1902 Son House*
1929 Smokey Smothers*
1930 Otis Spann*
1938 Pete Mayes*
1940 Solomon Burke*
1943 Amina Claudine Myers*
1944 David Lindley*
1944 Gaye Adegbalola*
1946 Ray Dorset*
1951 William Clarke*
1952 Nasty Ned*
2010 Rockie Charles+
2011 Pinetop Perkins+
2012 Ernie Williams+
Kenny Sultan*
Sunday Wilde*
Happy Birthday
Born, March 21, 1952 in Plainfield, New Jersey, Nasty Ned is a spirited blues performer. He celebrates the music and enjoys a career that spans six decades. An innovative musician and singer, Ned is founder of the American Roots Live initiative, is an advocate of Blues in Schools, a "volunteer performing artist" for charities, a music producer, label principle, music publisher, songwriter, active member of ASCAP, member of the Blues Foundation, and recognized as a "Great Blues Artist from New Jersey" by The National Heritage Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame (R).
Otis Spann *21.03.1930
Otis Spann (* 21. März 1930 in Jackson, Mississippi; † 24. April 1970 in Chicago, Illinois) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Pianist und -Sänger.
Spanns leiblicher Vater war ein lokal bekannter Pianist namens Friday Ford, seine Mutter hieß Josephine Erby, spielte Gitarre und sang. Sie hatte unter anderem mit Memphis Minnie und Bessie Smith zusammen gespielt. Spann brachte sich das Pianospielen selbst bei. Noch nicht zehn Jahre alt spielte er in der Kirche seines Stiefvaters das Piano oder die Orgel. Mit seinem Cousin, dem Pianisten Johnnie Jones (1924–1964), der später Aufnahmen mit Elmore James machte, spielte er während der Teenagerzeit in Bars und auf Festen. Zwischen 1947 und 1951 diente Spann bei der US Army in Japan und Deutschland. Danach hielt er lange die Position des Pianisten in der Band von Muddy Waters inne, eigentlich hatte er die Band nie ganz verlassen, auch als er seine eigene Combo gründete. Ein Grund für dieses zweigleisige Fahren – Solokarriere und festes Bandmitglied – nannte Spann dem Journalisten Peter Guralnick an der Hand von Little Walter: „Als ich mit ihm bei der Muddy Waters Band spielte, nahm Little Walter den Titel Juke auf. Kaum hörte er, dass sein Lied im Radio gespielt wurde, stieg er bei Muddy aus, um sein eigenes Ding zu machen, aber niemand kann wirklich sagen, wie weit und lange so ein Hit einen trägt – es kann schon an der nächsten Straßenecke vorbei sein!“
Schon früh in den 50er Jahren etablierte er sich als Haupt-Studiopianist von Chess Records in Chicago; dort begleitete er u. a. Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry. 1958 spielten Spann und Muddy Waters mit der Gruppe des britischen Posaunisten Chris Barber auf einer England-Tournee zusammen. 1960 nahm Spann für das CANDID-Label eine Langspielplatte mit Robert Junior Lockwood auf, die bei Kritikern hochgelobt wurde und als eine seiner besten gilt. Während der American-Folk-Blues-Festival-Tournee nahm er im Oktober 1963 eine Soloplatte für das Storyville-Label in Kopenhagen auf – nur Gesang und Piano; am gleichen Tag begleitete er noch Lonnie Johnson, der für das gleiche Label eine LP einspielte. 1965/66 spielte er Aufnahmen unter eigenem Namen für das Testament-Label ein (solo oder mit dem Drummer Robert Whitehead), 1966 begleitete er Johnny Shines, Eddie Taylor und Floyd Jones auf dem gleichen Label bei deren Veröffentlichungen. 1965 spielte die damalige Besetzung der Muddy Waters Band ein Album für Prestige Records ein; Muddy Waters selbst trat bei diesen Aufnahmen wegen eines Exklusivvertrags mit Chess als Dirty Rivers auf. Obwohl die Platte unter Spanns Name herausgebracht wurde, war James Cotton gleichberechtigter Frontmann.
Die gesamten 60er waren sehr produktive Jahre für den Studiopianisten Spann: Neben seiner Tätigkeit für Chess nahm er unter eigenem Namen für das Vanguard-Label mit kompletter Band oder nur dem Drummer S.P. Leary auf, spielte als Mitglied der Band Muddy Waters LPs mit John Lee Hooker für Bluesway und Big Mama Thornton für Arhoolie ein. Auf dem letzteren Label spielte er 1968 Piano auf einer Langspielplatte des Gitarristen und Mandolinisten Johnny Young.
In den späten 1960ern spielte er auf Alben von Buddy Guy, Peter Green und Fleetwood Mac. Seit seiner Trennung von Muddy unterstützte er seine Ehefrau Lucille Spann (geboren 1938) bei ihrer Gesangskarriere. Seine letzten musikalischen Akzente setzte er auf Southside Blues Jam (Delmark Records) des Sängers und Bluesharpspielers Junior Wells. Drei Monate später verstarb Spann, der nur wenige Meter von seinem alten Bandleader entfernt wohnte, an Krebs; die Musikzeitschrift Rolling Stone widmete ihm einen längeren Artikel.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Spann
Otis Spann (March 21, 1930 – April 24, 1970)[2] was an American blues musician whom many consider to be the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.[1][3]
Career
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style.
Spann's father was reportedly a pianist called Friday Ford. His mother Josephine Erby was a guitarist who had worked with Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith, and his stepfather Frank Houston Spann was a preacher and musician. One of five children, Spann began playing piano at the age of seven, with some instruction from Friday Ford, Frank Spann, and Little Brother Montgomery.[4] By age 14, he was playing in bands in the Jackson area. Big Maceo Merriweather mentored the young musician after his arrival in Chicago in 1946. Spann performed as a solo act or teamed up with guitarist Morris Pejoe, working a regular spot at the Tic Toc Lounge.[2]
Spann replaced Merriweather as Muddy Waters' piano player in late 1952, and participated in his first recording session with the band on September 24, 1953.[5] He continued to record as a solo artist and session man with other musicians, including Bo Diddley and Howlin' Wolf during his tenure with the group. He stayed with Muddy Waters until 1968.[6]
Spann's work for Chess Records included the 1954 single, "It Must Have Been the Devil" / "Five Spot", with B.B. King and Jody Williams on guitars. During his time at Chess Records he played on many of Chuck Berry's early records. His back up on the studio version of "You Can't Catch Me" is a very good example. In 1956 he recorded two unreleased tracks with Big Walter Horton and Robert Lockwood.[7] He recorded a session with the guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr. and vocalist St. Louis Jimmy in New York on August 23, 1960, which was issued on Otis Spann Is The Blues and Walking The Blues. A 1963 effort with Storyville Records was recorded in Copenhagen. He worked with Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton on Decca Records in the late 1960's and with James Cotton for Prestige in 1964.
The Blues is Where It's At, Spann's 1966 album for ABC-Bluesway, includes artists George "Harmonica" Smith, Muddy Waters, and Sammy Lawhorn. The Bottom of the Blues (1967), featuring Spann's wife, Lucille Jenkins Spann (June 23, 1938 – August 2, 1994),[8] was released on Bluesway. He worked on albums with Buddy Guy, Big Mama Thornton, Peter Green, and Fleetwood Mac during the late 1960s.
Material featuring Spann on DVD includes the Newport Jazz Festival (1960), the American Folk Blues Festival (1963), The Blues Masters (1966), and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival (1968).
Death
Spann died of liver cancer in Chicago in 1970. He was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois. Spann's grave laid unmarked for almost thirty years, until Steve Salter (president of the Killer Blues Headstone Project) wrote a letter to Blues Revue magazine to say "This piano great is lying in an unmarked grave. Let's do something about this deplorable situation". Blues enthusiasts from around the world sent donations to purchase Spann a headstone. On June 6, 1999 the marker was unveiled during a private ceremony. The stone reads "Otis played the deepest blues we ever heard - He'll play forever in our hearts".
He was posthumously elected to the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.
Career
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style.
Spann's father was reportedly a pianist called Friday Ford. His mother Josephine Erby was a guitarist who had worked with Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith, and his stepfather Frank Houston Spann was a preacher and musician. One of five children, Spann began playing piano at the age of seven, with some instruction from Friday Ford, Frank Spann, and Little Brother Montgomery.[4] By age 14, he was playing in bands in the Jackson area. Big Maceo Merriweather mentored the young musician after his arrival in Chicago in 1946. Spann performed as a solo act or teamed up with guitarist Morris Pejoe, working a regular spot at the Tic Toc Lounge.[2]
Spann replaced Merriweather as Muddy Waters' piano player in late 1952, and participated in his first recording session with the band on September 24, 1953.[5] He continued to record as a solo artist and session man with other musicians, including Bo Diddley and Howlin' Wolf during his tenure with the group. He stayed with Muddy Waters until 1968.[6]
Spann's work for Chess Records included the 1954 single, "It Must Have Been the Devil" / "Five Spot", with B.B. King and Jody Williams on guitars. During his time at Chess Records he played on many of Chuck Berry's early records. His back up on the studio version of "You Can't Catch Me" is a very good example. In 1956 he recorded two unreleased tracks with Big Walter Horton and Robert Lockwood.[7] He recorded a session with the guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr. and vocalist St. Louis Jimmy in New York on August 23, 1960, which was issued on Otis Spann Is The Blues and Walking The Blues. A 1963 effort with Storyville Records was recorded in Copenhagen. He worked with Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton on Decca Records in the late 1960's and with James Cotton for Prestige in 1964.
