between his droning bass strings and his mid-range melodies. His soloing style has been described as modal and features languorous runs in the mid and upper register. The result was described by music critic Robert Palmer as "hypnotic". In solo and ensemble settings it is often polyrhythmic, which links it explicitly to the music of Africa. Fellow North Mississippi bluesman and former Kimbrough bassist Eric Deaton has suggested similarities between Junior Kimbrough's music and Malian bluesman Ali Farka Touré's.
Career
In 1966 Kimbrough traveled to Memphis, Tennessee from his home in North Mississippi and recorded for the R&B/gospel producer and owner of the Goldwax record label, Quinton Claunch. Claunch was a founder of Hi Records (whose entire catalog will be reissued by Fat Possum) and is known as the man that gave James Carr and O.V. Wright their start. Kimbrough recorded one session in one afternoon at American Studios. Claunch declined to release the recordings, deeming them too country. Forty some years later, Bruce Watson of Big Legal Mess Records approached Claunch to buy the original master tapes and the rights to release the recordings made that day. These songs were released by Big Legal Mess Records in 2009 as First Recordings. Kimbrough's debut release was a cover version of Lowell Fulson's "Tramp" released as a single on independent label Philwood in 1967. On the label of the record Kimbrough's name was spelled incorrectly as Junior Kimbell and the song "Tramp" was listed as "Tram?" The b-side was "You Can't Leave Me".
Among his other early recordings are two duets with his childhood friend Charlie Feathers in 1969. Feathers counted Kimbrough as an early influence and Kimbrough gave Feathers some of his earliest lessons on guitar.
Kimbrough recorded very little in the 1970s, contributing an early version of "Meet Me in the City" to a European blues anthology. With his band, the Soul Blues Boys, Kimbrough recorded again in the 1980s, releasing a single in 1982 ("Keep Your Hands Off Her" b/w "I Feel Good, Little Girl"). The High Water label recorded a 1988 session with Kimbrough and the Soul Blues Boys, releasing it in 1997 with his 1982 single as "Do The Rump".
Kimbrough came to national attention in 1992 with his debut album, All Night Long.[2] Robert Palmer produced the album for Fat Possum Records, recording it in a local church with Junior's son Kent "Kinney" Kimbrough (aka Kenny Malone) on drums and R. L. Burnside's son Garry Burnside on bass guitar. The album featured many of his most celebrated songs, including the title track, the complexly melodic "Meet Me In The City," and "You Better Run" a harrowing ballad of attempted rape. All Night Long earned near-unanimous praise from critics, receiving four stars in Rolling Stone. His stock continued to rise the following year after live footage of him playing "All Night Long" in one of his juke joints appeared in the Robert Mugge directed, Robert Palmer narrated film documentary, Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads. This performance was actually recorded earlier in 1990.
A second album for Fat Possum, Sad Days, Lonely Nights, followed in 1994. A video for the album's title track featured Kimbrough, Garry Burnside and Kent Kimbrough playing in Kimbrough's juke joint. The last album he would record, Most Things Haven't Worked Out, appeared on Fat Possum in 1997. Following his death in 1998 in Holly Springs, Fat Possum released two posthumous compilation albums of material Kimbrough recorded in the 1990s, God Knows I Tried (1998) and Meet Me in The City (1999). A greatest hits compilation, You Better Run: The Essential Junior Kimbrough, followed in 2002. Fat Possum also released a tribute album, Sunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough, in 2005, which featured Iggy & The Stooges (Kimbrough once toured with frontman Iggy Pop), The Black Keys and Mark Lanegan. The Black Keys have released an album composed entirely of covers of Junior's music, Chulahoma. Richard Johnston, a Kimbrough protégé, keeps this musical tradition alive with one of Junior's sons, via live performances on Beale Street in Memphis.
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