The Blues is Where It's At, Spann's 1966 album for ABC-Bluesway, includes artists George "Harmonica" Smith, Muddy Waters, and Sammy Lawhorn. The Bottom of the Blues (1967), featuring Spann's wife, Lucille Jenkins Spann (June 23, 1938 – August 2, 1994),[8] was released on Bluesway. He worked on albums with Buddy Guy, Big Mama Thornton, Peter Green, and Fleetwood Mac during the late 1960s.
Material featuring Spann on DVD includes the Newport Jazz Festival (1960), the American Folk Blues Festival (1963), The Blues Masters (1966), and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival (1968).
Death
Spann died of liver cancer in Chicago in 1970. He was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois. Spann's grave laid unmarked for almost thirty years, until Steve Salter (president of the Killer Blues Headstone Project) wrote a letter to Blues Revue magazine to say "This piano great is lying in an unmarked grave. Let's do something about this deplorable situation". Blues enthusiasts from around the world sent donations to purchase Spann a headstone. On June 6, 1999 the marker was unveiled during a private ceremony. The stone reads "Otis played the deepest blues we ever heard - He'll play forever in our hearts".
He was posthumously elected to the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.
Solomon Burke *21.03.1940
Solomon Burke (* 21. März 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; † 10. Oktober 2010 in Haarlemmermeer, Niederlande) war ein US-amerikanischer Soul- und Rhythm-and-Blues-Sänger, der in den 1960er Jahren den Höhepunkt seiner Popularität erlebte und auch als Komponist von Hits wie Everybody Needs Somebody to Love tätig war.Das älteste von insgesamt sieben Kindern begann schon sehr früh im Chor der Kirche seiner Großmutter zu singen und predigte bereits mit neun Jahren vor der dortigen Gemeinde, wo er als „Wonder Boy Preacher“ bekannt war. Mit zwölf Jahren reiste er in der Umgebung Philadelphias umher und trat als Gospel-Sänger auf. 1954 bekam Burke von seiner Großmutter zu Weihnachten eine Gitarre geschenkt. Als Folge dessen meldete er sich 1955 mit seiner Band, den Cavaliers, bei einer Talentshow an. Dort wurde die Frau eines berühmten Radio-DJs auf Burke aufmerksam und verschaffte ihm im Dezember 1955 einen Plattenvertrag bei Apollo Records in New York City, wo er sowohl geistliche als auch weltliche Musik aufnahm.
Solomon Burke – Got to get you off my mind
Die Platten floppten durchgehend alle, und Apollo konnte Burke nicht bezahlen, weshalb er schon bald nach Philadelphia zurückkehrte, wo er einige Zeit das Beerdigungsinstitut einer Tante leitete. Nach ein paar ebenfalls nicht erfolgreichen Aufnahmen bei Singular Records bekam Burke 1960 schließlich einen Vertrag bei Atlantic Records. Mit dem Country-Hit Just Out of Reach kam er im September 1961 erstmals in die US-Charts. Zwischen dem Aufnahmedatum 6. Dezember 1961 und der Aufnahmesession am 28. August 1964 war Bert Berns als Produzent für Burke zuständig. In diesem Zeitraum erschienen bei Atlantic Records insgesamt 13 Singles, darunter If You Need Me, das bis auf Platz 2 der Rhythm & Blues-Charts vordrang oder das temporeiche Everybody Needs Somebody to Love. Ironischerweise wurde die nächste Single ohne den Produzenten Berns, nämlich das im Februar 1965 veröffentlichte Got to Get You off My Mind, mit einer #1 in den R&B-Charts Burkes größter Hit. Bis 1969 konnte Burke diverse Songs in der Hitparade platzieren, darunter eine weitere Nr. 2 R&B-Platzierung Tonight’s the Night. Burke beeinflusste Sänger wie Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart und Tom Jones. 1965 tourte er erstmals durch Europa, und seine Konzerte waren meist sehr gut besucht.
Solomon Burke (2010)
Nach sieben Jahren bei Atlantic wechselte 1969 Burke zu Bell Records. Es folgten viele weitere Label-Wechsel in den Jahren 1970/71, die Erfolge ließen aber merklich nach. 1972 verschwand Burke endgültig aus den Charts. 1975 verließ er nach einer letzten Veröffentlichung auf Chess Records zunächst das Musikgeschäft vollkommen. Erst neun Jahre später kehrte er in die Musikszene zurück. Er tourte durch Nordamerika und Europa und hatte auch weiterhin viele Fans, trotzdem ernteten seine Veröffentlichungen keine nennenswerten Erfolge mehr.
Nachdem das 1987er Album Love Trap miserable Kritiken erntete, zog sich Burke abermals in seine Gemeinde zurück und veröffentlichte zunächst nicht mehr. Er baute sich ein eigenes Bestattungsunternehmen auf, hat 21 Kinder und wurde schließlich Urgroßvater. 1992 kam er auf die Idee ein Blues-Album aufzunehmen und unterschrieb bei Black Top Records. 1993 erschien das Album Soul of the Blues, das exzellente Kritiken bekam. Im gleichen Jahr erhielt er einen Pioneer Award der R&B Foundation. Für sein Album Live at the House of Blues kam 1994 ein W.-C.-Handy-Award hinzu. 1996 wurde Burkes Biographie von George Nierenberg als Sweet Inspiration verfilmt und 2001 wurde er in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen.[1] 2003 erhielt er den Living Blues Award in den Kategorien Best Live Performer und Most Outstanding Blues Singer.[2]
Im Jahre 2002 veröffentlichte er das von Joe Henry produzierte Album Don’t Give Up on Me, das bei „Fat Possum Records“ erschien. Die Songs stammten u. a. von Van Morrison, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Joe Henry und Nick Lowe.
Like a Fire hieß sein Album von 2008 bei Shout!/Soulfood. Die Songs stammten u. a. von Eric Clapton. Das Album widmete Burke seiner verstorbenen Tochter Michelle. 2010 veröffentlichte er auf E1 noch das Album Nothing’s Impossible, das 2011 den Blues Music Award als bestes Soul Blues Album erhielt. Burke persönlich wurde in diesem Jahr noch als bester Soul Blues Künstler ausgezeichnet.
Am 10. Oktober 2010 starb er mit 70 Jahren wahrscheinlich durch einen Herzinfarkt in einem Flugzeug, kurz nach der Landung der Maschine aus Los Angeles auf dem Flughafen von Amsterdam.[3] Er hinterlässt 21 Kinder und 90 Enkelkinder.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Burke
Solomon Burke (March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American recording artist and vocalist, who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s[2] and a "key transitional figure in the development of soul music from rhythm and blues.[3][4] He had a string of hits including "Cry to Me", "If You Need Me", "Got to Get You Off My Mind", "Down in the Valley" and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love". Burke was referred to as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", "Bishop of Soul" and the "Muhammad Ali of soul".[5][6][1] Due to his minimal chart success in comparison to other soul music greats such as James Brown, Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding, Burke has been described as the genre's "most unfairly overlooked singer" of its golden age.[7] Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler referred to Burke as "the greatest male soul singer of all time".[1][6][8]
Burke's most famous recordings, which spanned five years in the early 1960s, bridged the gap between mainstream R&B and grittier R&B.[9] Burke was "a singer whose smooth, powerful articulation and mingling of sacred and profane themes helped define soul music in the early 1960s."[10] He drew from his roots – gospel, jazz, country and blues – as well as developing his own style at a time when R&B, and rock were both still in their infancy.[11] Described as both "Rabelaisian"[12] and also as a "spiritual enigma,"[13] "perhaps more than any other artist, the ample figure of Solomon Burke symbolized the ways that spirituality and commerce, ecstasy and entertainment, sex and salvation, individualism and brotherhood, could blend in the world of 1960s soul music."[14]
During the 55 years that he performed professionally, Burke released 38 studio albums on at least 17 record labels and had 35 singles that charted in the US, including 26 singles that made the Billboard R&B charts. In 2001, Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a performer. His album Don't Give Up on Me won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 45th Grammy Awards in 2003. By 2005 Burke was credited with selling 17 million albums.[11][15][16] Rolling Stone ranked Burke as no. 89 on its 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time."
Burke's most famous recordings, which spanned five years in the early 1960s, bridged the gap between mainstream R&B and grittier R&B.[9] Burke was "a singer whose smooth, powerful articulation and mingling of sacred and profane themes helped define soul music in the early 1960s."[10] He drew from his roots – gospel, jazz, country and blues – as well as developing his own style at a time when R&B, and rock were both still in their infancy.[11] Described as both "Rabelaisian"[12] and also as a "spiritual enigma,"[13] "perhaps more than any other artist, the ample figure of Solomon Burke symbolized the ways that spirituality and commerce, ecstasy and entertainment, sex and salvation, individualism and brotherhood, could blend in the world of 1960s soul music."[14]
During the 55 years that he performed professionally, Burke released 38 studio albums on at least 17 record labels and had 35 singles that charted in the US, including 26 singles that made the Billboard R&B charts. In 2001, Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a performer. His album Don't Give Up on Me won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 45th Grammy Awards in 2003. By 2005 Burke was credited with selling 17 million albums.[11][15][16] Rolling Stone ranked Burke as no. 89 on its 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time."
Son House *21.03.1902
Son House (eigentlich Eddie James House, Jr.; * 21. März 1902 in Riverton, Mississippi; † 19. Oktober 1988 in Detroit, Michigan) war ein bedeutender Blues-Sänger und -Gitarrist und beeinflusste Blues-Größen wie Robert Johnson und Muddy Waters.
House wurde auf einer Plantage geboren. Bereits als Jugendlicher wandte er sich der Religion zu, mit Anfang Zwanzig war er als baptistischer Pastor aktiv. Den moralischen Anforderungen des Amtes konnte er jedoch nicht gerecht werden, er trank viel und hatte Affären mit Frauen. Anfang der 1920er verbrachte er einige Zeit in Louisiana, kehrte jedoch 1926 nach Mississippi zurück, entdeckte den Blues, erlernte das Gitarrenspiel und spielte in Juke Joints und auf House parties, sein Amt gab er auf. [1]
Clarksdale Moan, Label der einzigen erhaltenen Kopie, wiederentdeckt 2005
1928 erschoss er – ihm zufolge in Notwehr – einen Mann und wurde zu Zwangsarbeit auf der Parchman Farm, dem Staatsgefängnis von Mississippi verurteilt, ein Jahr später jedoch wurde er nach erneuter Prüfung des Falles freigelassen. House zog nach Lula, Mississippi und traf dort auf Charley Patton und Willie Brown, mit denen er bis zu Pattons Tod oft zusammenspielte, Brown wechselte 1930 in seiner Funktion als Sideman von Patton zu House. Im August 1930 fand House auch zum ersten Mal Gelegenheit Aufnahmen zu machen. Die Aufnahmesitzung für Paramount Records galt eigentlich Charley Pattons Vertragsverlängerung, Patton hatte aber nach Aufforderung durch Art Laibley, dem Aufnahmeleiter bei Paramount [2], weitere Musiker mitgebracht, die alle Gelegenheit bekamen, Aufnahmen zu machen. So konnte Son House ebenso aufnehmen wie Willie Brown, Louise Johnson und die Gospelgruppe Delta Big Four. House nahm acht Stücke auf, alle acht Stücke wurden auch veröffentlicht, nur wenige Exemplare der Platten überlebten jedoch. Das einzige existierende Exemplar von „Mississippi County Farm Blues“/„Clarksdale Moan“, der letzten noch unbekannten von Houses Aufnahmen für Paramount, die lange als "Heiliger Gral" des Blues galt [3], wurde erst nach 75 Jahren im September 2005 wiederentdeckt und 2006 wiederveröffentlicht. [1]
1934, nach dem Tod von Charley Patton, ehelichte er noch im selben Jahr dessen Witwe Bertha Lee, mit der er bis zu ihrem Tod in den 50er Jahren zusammenlebte. 1941 und 1942 nahm ihn Alan Lomax noch einmal für die Library of Congress auf. 1943 siedelte House nach Rochester, New York um und zog sich vom Blues zurück. [1]
Nachdem er im Juni 1964 von Dick Waterman, Nick Perls und Phil Spiro wiederentdeckt worden war, half ihm Alan Wilson dabei, sich das Repertoire an Songs, das er in den 1930ern und Anfang der 1940er Jahre gespielt und aufgenommen, inzwischen aber vergessen hatte, neu zu erarbeiten.[4] Er trat 1965 beim Newport Folk Festival und 1967 in Europa beim American Folk Blues Festival auf. Er ging in den USA und Europa auf Tour und machte ab 1965 wieder Aufnahmen, zuerst für Columbia/CBS. Als einer der wenigen noch lebenden bedeutenden Musiker des Vorkriegsblues war er auch ein wichtiger Zeitzeuge und wurde vielfach interviewt. 1969 war er Gegenstand eines Dokumentarfilms ("Son House"). [1]
Aus gesundheitlichen Gründen trat Son House seit 1971 nicht mehr auf. 1980 wurde Son House in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen, 1997 in die legendäre Wireliste The Wire’s “100 Records That Set The World On Fire (While No One Was Listening)”. Er starb 1988 in Detroit, wo er seit 1976 lebte.[1]
Werk
Son House spielte mit so bekannten Musikern wie Charley Patton, Willie Brown, Robert Johnson, Fiddlin’ Joe Martin und Leroy Williams. [1]
Son House war kein Virtuose auf der Gitarre, sein Spiel war rhythmisch, kraftvoll und gelegentlich aggressiv. Ergänzt wurde dies durch seinen leidenschaftlichen, kraftvollen und innovativen Vortragsstil. Seine religiöse Haltung fand auch Ausdruck in seinen Texten („Preachin’ the Blues“, „Judgement Day“, „John the Revelator“, „I Want to Live So God Can Use Me“).
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_House
Son House "Death Letter Blues"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdgrQoZHnNY
Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. (March 21, 1902[1] – October 19, 1988) was an American blues singer and guitarist, noted for his highly emotional style of singing and slide guitar playing.
After years of hostility to secular music, as a preacher, and for a few years also as a church pastor, he turned to blues performance at the age of 25. He quickly developed a unique style by applying the rhythmic drive, vocal power and emotional intensity of his preaching to the newly learned idiom. In a short career interrupted by a spell in Parchman Farm penitentiary, he developed to the point that Charley Patton, the foremost blues artist of the Mississippi Delta region, invited him to share engagements, and to accompany him to a 1930 recording session for Paramount Records.
Issued at the start of The Great Depression, the records did not sell and did not lead to national recognition. Locally, Son remained popular, and in the 1930s, together with Patton's associate, Willie Brown, he was the leading musician of Coahoma County. There he was a formative influence on Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. In 1941 and 1942, House and the members of his band were recorded by Alan Lomax and John W. Work for Library of Congress and Fisk University. The following year, he left the Delta for Rochester, New York, and gave up music.
In 1964, a group of young record collectors discovered House, whom they knew of from his records issued by Paramount and by the Library of Congress. With their encouragement, he relearned his style and repertoire and enjoyed a career as an entertainer to young white audiences in the coffee houses, folk festivals and concert tours of the American folk music revival billed as a "folk blues" singer. He recorded several albums, and some informally taped concerts have also been issued as albums. Son House died in 1988.[3]
In addition to his early influence on Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, he became an inspiration to John Hammond, Alan Wilson (of Canned Heat), Bonnie Raitt, The White Stripes, Dallas Green and John Mooney.
Biography
Early life
Mississippi State Penitentiary, where Son House was confined
The middle of three brothers, House was born in the hamlet of Lyon, north of Clarksdale, Mississippi[4] and continued to live in the rural Mississippi Delta until his parents separated. His father, Eddie House, Sr., was a musician, playing the tuba in a band with his many brothers, and sometimes playing guitar. He was a church member, but also a drinker. This caused him to leave the church for a time, before giving up drink and becoming a deacon. Young Eddie House adopted the family concern with religion and churchgoing. He also absorbed the family love of music, but confined himself to singing, showing no interest in the family instrumental band, and feeling entirely hostile to the Blues on religious grounds.[5]
Son's parents separated when he was about seven or eight. His mother took him to Tallulah, Louisiana, across the Mississippi River from Vicksburg, Mississippi. When Son was in his early teens, they moved to Algiers, New Orleans. Recalling these years, Son would later speak of his hatred of blues and his passion for churchgoing (he described himself as "churchy" and "churchified"). At fifteen, probably while living in Algiers, he began preaching sermons.[6]
At the age of nineteen, while living in the Delta, he married an older woman from New Orleans named Carrie Martin. This was a significant step for House; he married in church and against family opposition. The couple moved to her hometown of Centreville, Louisiana to help run Carrie's father's farm. After a couple of years, feeling used and disillusioned, House recalls "I left her hanging on the gatepost, with her father tellin' me to come back so we could plow some more." In later years, House was still angry and said of Carrie "She wasn't nothin' but one of them New Orleans whores". At around the same time, probably 1922, Son's mother died.[7]
House's resentment of farming extended to the many menial jobs he took in his young adult years. He moved around frequently, on one occasion taking off to East Saint Louis to work in a steel plant. The one job he enjoyed was on a Louisiana horse ranch, which later he celebrated by wearing a cowboy hat in his performances.[8] He found some relief from constant manual labor when, following a conversion experience "getting religion" in his early twenties, he was accepted as a paid pastor, first in the Baptist Church, then in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. However, like his father before him, he fell into habits which conflicted with his calling — drinking like his father, and probably also womanizing. This led him after several years of conflict to "leave the church" — i.e. cease his full-time commitment — although he still felt the need to preach sermons from time to time.[9]
Blues performer
In 1927 at the age of 25, House underwent a change of musical perspective as rapid and dramatic as a religious conversion. In a hamlet south of Clarksdale, Son heard one of his drinking companions, either James McCoy or Willie Wilson (his recollections differed), playing bottleneck guitar, a style he had never heard before. He immediately changed his attitude to blues, bought a guitar from a musician called Frank Hoskins, and within weeks was playing with Hoskins, McCoy and Wilson. Two songs he learned from McCoy would later be among his best-known: "My Black Mama" and "Preachin' The Blues". Another source of inspiration was Reuben Lacy, a much better known performer who had recorded for Columbia Records in 1927 (no titles released) and for Paramount Records in 1928 (two titles released). In an astonishing short time, with only these four musicians as models, House developed to professional standard a blues style based on his religious singing and simple bottleneck guitar style.[10]
After allegedly killing a man in self-defense, he spent time in prison in 1928 and 1929. The official story on the killing is that sometime around 1927 or 1928, he was playing in a juke joint when a man went on a shooting spree. Son was wounded in the leg, and shot the man dead. He received a 15-year sentence at the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman Farm), of which he served two years.[11] House credited his re-examination and release to an appeal by his family, but also spoke of the intervention by the influential white planter for whom they worked.[12] The date of the killing and the duration of his sentence are unclear. House gave different accounts to different interviewers and searches by his biographer Daniel Beaumont found no details in the court records of Coahoma County or in the archive of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.[13]
On his release in 1929 or early 1930, Son was strongly advised to leave Clarksdale and stay away. He walked to Jonestown and caught a train to the small town of Lula, Mississippi, sixteen miles north of Clarksdale, and eight miles from the blues hub of Helena, Arkansas. Coincidentally, the great star of Delta Blues, Charley Patton, was also in virtual exile in Lula, having been expelled from his base in the Dockery Plantation. With his partner Willie Brown, Patton dominated the local market for professional blues performance. Patton watched House busking when he arrived penniless at Lula station, but did not approach him. He then observed Son's showmanship attracting a crowd to the café and bootleg whiskey business of a woman called Sara Knight, and invited him to be a regular musical partner with him and Brown. Son formed a liaison with Knight, and both musicians profited from association with her bootlegging activities.[14] The musical partnership is disputed by Patton's biographers Stephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow. They consider that House's musicianship was too limited to play with Patton and Brown, who were also rumoured to be estranged at the time. They also cite one statement by House that he did not play for dances in Lula.[15] Beaumont concludes that Son became a firm friend of Patton, traveling with him to gigs but playing separately.[16]
Recording
In 1930, Art Laibly of Paramount Records traveled to Lula to convince Patton to record several more sides in Grafton, Wisconsin. Along with Patton came House, Brown, and pianist Louise Johnson, who would all end up recording sides for the label. House recorded nine songs during that session, eight of which were released; but these were commercial failures, and House would not record again commercially for 35 years. House continued to play with Patton and Brown, even after Patton's death in 1934. During this time, House worked as a tractor driver for various plantations around the Lake Cormorant area.
Alan Lomax first recorded House for the Library of Congress in 1941. Willie Brown, mandolin player Fiddlin' Joe Martin, and harmonica player Leroy Williams played with House on these recordings. Lomax returned to the area in 1942, where he recorded House once more. He then faded from the public view, moving to Rochester, New York, in 1943, working as a railroad porter for the New York Central Railroad and as a chef.[11]
Rediscovery
In 1964, after a long search of the Mississippi Delta region by Nick Perls, Dick Waterman and Phil Spiro, he ended up being "rediscovered" in Rochester, NY. House had been retired from the music business for many years, and was unaware of the 1960s folk blues revival and international enthusiasm regarding his early recordings.
He subsequently toured extensively in the US and Europe and recorded for CBS Records. Like Mississippi John Hurt, he was welcomed into the music scene of the 1960s and played at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, the New York Folk Festival in July 1965,[17] and the October 1967 European tour of the American Folk Festival along with Skip James and Bukka White.
The young guitarist Alan Wilson (Canned Heat) was a fan of Son House. The producer John Hammond Sr asked Wilson, who was just 22 years old, to teach "Son House how to play like Son House," because Alan Wilson had such a good knowledge of the blues styles. The album The Father of Delta Blues - The Complete 1965 Sessions was the result.[18] Son House played with Alan Wilson live. It can be heard on the album John the Revelator: The 1970 London Sessions.
In the summer of 1970, House toured Europe once again, including an appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival; a recording of his London concerts was released by Liberty Records. He also played at the two Days of Blues Festival in Toronto in 1974. On an appearance on the TV arts show Camera Three, he was accompanied by blues guitarist Buddy Guy.
Ill health plagued House's later years and in 1974 he retired once again, and later moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he remained until his death from cancer of the larynx. He was buried at the Mt. Hazel Cemetery. Members of the Detroit Blues Society raised money through benefit concerts to put a monument on his grave. He had been married five times.
After years of hostility to secular music, as a preacher, and for a few years also as a church pastor, he turned to blues performance at the age of 25. He quickly developed a unique style by applying the rhythmic drive, vocal power and emotional intensity of his preaching to the newly learned idiom. In a short career interrupted by a spell in Parchman Farm penitentiary, he developed to the point that Charley Patton, the foremost blues artist of the Mississippi Delta region, invited him to share engagements, and to accompany him to a 1930 recording session for Paramount Records.
Issued at the start of The Great Depression, the records did not sell and did not lead to national recognition. Locally, Son remained popular, and in the 1930s, together with Patton's associate, Willie Brown, he was the leading musician of Coahoma County. There he was a formative influence on Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. In 1941 and 1942, House and the members of his band were recorded by Alan Lomax and John W. Work for Library of Congress and Fisk University. The following year, he left the Delta for Rochester, New York, and gave up music.
In 1964, a group of young record collectors discovered House, whom they knew of from his records issued by Paramount and by the Library of Congress. With their encouragement, he relearned his style and repertoire and enjoyed a career as an entertainer to young white audiences in the coffee houses, folk festivals and concert tours of the American folk music revival billed as a "folk blues" singer. He recorded several albums, and some informally taped concerts have also been issued as albums. Son House died in 1988.[3]
In addition to his early influence on Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, he became an inspiration to John Hammond, Alan Wilson (of Canned Heat), Bonnie Raitt, The White Stripes, Dallas Green and John Mooney.
Biography
Early life
Mississippi State Penitentiary, where Son House was confined
The middle of three brothers, House was born in the hamlet of Lyon, north of Clarksdale, Mississippi[4] and continued to live in the rural Mississippi Delta until his parents separated. His father, Eddie House, Sr., was a musician, playing the tuba in a band with his many brothers, and sometimes playing guitar. He was a church member, but also a drinker. This caused him to leave the church for a time, before giving up drink and becoming a deacon. Young Eddie House adopted the family concern with religion and churchgoing. He also absorbed the family love of music, but confined himself to singing, showing no interest in the family instrumental band, and feeling entirely hostile to the Blues on religious grounds.[5]
Son's parents separated when he was about seven or eight. His mother took him to Tallulah, Louisiana, across the Mississippi River from Vicksburg, Mississippi. When Son was in his early teens, they moved to Algiers, New Orleans. Recalling these years, Son would later speak of his hatred of blues and his passion for churchgoing (he described himself as "churchy" and "churchified"). At fifteen, probably while living in Algiers, he began preaching sermons.[6]
At the age of nineteen, while living in the Delta, he married an older woman from New Orleans named Carrie Martin. This was a significant step for House; he married in church and against family opposition. The couple moved to her hometown of Centreville, Louisiana to help run Carrie's father's farm. After a couple of years, feeling used and disillusioned, House recalls "I left her hanging on the gatepost, with her father tellin' me to come back so we could plow some more." In later years, House was still angry and said of Carrie "She wasn't nothin' but one of them New Orleans whores". At around the same time, probably 1922, Son's mother died.[7]
House's resentment of farming extended to the many menial jobs he took in his young adult years. He moved around frequently, on one occasion taking off to East Saint Louis to work in a steel plant. The one job he enjoyed was on a Louisiana horse ranch, which later he celebrated by wearing a cowboy hat in his performances.[8] He found some relief from constant manual labor when, following a conversion experience "getting religion" in his early twenties, he was accepted as a paid pastor, first in the Baptist Church, then in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. However, like his father before him, he fell into habits which conflicted with his calling — drinking like his father, and probably also womanizing. This led him after several years of conflict to "leave the church" — i.e. cease his full-time commitment — although he still felt the need to preach sermons from time to time.[9]
Blues performer
In 1927 at the age of 25, House underwent a change of musical perspective as rapid and dramatic as a religious conversion. In a hamlet south of Clarksdale, Son heard one of his drinking companions, either James McCoy or Willie Wilson (his recollections differed), playing bottleneck guitar, a style he had never heard before. He immediately changed his attitude to blues, bought a guitar from a musician called Frank Hoskins, and within weeks was playing with Hoskins, McCoy and Wilson. Two songs he learned from McCoy would later be among his best-known: "My Black Mama" and "Preachin' The Blues". Another source of inspiration was Reuben Lacy, a much better known performer who had recorded for Columbia Records in 1927 (no titles released) and for Paramount Records in 1928 (two titles released). In an astonishing short time, with only these four musicians as models, House developed to professional standard a blues style based on his religious singing and simple bottleneck guitar style.[10]
After allegedly killing a man in self-defense, he spent time in prison in 1928 and 1929. The official story on the killing is that sometime around 1927 or 1928, he was playing in a juke joint when a man went on a shooting spree. Son was wounded in the leg, and shot the man dead. He received a 15-year sentence at the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman Farm), of which he served two years.[11] House credited his re-examination and release to an appeal by his family, but also spoke of the intervention by the influential white planter for whom they worked.[12] The date of the killing and the duration of his sentence are unclear. House gave different accounts to different interviewers and searches by his biographer Daniel Beaumont found no details in the court records of Coahoma County or in the archive of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.[13]
On his release in 1929 or early 1930, Son was strongly advised to leave Clarksdale and stay away. He walked to Jonestown and caught a train to the small town of Lula, Mississippi, sixteen miles north of Clarksdale, and eight miles from the blues hub of Helena, Arkansas. Coincidentally, the great star of Delta Blues, Charley Patton, was also in virtual exile in Lula, having been expelled from his base in the Dockery Plantation. With his partner Willie Brown, Patton dominated the local market for professional blues performance. Patton watched House busking when he arrived penniless at Lula station, but did not approach him. He then observed Son's showmanship attracting a crowd to the café and bootleg whiskey business of a woman called Sara Knight, and invited him to be a regular musical partner with him and Brown. Son formed a liaison with Knight, and both musicians profited from association with her bootlegging activities.[14] The musical partnership is disputed by Patton's biographers Stephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow. They consider that House's musicianship was too limited to play with Patton and Brown, who were also rumoured to be estranged at the time. They also cite one statement by House that he did not play for dances in Lula.[15] Beaumont concludes that Son became a firm friend of Patton, traveling with him to gigs but playing separately.[16]
Recording
In 1930, Art Laibly of Paramount Records traveled to Lula to convince Patton to record several more sides in Grafton, Wisconsin. Along with Patton came House, Brown, and pianist Louise Johnson, who would all end up recording sides for the label. House recorded nine songs during that session, eight of which were released; but these were commercial failures, and House would not record again commercially for 35 years. House continued to play with Patton and Brown, even after Patton's death in 1934. During this time, House worked as a tractor driver for various plantations around the Lake Cormorant area.
Alan Lomax first recorded House for the Library of Congress in 1941. Willie Brown, mandolin player Fiddlin' Joe Martin, and harmonica player Leroy Williams played with House on these recordings. Lomax returned to the area in 1942, where he recorded House once more. He then faded from the public view, moving to Rochester, New York, in 1943, working as a railroad porter for the New York Central Railroad and as a chef.[11]
Rediscovery
In 1964, after a long search of the Mississippi Delta region by Nick Perls, Dick Waterman and Phil Spiro, he ended up being "rediscovered" in Rochester, NY. House had been retired from the music business for many years, and was unaware of the 1960s folk blues revival and international enthusiasm regarding his early recordings.
He subsequently toured extensively in the US and Europe and recorded for CBS Records. Like Mississippi John Hurt, he was welcomed into the music scene of the 1960s and played at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, the New York Folk Festival in July 1965,[17] and the October 1967 European tour of the American Folk Festival along with Skip James and Bukka White.
The young guitarist Alan Wilson (Canned Heat) was a fan of Son House. The producer John Hammond Sr asked Wilson, who was just 22 years old, to teach "Son House how to play like Son House," because Alan Wilson had such a good knowledge of the blues styles. The album The Father of Delta Blues - The Complete 1965 Sessions was the result.[18] Son House played with Alan Wilson live. It can be heard on the album John the Revelator: The 1970 London Sessions.
In the summer of 1970, House toured Europe once again, including an appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival; a recording of his London concerts was released by Liberty Records. He also played at the two Days of Blues Festival in Toronto in 1974. On an appearance on the TV arts show Camera Three, he was accompanied by blues guitarist Buddy Guy.
Ill health plagued House's later years and in 1974 he retired once again, and later moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he remained until his death from cancer of the larynx. He was buried at the Mt. Hazel Cemetery. Members of the Detroit Blues Society raised money through benefit concerts to put a monument on his grave. He had been married five times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdgrQoZHnNY
William Clarke *21.03.1951
William Clarke (* 21. März 1951 in Inglewood, Kalifornien; † 3. November 1996 in Fresno, Kalifornien) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluesmundharmonikaspieler.Als Jugendlicher spielte Clarke Gitarre und Schlagzeug, wechselte aber 1967 zur Mundharmonika. Seine ersten Einflüsse waren Big Walter Horton, James Cotton, Junior Wells und Sonny Boy Williamson II. Schon mit 18 Jahren begann er in lokalen Clubs in South-Central Los Angeles zu spielen, zuerst mit Smokey Wilson und Shakey Jake Harris, mit denen er auch seinen ersten Aufnahmen machte. Ab 1977 lernte er bei seinem großen Vorbild George „Harmonica“ Smith alle Spielweisen der Chromatischen und Diatonischen Harmonika zu spielen, hieraus entstand eine Freundschaft und Zusammenarbeit, die bis zum Tod (2. Oktober 1983) von George Smith anhielt.
1978 nahm er sein erstes Album "Hittin' Heavy" bei Good Time Records (GT 1003) auf. 1987 wurde er für sein Album Tip of the Top für den W. C. Handy Award nominiert, danach unterschrieb er bei Alligator Records in Chicago. Aus dieser Zusammenarbeit entstanden bis zu seinem Tod vier Alben, die ihn auch über die Grenzen von Kalifornien hinaus bekannt machten.
Clarke tourte 1996 ausgiebig, nach einem Konzert im März brach er auf der Bühne zusammen. Es wurde bei ihm eine kongestive Herzinsuffizienz (verstopfte Herzgefäße) festgestellt. William Clarke sagte in einem Interview, dass dieser Anlass für ihn wie ein Weckruf gewesen sei. Er reduzierte sein Gewicht, indem er eine strenge Diät einhielt, bis zu seinem Tod hatte er 27 kg abgenommen und er schränkte seinen Alkoholkonsum ein. Am 12. Oktober stand er in Indianapolis auf der Bühne des Slippery Noodle; dieses Konzert wurde aufgenommen und 2010 als Doppel-Album veröffentlicht. Am 2. November 1996 stand er in Fresno auf der Bühne und brach nach dem Konzert zusammen. Er wurde in eine Klinik eingeliefert, wo die Ärzte ein blutendes Magengeschwür feststellen mussten; in der Nacht verstarb er.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Clarke_%28Musiker%29
William Clarke (March 21, 1951 - November 3, 1996) was an American blues harmonica player. He was chiefly associated with the Chicago blues style of amplified harmonica, but also incorporated elements of soul jazz and swing into his playing.
Biography
Born in Inglewood, California, United States, Clarke played guitar and drums as a youngster and learned the blues through The Rolling Stones records. He began playing harmonica in 1967 and played locally in Los Angeles, while he held a day job as a machinist. He soon struck up an association with George "Harmonica" Smith; the pair began playing regularly together in 1977, lasting until Smith died in 1983.[1]
Clarke began releasing albums in 1978 on small local record labels. From 1985 to 1988, Rick Holmstrom toured and played with Clarke.[2] In 1987, Clarke was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award for his record Tip of the Top, and after sending a demo tape to Alligator Records, he secured a national recording contract. His debut for Alligator, Blowin' Like Hell, arrived in 1990, and he followed the release with international touring. "Must Be Jelly", a song from the album, won the Handy Award for Blues Song of the Year.
Clarke was touring in March 1996 when he collapsed on stage at a date in Indianapolis. He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. William Clarke died of a bleeding ulcer, at the age of 45, the following day.
Biography
Born in Inglewood, California, United States, Clarke played guitar and drums as a youngster and learned the blues through The Rolling Stones records. He began playing harmonica in 1967 and played locally in Los Angeles, while he held a day job as a machinist. He soon struck up an association with George "Harmonica" Smith; the pair began playing regularly together in 1977, lasting until Smith died in 1983.[1]
Clarke began releasing albums in 1978 on small local record labels. From 1985 to 1988, Rick Holmstrom toured and played with Clarke.[2] In 1987, Clarke was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award for his record Tip of the Top, and after sending a demo tape to Alligator Records, he secured a national recording contract. His debut for Alligator, Blowin' Like Hell, arrived in 1990, and he followed the release with international touring. "Must Be Jelly", a song from the album, won the Handy Award for Blues Song of the Year.
Clarke was touring in March 1996 when he collapsed on stage at a date in Indianapolis. He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. William Clarke died of a bleeding ulcer, at the age of 45, the following day.
William Clarke live in Germany
Otis Smokey Smothers *21.03.1929
Otis „Big Smokey“ Smothers (* 21. März 1929 in Lexington, Mississippi; † 23. Juli 1993 in Chicago, Illinois) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Gitarrist und -Sänger.
Als Howlin' Wolf Smothers 1956/57 als Rhythmus-Gitarrist ins Studio holte, hatte Smothers bereits eine etwa zehnjährige Erfahrung als Bluesmusiker hinter sich. Mit Howlin' Wolf nahm er während dieser Zeit Songs wie Who's Been Talking und Tell Me. 1960 arbeitete Smothers mit Freddy King zusammen und bekam einen Plattenvertrag bei Federal Records, wo er auch einige Solo-Aufnahmen machte. So veröffentlichte er 1961 sein Debüt-Album Sings the Backporch Blues.
Außer einer Single (I Got My Eyes on You 1968) hörte man nun lange Zeit nichts mehr von Smothers, bis 1987 auf Red Beans Records die LP Got My Eyes on You erschien. Am 23. Juli 1993 verstarb Smokey Smothers in Chicago.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Smothers
Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers (March 21, 1929 – July 23, 1993)[1] was an African American, Chicago blues guitarist and singer. He was once a member of Howlin' Wolf's backing band, and worked variously with Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Bo Diddley, Ike Turner, J. T. Brown, Freddie King, Little Johnny Jones, Little Walter, and Willie Dixon.[2][3] His younger brother, Abe (born Albert, January 2, 1939), became known as the bluesman Little Smokey Smothers, with whom he is sometimes confused.[2]
Biography
Smothers was born in Lexington, Mississippi, and was taught by his aunt to play both harmonica and guitar. Smothers relocated to Chicago in 1946, and his debut stage performance occurred with Johnny Williams and Johnny "Man" Young. In the early part of the 1950s, Smothers played alongside his own cousin Lester Davenport, plus Arthur "Big Boy" Spires, Earl Hooker, Henry Strong, and Bo Diddley.[2]
In 1956 and 1957, Howlin' Wolf invited Smothers to play as his rhythm guitarist on several Chess tracks, including "Who's Been Talking," "Tell Me," "Change My Way," "Goin' Back Home," "The Natchez Burning," and "I Asked For Water." Smothers secured a recording contract with Federal Records in August 1960. With Sonny Thompson as his record producer, and Freddie King on lead guitar, Smothers saw the resultant album, Smokey Smothers Sings the Backporch Blues released in 1962. Another four track session followed, including "Twist With Me Annie", a reworked version of "Work with Me, Annie." As a part-time member of Muddy Waters' backing band, Smothers also cut "I Got My Eyes on You," in 1968.[1][2]
Smothers help to form the Muddy Waters Junior Band in the late 1950s, as tribute to Muddy Waters. While Muddy Waters was on the road, Smothers and company would hold down Muddy's regular residency gigs in Chicago, performing Muddy's material and serving as a training ground for potential future members of Waters' own band, which both he and fellow 'Junior' band member George "Mojo" Buford eventually joined.
The 1970s were a lean time for Smothers, but he finally returned to recording in 1986, when Red Beans Records issued his album, Got My Eyes On You. His backing band were billed as The Ice Cream Men, a nod to Smothers working as an ice cream vendor back in the 1950s.[2]
Smothers wrote songs for Muddy Waters, and has a catalogue of songs to his credit including his, "I've Been Drinking Muddy Water",[4] "Ain't Gon Be No Monkey Man", and "Can't Judge Nobody."
Latterly suffering from heart disease, Smothers died in Chicago at the age of 64, in July 1993.[3][5]
A daughter is currently in process of bringing the brothers, Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers and younger brother Abe "Little Smokey" Smothers, life story to the big screen.[citation needed] Smothers is survived by wife, Earline Smothers, his sons, daughters, five brothers and sisters, and extended family.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_%22Big_Smokey%22_SmothersBiography
Smothers was born in Lexington, Mississippi, and was taught by his aunt to play both harmonica and guitar. Smothers relocated to Chicago in 1946, and his debut stage performance occurred with Johnny Williams and Johnny "Man" Young. In the early part of the 1950s, Smothers played alongside his own cousin Lester Davenport, plus Arthur "Big Boy" Spires, Earl Hooker, Henry Strong, and Bo Diddley.[2]
In 1956 and 1957, Howlin' Wolf invited Smothers to play as his rhythm guitarist on several Chess tracks, including "Who's Been Talking," "Tell Me," "Change My Way," "Goin' Back Home," "The Natchez Burning," and "I Asked For Water." Smothers secured a recording contract with Federal Records in August 1960. With Sonny Thompson as his record producer, and Freddie King on lead guitar, Smothers saw the resultant album, Smokey Smothers Sings the Backporch Blues released in 1962. Another four track session followed, including "Twist With Me Annie", a reworked version of "Work with Me, Annie." As a part-time member of Muddy Waters' backing band, Smothers also cut "I Got My Eyes on You," in 1968.[1][2]
Smothers help to form the Muddy Waters Junior Band in the late 1950s, as tribute to Muddy Waters. While Muddy Waters was on the road, Smothers and company would hold down Muddy's regular residency gigs in Chicago, performing Muddy's material and serving as a training ground for potential future members of Waters' own band, which both he and fellow 'Junior' band member George "Mojo" Buford eventually joined.
The 1970s were a lean time for Smothers, but he finally returned to recording in 1986, when Red Beans Records issued his album, Got My Eyes On You. His backing band were billed as The Ice Cream Men, a nod to Smothers working as an ice cream vendor back in the 1950s.[2]
Smothers wrote songs for Muddy Waters, and has a catalogue of songs to his credit including his, "I've Been Drinking Muddy Water",[4] "Ain't Gon Be No Monkey Man", and "Can't Judge Nobody."
Latterly suffering from heart disease, Smothers died in Chicago at the age of 64, in July 1993.[3][5]
A daughter is currently in process of bringing the brothers, Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers and younger brother Abe "Little Smokey" Smothers, life story to the big screen.[citation needed] Smothers is survived by wife, Earline Smothers, his sons, daughters, five brothers and sisters, and extended family.
Otis'Big Smokey'Smothers ~ ''Sad Sad Day''&''Do The Thing''(Modern Electric Chicago Blues 1984)
Amina Claudine Myers *21.03.1943
Amina Claudine Myers (* 21. März 1943[1] in Blackwell, Arkansas) ist eine US-amerikanische Jazzmusikerin (Pianistin, Organistin und Sängerin).Myers wuchs in einem von Gospel und Rhythm 'n' Blues geprägten Umfeld in Texas auf, hörte aber als Heranwachsende auch europäische Musik, wie beispielsweise Mozarts Requiem. Sie sang in Gospelchören und begann mit sieben Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. In der Mitte der 1960er zog sie als Schullehrerin nach Chicago, wo sie mit Gene Ammons und Sonny Stitt spielte, dann aber der Musikervereinigung Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians beitrat. Heute gilt Myers als eine wichtige Vertreterin der AACM. Mit Saxophonist Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre nahm Amina 1969 ihr erstes Jazzalbum auf. 1976 übersiedelte sie nach New York City und nahm dort mit Lester Bowie (African Children, 1978) und Muhal Richard Abrams (Duet, 1981) auf und gründete eigene Gruppen. Anfang der 1980er lebte sie für einige Jahre in Europa. 1985 spielte sie in Charlie Hadens Liberation Music Orchestra. Seit den 1990ern ist sie häufiger im Umfeld von Bill Laswell zu hören. In Lester Bowies Organ Ensemble erfand sie eigenwillige Kombinationen aus traditioneller afro-amerikanischer Musik und freiem Jazz. Sie arbeitete aber auch mit Marian McPartland, dem Art Ensemble of Chicago, Archie Shepp, David Murray, Arthur Blythe, Frank Lowe, Jeanne Lee, Leroy Jenkins, Jim Pepper und Ray Anderson.
Myers verfasste ein zeitgenössisches Musical, mehrere größere Kompositionen für verschiedene Ensembles, wirkte an der Off-Broadway-Musicalproduktion Ain’t Misbehavin' mit und trat auch als Schauspielerin in Erscheinung. Die Wurzeln ihrer Musik liegen bis heute im Gospel, Spiritual und Blues. Myers stellt diese Elemente nicht einfach nebeneinander, sondern lässt sie mit unterschiedlicher Gewichtung ineinander fließen. Als Sängerin besticht sie mit ihrer signifikanten vollen Stimme, die erdigen Blues gut zur Geltung bringt.
Amina Claudine Myers (born March 21, 1942) in Blackwell, Arkansas; (a small community on US 64 in western Conway County) is an American jazz pianist, organist, vocalist, composer, and musical arranger.[1]
Biography
Myers started singing and playing the piano and organ as a child in church choirs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas, where she grew up, and directed choirs at an early age. She graduated in concert music and music education at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas in the early 1960s. After graduation, Myers moved to Chicago where she taught music, attended classes at Roosevelt University and worked with musicians such as Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons. In 1966 she joined the AACM in Chicago, focusing on vocal compositions and arrangements, and recording her first jazz album with Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre in 1969.
In 1976 Myers relocated to New York City, where she intensified her compositional work and expanded it into the realm of Off-Broadway productions. She also continued performing and recording as a pianist and organist. In 1985 she joined Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. Notable collaborations also include recordings with Bill Laswell, Marian McPartland, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Archie Shepp, David Murray, Arthur Blythe, Frank Lowe, Leroy Jenkins, Jim Pepper and Ray Anderson.
Biography
Myers started singing and playing the piano and organ as a child in church choirs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas, where she grew up, and directed choirs at an early age. She graduated in concert music and music education at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas in the early 1960s. After graduation, Myers moved to Chicago where she taught music, attended classes at Roosevelt University and worked with musicians such as Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons. In 1966 she joined the AACM in Chicago, focusing on vocal compositions and arrangements, and recording her first jazz album with Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre in 1969.
In 1976 Myers relocated to New York City, where she intensified her compositional work and expanded it into the realm of Off-Broadway productions. She also continued performing and recording as a pianist and organist. In 1985 she joined Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. Notable collaborations also include recordings with Bill Laswell, Marian McPartland, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Archie Shepp, David Murray, Arthur Blythe, Frank Lowe, Leroy Jenkins, Jim Pepper and Ray Anderson.
Pete Mayes *21.03.1938
Bereits am 16. Dezember 2008 ist der texanische Gitarrist Pete Mayes im Alter von 70 Jahren verstorben. Mayes war beeinflusst von T-Bone Walkers Gitarrenspiel und arbeitete als Bandleader für Junior Parker ("Mystery Train"). Als Solist wurde er während seiner Karriere aber nur äußerst selten aufgenommen. Lediglich "For Petes Sake" (1998 erschienen) und "Live At The Double Bayou Dance Hall" stehen neben einigen Singles aus den 60er Jahren in seiner Discografie. Mayes starb an den Folgen seiner Diabetes.
Pete Mayes (March 21, 1938 – December 16, 2008)[1] was an American Texas blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. He was variously known as Texas Pete Mayes and T-Bone Man; the latter a reference to his guitar playing resembling his hero, T-Bone Walker.
Mayes' made few recordings but For Pete's Sake was released in 1998, nearly fifty years after Mayes first appeared on stage. It was his most widely distributed recording, and won the Blues Foundation's W.C. Handy Award for 'comeback album of the year'.
Floyd Davis Mayes was born and raised in Double Bayou, Texas. The town was home to a dance hall, which played a significant part in Mayes' life.[3] As a child he learned with a cheap guitar without a full set of strings and practiced for hours each day. Mayes was aged 16 when T-Bone Walker invited him on stage to perform.[2]
In the early 1950s, Mayes played with various bands at his local dance hall. After several years he led his own group, opening the show for touring musicians.[3] While in the United States Army, Mayes worked with The Contrasts, which comprised three white and three black musicians.[2] Mayes learned from watching T-Bone Walker and Gatemouth Brown, and he later cited Walker, B.B. King, Kenny Burrell, plus Lowell Fulson as major influences.[3]
In 1960 Mayes relocated to Houston, and during the following decade he played with Fulson, Big Joe Turner, Percy Mayfield, Bill Doggett, and Junior Parker. Mayes also toured with the jazz musicians, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie.[3] Unable to make a living as a full-time musician, Mayes worked as a ranch hand and then as a painter for the Houston Independent School District. He retired from the latter job with disability pay.[2][3]
Mayes did perform whenever possible. He undertook tours in the 1970s and played frequently in the 1990s, even though his health had started to fail.[2] In 1983, he inherited from an uncle ownership of his local dance hall.[3] In 1986, Double Trouble Records of the Netherlands issued Texas Guitar Master, which included a live 'Battle of the Guitars' with Joe "Guitar" Hughes.[4] In 1996, Mayes appeared on the bill of the Long Beach Blues Festival.
By the time For Pete's Sake was released (1998), Mayes was still actively managing the Double Bayou dance hall. Following years of ill health, which included heart problems, diabetes and the amputation of both legs, Mayes died in Houston in December 2008, aged 70.[2]
Mayes was survived by his wife, son and a brother.[2]
Mayes' made few recordings but For Pete's Sake was released in 1998, nearly fifty years after Mayes first appeared on stage. It was his most widely distributed recording, and won the Blues Foundation's W.C. Handy Award for 'comeback album of the year'.
Floyd Davis Mayes was born and raised in Double Bayou, Texas. The town was home to a dance hall, which played a significant part in Mayes' life.[3] As a child he learned with a cheap guitar without a full set of strings and practiced for hours each day. Mayes was aged 16 when T-Bone Walker invited him on stage to perform.[2]
In the early 1950s, Mayes played with various bands at his local dance hall. After several years he led his own group, opening the show for touring musicians.[3] While in the United States Army, Mayes worked with The Contrasts, which comprised three white and three black musicians.[2] Mayes learned from watching T-Bone Walker and Gatemouth Brown, and he later cited Walker, B.B. King, Kenny Burrell, plus Lowell Fulson as major influences.[3]
In 1960 Mayes relocated to Houston, and during the following decade he played with Fulson, Big Joe Turner, Percy Mayfield, Bill Doggett, and Junior Parker. Mayes also toured with the jazz musicians, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie.[3] Unable to make a living as a full-time musician, Mayes worked as a ranch hand and then as a painter for the Houston Independent School District. He retired from the latter job with disability pay.[2][3]
Mayes did perform whenever possible. He undertook tours in the 1970s and played frequently in the 1990s, even though his health had started to fail.[2] In 1983, he inherited from an uncle ownership of his local dance hall.[3] In 1986, Double Trouble Records of the Netherlands issued Texas Guitar Master, which included a live 'Battle of the Guitars' with Joe "Guitar" Hughes.[4] In 1996, Mayes appeared on the bill of the Long Beach Blues Festival.
By the time For Pete's Sake was released (1998), Mayes was still actively managing the Double Bayou dance hall. Following years of ill health, which included heart problems, diabetes and the amputation of both legs, Mayes died in Houston in December 2008, aged 70.[2]
Mayes was survived by his wife, son and a brother.[2]
R.I.P.
Pinetop Perkins +21.03.2011
Pinetop Perkins (* 7. Juli 1913 in Belzoni, Mississippi; † 21. März 2011[1] in Austin, Texas; eigentlich Joe Willie Perkins) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Musiker.Perkins begann seine musikalische Karriere als Gitarrist. Nachdem eine Tänzerin die Sehnen seines linken Armes bei einer Rauferei in Helena, Arkansas mit einem Messer verletzt hatte, wechselte er zum Piano. Hatte er zunächst mit Robert Nighthawk gearbeitet, spielte er jetzt mit Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller).
In den 1950ern ging Perkins auf Tournee. Er trat mit Earl Hooker auf und nahm in Memphis (Tennessee) “Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie” (geschrieben von Pinetop Smith) auf. Aus dieser Zeit stammt sein Künstlername.
Perkins blieb in Illinois und zog sich aus dem Musikgeschäft zurück. Erst 1968 konnte ihn Hooker überreden, wieder Aufnahmen zu machen. Perkins ersetzte Otis Spann, als dieser die Band von Muddy Waters verließ. Ende der 1970er gründete Perkins mit anderen die Legendary Blues Band, die bis in die 1990er unterwegs war.
Als bester Pianist erhielt der den Living Blues Award 1994 und 1996. 2003 wurde Pinetop Perkins in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen. 2005 erhielt er einen Grammy für sein Lebenswerk. Mit über 90 Jahren stand er immer noch auf der Bühne.
Pinetop Perkins verstarb am 21. März 2011 in Austin, Texas.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinetop_Perkins
http://www.pinetopperkins.com/pabio.htm
Pinetop Perkins -- How Long Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAIn3RQ_joU
Joseph William Perkins (July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011), known by the stage name Pinetop Perkins, was an American blues pianist. Perkins played with some of the most influential blues and rock and roll performers in American history and received numerous honors during his lifetime, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Life and career
Early career
Perkins was born in Belzoni, Mississippi.[1] He began his career as a guitarist, but then injured the tendons in his left arm in a fight with a chorus girl in Helena, Arkansas.[2] Unable to play guitar, Perkins switched to the piano, and also switched from Robert Nighthawk's KFFA radio program to Sonny Boy Williamson's King Biscuit Time.[3] He continued working with Nighthawk, however, accompanying him on 1950's "Jackson Town Gal".
In the 1950s, Perkins joined Earl Hooker and began touring. He recorded "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" (written by Pinetop Smith) at Sam Phillips' studio in Memphis, Tennessee. ("They used to call me Pinetop," he recalled, "because I played that song.")[4] However, Perkins was only 15 years old in 1928, when Smith originally recorded "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie".
Perkins then relocated to Illinois and left the music business until Hooker convinced him to record again in 1968. Perkins replaced Otis Spann when he left the Muddy Waters band in 1969.[3] After ten years with that organization, he formed The Legendary Blues Band with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, recording through the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.[3]
Later career
Perkins played a brief musical cameo on the street outside Aretha's Soul Food Cafe in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers, having an argument with John Lee Hooker over who wrote "Boom Boom." He also appeared in the 1987 movie Angel Heart as a member of guitarist Toots Sweet's band.
Although he appeared as a sideman on countless recordings, Perkins never had an album devoted solely to his artistry, until the release of After Hours on Blind Pig Records in 1988.[5] The tour in support of the album also featured Jimmy Rogers and guitarist Hubert Sumlin. In 1998 Perkins released the album Legends featuring Sumlin.
Perkins was driving his automobile in 2004 in La Porte, Indiana when he was hit by a train. The car was wrecked but the 91-year-old driver was not seriously hurt. Until his death, Perkins lived in Austin, Texas. He usually performed a couple of nights a week at Nuno's on Sixth Street. In 2005, Perkins received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2008, Perkins received a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album for Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live In Dallas together with Henry James Townsend, Robert Lockwood, Jr. and David Honeyboy Edwards. He was also nominated in the same category for his solo album, Pinetop Perkins on the 88's: Live in Chicago.
The song "Hey Mr. Pinetop Perkins", performed by Perkins and Angela Strehli, played on the common misconception that Perkins wrote "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie":
Hey Mr. Pinetop Perkins
I got a question for you
How'd you write that first boogie woogie
The one they named after you
Oldest-ever Grammy winner
At the age of 97, he won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album for Joined at the Hip, an album he recorded with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. Perkins thus became the oldest-ever Grammy winner,[6] edging out comedian George Burns who had won in the spoken word category 21 years earlier (Perkins had tied with Burns, at the age of 90, in 2004).[7]
A little more than a month later, Perkins died on 21 March 2011 at his home in Austin.[6] At the time of his death, the musician had more than 20 performances booked for 2011. Shortly before that, while discussing his late career resurgence with an interviewer, he conceded, "I can't play piano like I used to either. I used to have bass rolling like thunder. I can't do that no more. But I ask the Lord, please forgive me for the stuff I done trying to make a nickel."[citation needed] Along with David "Honeyboy" Edwards, he was one of the last two original Mississippi Delta blues musicians, and also one of the last to have a personal knowledge of, and friendship with, Robert Johnson.
Life and career
Early career
Perkins was born in Belzoni, Mississippi.[1] He began his career as a guitarist, but then injured the tendons in his left arm in a fight with a chorus girl in Helena, Arkansas.[2] Unable to play guitar, Perkins switched to the piano, and also switched from Robert Nighthawk's KFFA radio program to Sonny Boy Williamson's King Biscuit Time.[3] He continued working with Nighthawk, however, accompanying him on 1950's "Jackson Town Gal".
In the 1950s, Perkins joined Earl Hooker and began touring. He recorded "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" (written by Pinetop Smith) at Sam Phillips' studio in Memphis, Tennessee. ("They used to call me Pinetop," he recalled, "because I played that song.")[4] However, Perkins was only 15 years old in 1928, when Smith originally recorded "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie".
Perkins then relocated to Illinois and left the music business until Hooker convinced him to record again in 1968. Perkins replaced Otis Spann when he left the Muddy Waters band in 1969.[3] After ten years with that organization, he formed The Legendary Blues Band with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, recording through the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.[3]
Later career
Perkins played a brief musical cameo on the street outside Aretha's Soul Food Cafe in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers, having an argument with John Lee Hooker over who wrote "Boom Boom." He also appeared in the 1987 movie Angel Heart as a member of guitarist Toots Sweet's band.
Although he appeared as a sideman on countless recordings, Perkins never had an album devoted solely to his artistry, until the release of After Hours on Blind Pig Records in 1988.[5] The tour in support of the album also featured Jimmy Rogers and guitarist Hubert Sumlin. In 1998 Perkins released the album Legends featuring Sumlin.
Perkins was driving his automobile in 2004 in La Porte, Indiana when he was hit by a train. The car was wrecked but the 91-year-old driver was not seriously hurt. Until his death, Perkins lived in Austin, Texas. He usually performed a couple of nights a week at Nuno's on Sixth Street. In 2005, Perkins received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2008, Perkins received a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album for Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live In Dallas together with Henry James Townsend, Robert Lockwood, Jr. and David Honeyboy Edwards. He was also nominated in the same category for his solo album, Pinetop Perkins on the 88's: Live in Chicago.
The song "Hey Mr. Pinetop Perkins", performed by Perkins and Angela Strehli, played on the common misconception that Perkins wrote "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie":
Hey Mr. Pinetop Perkins
I got a question for you
How'd you write that first boogie woogie
The one they named after you
Oldest-ever Grammy winner
At the age of 97, he won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album for Joined at the Hip, an album he recorded with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. Perkins thus became the oldest-ever Grammy winner,[6] edging out comedian George Burns who had won in the spoken word category 21 years earlier (Perkins had tied with Burns, at the age of 90, in 2004).[7]
A little more than a month later, Perkins died on 21 March 2011 at his home in Austin.[6] At the time of his death, the musician had more than 20 performances booked for 2011. Shortly before that, while discussing his late career resurgence with an interviewer, he conceded, "I can't play piano like I used to either. I used to have bass rolling like thunder. I can't do that no more. But I ask the Lord, please forgive me for the stuff I done trying to make a nickel."[citation needed] Along with David "Honeyboy" Edwards, he was one of the last two original Mississippi Delta blues musicians, and also one of the last to have a personal knowledge of, and friendship with, Robert Johnson.
http://www.pinetopperkins.com/pabio.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAIn3RQ_joU
Rockie Charles +21.03.2010
New Orleans Soul Gitarrist und Sänger Rockie Charles, der "President of Soul",
starb am Freitag, 12. März nach einem Kampf gegen den Krebs.
Charles Merrick ist geboren am 14. November 1942 in Boothville, Louisiana,
Charles lernte das die Gitarrenspiel von seinem Vater, Earlington,auch ein Bluesman.
Im Alter von 13 Jahren zog Charles zur New Orleans "Ward und Houston School of Music "
an der North Claiborne Avenue, wo er lesen und schreiben lernte und Musik studierte.
Als Teenager, wurde Charles häufig eingesetzt beim Talentwettbewerbe an Lincoln Beach,
die Afrikanisch-Amerikanischen Amusemetspark,am Ufer des Lake Ponchartrain
wo er die Bühne teilte mit Bands wie Ernie K-Doe und Aaron Neville.
Im Jahr 1996, nach dem Setzen einer Anzeige im Offbeat Magazine, einem lokalen New Orleans Musikers Zeitung,
bekam er einen Anruf von einer Plattenfirma und veröffentlichte sein "Comeback For You "
.
Nach der Wende des 21. Jahrhunderts, wurde Charles eine regelmäßige Attraktion für die jährlichen Ponderosa Stomp Wurzeln Musik-Event
und trat bei fast allen der acht Stomp Festivals bisher auf.
Charles sollte am Jazz Fest in diesem Frühjahr teilnehmen , und hatte gerade ein neues Album, I Wanna First Class gemacht.
Rockie Charles war 67 Jahre alt.
http://mendiger.de/wbb2/index.php/Thread/5648-Rockie-Charles-verstorben/?s=4a0698df52dd7995ab1adc5843596d829616648d starb am Freitag, 12. März nach einem Kampf gegen den Krebs.
Charles Merrick ist geboren am 14. November 1942 in Boothville, Louisiana,
Charles lernte das die Gitarrenspiel von seinem Vater, Earlington,auch ein Bluesman.
Im Alter von 13 Jahren zog Charles zur New Orleans "Ward und Houston School of Music "
an der North Claiborne Avenue, wo er lesen und schreiben lernte und Musik studierte.
Als Teenager, wurde Charles häufig eingesetzt beim Talentwettbewerbe an Lincoln Beach,
die Afrikanisch-Amerikanischen Amusemetspark,am Ufer des Lake Ponchartrain
wo er die Bühne teilte mit Bands wie Ernie K-Doe und Aaron Neville.
Im Jahr 1996, nach dem Setzen einer Anzeige im Offbeat Magazine, einem lokalen New Orleans Musikers Zeitung,
bekam er einen Anruf von einer Plattenfirma und veröffentlichte sein "Comeback For You "
.
Nach der Wende des 21. Jahrhunderts, wurde Charles eine regelmäßige Attraktion für die jährlichen Ponderosa Stomp Wurzeln Musik-Event
und trat bei fast allen der acht Stomp Festivals bisher auf.
Charles sollte am Jazz Fest in diesem Frühjahr teilnehmen , und hatte gerade ein neues Album, I Wanna First Class gemacht.
Rockie Charles war 67 Jahre alt.
Alfred
Charles Merrick (November 14, 1942 – March 21, 2010), known
professionally as Rockie Charles[2] was an American Blues singer,
songwriter and guitarist from New Orleans.[1] He was described as the
"President of Soul".
Charles was born in Boothville, Louisiana[4] and
learned to play guitar from his father, Earlington, a travelling
bluesman who played juke joints in the segregated Plaquemines Parish,
Louisiana. Charles moved to New Orleans aged 13,[1] where he shared the
stage with fellow teenagers Ernie K-Doe and Aaron Neville at talent
contests which were frequently held at Lincoln Beach, the
African-American amusement park near Lake Ponchartrain during
segregation.[2] His early influences were Earl King and Chuck Berry.[5]
Charles dropped out of high school in the 10th grade and moved to
Venice, Louisiana. He returned to New Orleans aged 18 and started the
band The Gadges.[1]
Career
According to the New Orleans Time
Picyaune, Charles was turned down by Dave Bartholomew at Imperial
Records and Allen Toussaint at Instant and Minit.[2] He instead signed
with Senator Jones' Black Patch label in the mid-1960s and released the
singles "Mr. Rickashay" and "Sinking Like A Ship."[6] After releasing
records with Black Patch, Charles relocated to Nashville, where he
backed performers including O.V. Wright, Little Johnny Taylor, and
Roscoe Shelton. He returned to New Orleans in 1970, and set up his own
label, Soulgate, on which he had a local hit with "The President of
Soul".[5] During the 1970s and 1980s he worked as a tugboat captain and
oyster fisherman, while playing in various jazz and blues clubs.[7]
His
recording career resumed in 1994 after New Orleans Records producer
Carlo Ditta responded to an advertisement Charles had placed in a local
entertainment magazine. This led to the release of his debut solo LP,
Born for You in 1996.[5] He subsequently recorded two albums with Louie
Fontaine in 2003 and 2006.[8]
Death
Charles died of cancer at the
age of 67, shortly after completing an album, I Want First Class.
Ponderosa Stomp organiser Ira "Dr. Ike" Padnos said that "If Rockie had
had the right push, the right breaks, he really could have done
something great ... he was a first-class, stand-up guy. I loved him for
that."
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen