1894 Bessie Smith*
1906 Carl Martin*
1931 Little Sonny Jones*
1936 Frank Frost*
1943 Mighty Sam McClain*
1944 Dave Edmunds*
1955 Tommy Castro*
1955 Jeff Golub*
1960 Brett Nod Clarke*
1980 Patrick Carney*
2014 Little Joe Cook+
Kara Grainger*
Lightnin Wells*
Happy Birthday
Bessie Smith *15.04.1894
Bessie Smith [ˈbɛsɪ ˈsmɪθ] (* 15. April 1894[1] in Chattanooga, Tennessee; † 26. September 1937 in Clarksdale, Mississippi) war eine US-amerikanische Bluessängerin, vorwiegend aktiv in den 1920er Jahren, die damals mehr als 150 Schallplatten einspielte und als „Kaiserin des Blues“ galt.
Bessie Smith war eines von sechs Kindern und wuchs in tiefster Armut in einer kleinen, baufälligen Hütte auf. Ihr Vater, ein Prediger der Baptisten-Gemeinde, starb kurz nach ihrer Geburt, ihre Mutter, als sie neun Jahre alt war. Diese Kindheit ist in ihrem Titel „Washwoman Blues“ beschrieben. Um aus dem Elend zu fliehen, schloss sie sich einem Vaudevilletheater an und zog mit ihm durch das Land. Mit 17 Jahren schloss sie sich der Moses-Stokes-Show, wo auch schon ihr Bruder Clarence arbeitete, als Tänzerin an. Dort traf sie auch das erste Mal auf Ma Rainey, die sie unter ihre Fittiche nahm. 1913 trat sie in Atlanta im Theatre 81 auf, wo sie von dem Schauspieler Leigh Whipper wahrgenommen wurde. Anschließend ging sie auf die Tourneen der Theater Owners Booking Association. 1918 erhielt sie ein Engagement in Baltimore.Im Zuge der Prohibition bekam Bessie reichlich zu tun und hatte viele Auftritte in zahlreichen Clubs, welche zumeist im Besitz von Gangstern waren, die mit illegalem Alkoholausschank Geld machten. Die Kehrseite war, dass sie auch mit dem Alkohol in Berührung kam und schließlich alkoholkrank wurde. Auch dies spiegelt sich in zahlreichen Liedern wie „The Gin House Blues“, „Me and My Gin“ oder „Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)“ wider. In Philadelphia lernte sie Jack Gee, einen Nachtwächter, kennen. Bei ihrer ersten Verabredung kam es im Restaurant zu einer Schießerei, bei der Jack eine Schusswunde erlitt, der er fast erlag. Bessie besuchte ihn oft im Krankenhaus und schließlich heirateten sie 1923.
1921 trat sie zum ersten Mal im Standard Theatre in Philadelphia auf; im Jahr darauf gastierte sie mit dem Charlie Johnson-Orchester im elegantesten Tanzlokal Atlantic Citys, im Paradise Gardens. Im Februar 1923 machte sie auch ihre ersten Plattenaufnahmen, u. a. den von ihrer Kollegin Alberta Hunter komponierten „Down Hearted Blues“, der sie berühmt machen sollte. Der Song war vier Wochen auf #1 der Billboard-Charts; in nicht weniger als sieben Monaten wurden 870.000 Exemplare verkauft. 1924 trat sie das erste Mal in Chicago auf, dem Blues-Zentrum dieser Zeit. Hier entstand auch ihre nächste Single „Weeping Willow Blues“. In dieser Zeit arbeitete sie unter anderem auch mit Louis Armstrong zusammen und nahm mit weiteren Musikern wie Buster Bailey, Fletcher Henderson, Jack Teagarden oder Charlie Green auf. Bessie Smith sang häufig auch Stücke, die zum Repertoire ihrer Kolleginnen gehörten, wie den „Graveyard Blues“ von Ida Cox oder den „Bo-weavil Blues“ von Ma Rainey; „sie verstand es jedoch, das verwendete Material umzuwandeln und ihm den Stempel ihrer starken Persönlichkeit aufzudrücken,“[3] oder sie verwendete das reichhaltige Volksmusikgut aus dem Süden, das sie mit ihren Mitarbeitern wie James P. Johnson oder Clarence Williams umarbeitete.Mit ihrer „leidenschaftlichen Stimme“ war sie „die Attraktion der Harlem Frolics Show“, wo sie zwischen 1925 und 1927 auftrat.[4] Als dann die Begeisterung für den Blues nachließ, war Smith gezwungen, wieder auf Tour durch die Südstaaten zu gehen. Im März 1928 kam das Stück „Empty Bed Blues“ heraus.[5] Darin gab es so viele anzügliche Bemerkungen über die Liebeskünste des Geliebten, die teilweise so direkt waren, dass man es als pornographisch bezeichnen musste. Dies setzte sich in vielen ihrer Lieder fort, die Ende der 1920er Jahre entstanden.
Am 30. September 1929 erschien das im Mai des Jahres aufgenommene „Nobody Knows You When You´re Down and Out“, der ihr letzter Charterfolg werden sollte (Platz 15). Im gleichen Jahr wurden noch weitere Stücke eingespielt; sie wirkte auch bei einem kurzen Spielfilm („St. Louis Blues“) mit. 1931 kündigte aber Columbia Records den Vertrag mit ihr. Von ihren letzten Einspielungen zwischen 1930 und 1933 wurden nur ein paar 100 Exemplare produziert; am 24. November 1933 nahm sie unter Leitung von John Hammond noch weitere Songs auf, in denen sie sich stilistisch dem Jazz annäherte („Gimme a Pigfoot“). 1935 erhielt sie ein Engagement in der Show „Stars over Broadway“ des Apollo Theater.
1936 rückte sie noch einmal ins Rampenlicht, als sie die Chance bekam, für die erkrankte Billie Holiday im Harlemer Nachtclub Connie’s Inn aufzutreten. Jetzt schien sich das Publikum wieder für sie zu interessieren, und die Arbeitsangebote häuften sich. Produzent John Hammond engagierte sie 1937 für seine neue Show „From Spirituals to Swing“, wo sie aber nicht mehr auftreten sollte.
Tod
Am 26. September 1937 fuhr sie gemeinsam mit ihrem Liebhaber Richard Morgan mit ihrem Wagen in Mississippi, als sie einen Lastwagen streiften und der Wagen sich überschlug. Die ersten Leute an der Unfallstelle waren Dr. Hugh Smith, ein Chirurg aus Memphis und sein Fischerkumpel Henry Broughton. Chris Albertson, der Biograph von Bessie Smith, führte in den frühen 1970er Jahren ein detailliertes Interview mit Hugh Smith zum Unfallhergang. Bessie Smiths linker Arm und ihre Rippen wurden schwer verletzt. Sie wurde in ein Krankenhaus für Dunkelhäutige aufgenommen. Ihr linker Arm wurde amputiert. Nach Angaben des behandelnden Arztes verstarb sie einen Tag nach dieser Operation ohne das Bewusstsein wiedererlangt zu haben.[6]
Es gibt noch andere Schilderungen, auf welche Art, zu welchem Zeitpunkt und an welchem Ort sie gestorben ist:
- Sie wurde, im Gegensatz zu weißen Verletzten, am Unfallort nicht verarztet und verblutete daraufhin ebenda.
- Sie starb auf dem Weg zum Krankenhaus.
- Sie wurde im Krankenhaus für Weiße nicht aufgenommen und verblutete, bzw. mehrere Krankenhäuser hätten sich geweigert, die Verletzte aufzunehmen, worauf diese auf den Stufen einer Klinik verstarb. Eine dieser Versionen geht auf ein Zeitungsinterview des Magazins Down Beat mit dem Produzenten John Hammond zurück.
Bessie Smith wurde 1980 in die Blues Hall of Fame und 1984 in die National Women's Hall of Fame aufgenommen; 1989 erhielt sie posthum den Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sonstiges
Der tragische Tod bewog 1959 Edward Albee zu dem Einakter The Death of Bessie Smith, in dem die Variante vertreten wird, dass der sterbenden Sängerin der Zutritt zu einer Klinik für Weiße untersagt wurde. Bernard Malamud zitiert sie in "The Tenants" auf dem Vorblatt seines Romans:"I got to make it, I got to find the end ..."
Die Sängerin Janis Joplin, eine große Verehrerin von Bessie Smith, wollte 1970 deren Grab besuchen und stellte dabei angeblich fest, dass ihr Idol anonym beerdigt worden war. Daraufhin ließ Joplin einen Grabstein für die Verstorbene setzen, der die Inschrift trägt: „The Greatest Blues Singer In The World Will Never Stop Singing – Bessie Smith – 1894–1937“[7] („Die größte Blues-Sängerin der Welt wird niemals aufhören zu singen“). Nach anderen Quellen bezahlte eine Krankenschwester aus Philadelphia den Grabstein zur Hälfte und Joplin trug, nachdem man sie telefonisch darum gebeten hatte, die andere Hälfte der Kosten.[8]
Rick Danko und Robbie Robertson von The Band veröffentlichen zusammen mit Bob Dylan auf der LP The Basement Tapes, aufgenommen 1967 im Keller des legendären Big Pink, einen Song namens „Bessie Smith“. Norah Jones coverte diesen Song auf ihren Konzerten.
Leben und Tod von Bessie Smith sind Thema der Jazzoper Cosmopolitan Greetings von Allen Ginsberg (Libretto), George Gruntz (Jazz-) und Rolf Liebermann (Zwölftonmusik), die 1988 in Hamburg uraufgeführt wurde.
Der Begleittext des Albums The World's Greatest Blues Singer, eine Zusammenstellung ihrer bekanntesten Titel, wurde 1971 mit einem Grammy bedacht.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Smith
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer.
Nicknamed The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s.[1] She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and, along with Louis Armstrong, a major influence on other jazz vocalists.[2]
Life
The 1900 census indicates that Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July 1892. However, the 1910 census recorded her birthday as April 15, 1894, a date that appears on all subsequent documents and was observed by the entire Smith family. Census data also contribute to controversy about the size of her family. The 1870 and 1880 censuses report three older half-siblings, while later interviews with Smith's family and contemporaries did not include these individuals among her siblings.
Bessie Smith was the daughter of Laura (née Owens) and William Smith. William Smith was a laborer and part-time Baptist preacher (he was listed in the 1870 census as a "minister of the gospel", in Moulton, Lawrence, Alabama.) He died before his daughter could remember him. By the time she was nine, she had lost her mother and a brother as well. Her older sister Viola took charge of caring for her siblings.[3]
To earn money for their impoverished household, Bessie Smith and her brother Andrew began busking on the streets of Chattanooga as a duet: she singing and dancing, he accompanying her on guitar. Their favorite location was in front of the White Elephant Saloon at Thirteenth and Elm streets in the heart of the city's African-American community.
In 1904, her oldest brother, Clarence, covertly left home, joining a small traveling troupe owned by Moses Stokes. "If Bessie had been old enough, she would have gone with him," said Clarence's widow, Maud. "That's why he left without telling her, but Clarence told me she was ready, even then. Of course, she was only a child."[4]
In 1912, Clarence returned to Chattanooga with the Stokes troupe. He arranged for its managers, Lonnie and Cora Fisher, to give Smith an audition. She was hired as a dancer rather than a singer, because the company also included the unknown singer, Ma Rainey. Smith eventually moved on to performing in various chorus lines, making the "81" Theater in Atlanta her home base. There were times when she worked in shows on the black-owned T.O.B.A (Theater Owners Booking Association) circuit. She would rise to become its biggest star after signing with Columbia Records.
By 1923, when she began her recording career, Smith had taken up residence in Philadelphia. There she met and fell in love with Jack Gee, a security guard whom she married on June 7, 1923, just as her first record was released. During the marriage—a stormy one, with infidelity on both sides—Smith became the highest paid black entertainer of the day, heading her own shows, which sometimes featured as many as 40 troupers, and touring in her own railroad car. Gee was impressed by the money, but never adjusted to show business life, or to Smith's bisexuality. In 1929, when she learned of his affair with another singer, Gertrude Saunders, Bessie Smith ended the relationship, although neither of them sought a divorce.
Smith eventually found a common-law husband in an old friend, Richard Morgan, who was Lionel Hampton's uncle and the antithesis of her husband. She stayed with him until her death.[3]
Career
All contemporary accounts indicate that while Rainey did not teach Smith to sing, she probably helped her develop a stage presence.[5] Smith began forming her own act around 1913, at Atlanta's "81" Theater. By 1920, Smith had established a reputation in the South and along the Eastern Seaboard.
In 1920, sales figures of over 100,000 copies for "Crazy Blues," an Okeh Records recording by singer Mamie Smith (no relation) pointed to a new market. The recording industry had not directed its product to blacks, but the success of the record led to a search for female blues singers. Bessie Smith was signed to Columbia Records in 1923 by Frank Walker, a talent agent who had seen her perform years earlier. Her first session for Columbia was February 15, 1923. For most of 1923, her records were issued on Columbia's regular A- series; when the label decided to establish a "race records" series, Smith's "Cemetery Blues" (September 26, 1923) was the first issued.
She scored a big hit with her first release, a coupling of "Gulf Coast Blues" and "Downhearted Blues", which its composer Alberta Hunter had already turned into a hit on the Paramount label. Smith became a headliner on the black T.O.B.A. circuit and rose to become its top attraction in the 1920s.[6] Working a heavy theater schedule during the winter months and doing tent tours the rest of the year (eventually traveling in her own railroad car), Smith became the highest-paid black entertainer of her day.[7] Columbia nicknamed her "Queen of the Blues," but a PR-minded press soon upgraded her title to "Empress".
Smith had a powerfully strong voice that recorded very well from her first record, made during the time when recordings were made acoustically. With the coming of electrical recording (her first electrical recording was "Cake Walking Babies (From Home)" recorded Tuesday, May 5, 1925),[8] the sheer power of her voice was even more evident. She was also able to benefit from the new technology of radio broadcasting, even on stations that were in the segregated south. For example, after giving a concert for a white-only audience at a local theater in Memphis, Tennessee, in October 1923, she then performed a late night concert on station WMC, where her songs were very well received by the radio audience.[9]
She made 160 recordings for Columbia, often accompanied by the finest musicians of the day, most notably Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, Joe Smith, and Charlie Green.
Broadway
Smith's career was cut short by a combination of the Great Depression, which nearly put the recording industry out of business, and the advent of "talkies", which spelled the end for vaudeville. She never stopped performing, however. While the days of elaborate vaudeville shows were over, Smith continued touring and occasionally singing in clubs. In 1929, she appeared in a Broadway flop called Pansy, a musical in which top critics said she was the only asset.
Film
In 1929, Smith made her only film appearance, starring in a two-reeler titled St. Louis Blues, based on W. C. Handy's song of the same name. In the film, directed by Dudley Murphy and shot in Astoria, she sings the title song accompanied by members of Fletcher Henderson's orchestra, the Hall Johnson Choir, pianist James P. Johnson and a string section—a musical environment radically different from any found on her recordings.
Swing era
In 1933, John Hammond, who also mentored Billie Holiday, asked Smith to record four sides for Okeh (which had been acquired by Columbia Records in 1925). He claimed to have found her in semi-obscurity, working as a hostess in a speakeasy on Philadelphia's Ridge Avenue.[10] Bessie Smith worked at Art's Cafe on Ridge Avenue, but not as a hostess and not until the summer of 1936. In 1933, when she made the Okeh sides, Bessie was still touring. Hammond was known for his selective memory and gratuitous embellishments.[11]
Bessie Smith was paid a non-royalty fee of $37.50 for each selection and these Okeh sides, which were her last recordings. Made on November 24, 1933, they serve as a hint of the transformation she made in her performances as she shifted her blues artistry into something that fit the "swing era". The relatively modern accompaniment is notable. The band included such swing era musicians as trombonist Jack Teagarden, trumpeter Frankie Newton, tenor saxophonist Chu Berry, pianist Buck Washington, guitarist Bobby Johnson, and bassist Billy Taylor. Benny Goodman, who happened to be recording with Ethel Waters in the adjoining studio, dropped by and is barely audible on one selection. Hammond was not entirely pleased with the results, preferring to have Smith revisit her old blues groove. "Take Me for a Buggy Ride" and "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)", both written by Wesley Wilson, continue to be ranked among her most popular recordings.[3] Billie Holiday, who credited Smith as her major influence along with Louis Armstrong, would go on to record her first record for Columbia three days later under the same band personnel.
Death
On September 26, 1937, Smith was critically injured in a car accident while traveling along U.S. Route 61 between Memphis, Tennessee, and Clarksdale, Mississippi. Her lover, Richard Morgan, was driving and, probably mesmerized by the long stretch of straight road, misjudged the speed of a slow-moving truck ahead of him. Tire marks at the scene suggested that Morgan tried to avoid the truck by driving around its left side, but he hit the rear of the truck side-on at high speed. The tailgate of the truck sheared off the wooden roof of Smith's old Packard. Smith, who was in the passenger seat, probably with her right arm or elbow out the window, took the full brunt of the impact. Morgan escaped without injuries.
The first people on the scene were a Memphis surgeon, Dr. Hugh Smith (no relation), and his fishing partner Henry Broughton. In the early 1970s, Dr. Smith gave a detailed account of his experience to Bessie's biographer Chris Albertson. This is the most reliable eyewitness testimony about the events surrounding Bessie Smith's death.
After stopping at the accident scene, Dr. Smith examined Bessie Smith, who was lying in the middle of the road with obviously severe injuries. He estimated she had lost about a half-pint of blood, and immediately noted a major traumatic injury to her right arm; it had been almost completely severed at the elbow.[12] But Dr. Smith was emphatic that this arm injury alone did not cause her death. Although the light was poor, he observed only minor head injuries. He attributed her death to extensive and severe crush injuries to the entire right side of her body, consistent with a "sideswipe" collision.[13]
Broughton and Dr. Smith moved the singer to the shoulder of the road. Dr. Smith dressed her arm injury with a clean handkerchief and asked Broughton to go to a house about 500 feet off the road to call an ambulance.
By the time Broughton returned approximately 25 minutes later, Bessie Smith was in shock. Time passed with no sign of the ambulance, so Dr. Smith suggested that they take her into Clarksdale in his car. He and Broughton had almost finished clearing the back seat when they heard the sound of a car approaching at high speed. Dr. Smith flashed his lights in warning, but the oncoming car failed to stop and plowed into the doctor's car at full speed. It sent his car careening into Bessie Smith's overturned Packard, completely wrecking it. The oncoming car ricocheted off Dr. Smith's car into the ditch on the right, barely missing Broughton and Bessie Smith.[14]
The young couple in the new car did not have life-threatening injuries. Two ambulances arrived on the scene from Clarksdale; one from the black hospital, summoned by Mr. Broughton, the other from the white hospital, acting on a report from the truck driver, who had not seen the accident victims.
Bessie Smith was taken to Clarksdale's G. T. Thomas Afro-American Hospital, where her right arm was amputated. She died that morning without regaining consciousness. After Smith's death, an often repeated but now discredited story emerged about the circumstances; namely, that she had died as a result of having been refused admission to a "whites only" hospital in Clarksdale. Jazz writer/producer John Hammond gave this account in an article in the November 1937 issue of Down Beat magazine. The circumstances of Smith's death and the rumor promoted by Hammond formed the basis for Edward Albee's 1959 one-act play The Death of Bessie Smith.[15]
"The Bessie Smith ambulance would not have gone to a white hospital, you can forget that." Dr. Smith told Albertson. "Down in the Deep South cotton country, no ambulance driver, or white driver, would even have thought of putting a colored person off in a hospital for white folks."[16]
Smith's funeral was held in Philadelphia a little over a week later on October 4, 1937. Her body was originally laid out at Upshur's funeral home. As word of her death spread through Philadelphia's black community, the body had to be moved to the O.V. Catto Elks Lodge to accommodate the estimated 10,000 mourners who filed past her coffin on Sunday, October 3.[17] Contemporary newspapers reported that her funeral was attended by about seven thousand people. Far fewer mourners attended the burial at Mount Lawn Cemetery, in nearby Sharon Hill. Gee thwarted all efforts to purchase a stone for his estranged wife, once or twice pocketing money raised for that purpose.[18]
The grave remained unmarked until August 7, 1970, when a tombstone—paid for by singer Janis Joplin and Juanita Green, who as a child had done housework for Smith—was erected.[19]
Dory Previn wrote a song of Janis Joplin and the tombstone called "Stone for Bessie Smith" on her album Mythical Kings and Iguanas.
The Afro-American Hospital, now the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale, was the site of the dedication of the fourth historic marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail.
Nicknamed The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s.[1] She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and, along with Louis Armstrong, a major influence on other jazz vocalists.[2]
Life
The 1900 census indicates that Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July 1892. However, the 1910 census recorded her birthday as April 15, 1894, a date that appears on all subsequent documents and was observed by the entire Smith family. Census data also contribute to controversy about the size of her family. The 1870 and 1880 censuses report three older half-siblings, while later interviews with Smith's family and contemporaries did not include these individuals among her siblings.
Bessie Smith was the daughter of Laura (née Owens) and William Smith. William Smith was a laborer and part-time Baptist preacher (he was listed in the 1870 census as a "minister of the gospel", in Moulton, Lawrence, Alabama.) He died before his daughter could remember him. By the time she was nine, she had lost her mother and a brother as well. Her older sister Viola took charge of caring for her siblings.[3]
To earn money for their impoverished household, Bessie Smith and her brother Andrew began busking on the streets of Chattanooga as a duet: she singing and dancing, he accompanying her on guitar. Their favorite location was in front of the White Elephant Saloon at Thirteenth and Elm streets in the heart of the city's African-American community.
In 1904, her oldest brother, Clarence, covertly left home, joining a small traveling troupe owned by Moses Stokes. "If Bessie had been old enough, she would have gone with him," said Clarence's widow, Maud. "That's why he left without telling her, but Clarence told me she was ready, even then. Of course, she was only a child."[4]
In 1912, Clarence returned to Chattanooga with the Stokes troupe. He arranged for its managers, Lonnie and Cora Fisher, to give Smith an audition. She was hired as a dancer rather than a singer, because the company also included the unknown singer, Ma Rainey. Smith eventually moved on to performing in various chorus lines, making the "81" Theater in Atlanta her home base. There were times when she worked in shows on the black-owned T.O.B.A (Theater Owners Booking Association) circuit. She would rise to become its biggest star after signing with Columbia Records.
By 1923, when she began her recording career, Smith had taken up residence in Philadelphia. There she met and fell in love with Jack Gee, a security guard whom she married on June 7, 1923, just as her first record was released. During the marriage—a stormy one, with infidelity on both sides—Smith became the highest paid black entertainer of the day, heading her own shows, which sometimes featured as many as 40 troupers, and touring in her own railroad car. Gee was impressed by the money, but never adjusted to show business life, or to Smith's bisexuality. In 1929, when she learned of his affair with another singer, Gertrude Saunders, Bessie Smith ended the relationship, although neither of them sought a divorce.
Smith eventually found a common-law husband in an old friend, Richard Morgan, who was Lionel Hampton's uncle and the antithesis of her husband. She stayed with him until her death.[3]
Career
All contemporary accounts indicate that while Rainey did not teach Smith to sing, she probably helped her develop a stage presence.[5] Smith began forming her own act around 1913, at Atlanta's "81" Theater. By 1920, Smith had established a reputation in the South and along the Eastern Seaboard.
In 1920, sales figures of over 100,000 copies for "Crazy Blues," an Okeh Records recording by singer Mamie Smith (no relation) pointed to a new market. The recording industry had not directed its product to blacks, but the success of the record led to a search for female blues singers. Bessie Smith was signed to Columbia Records in 1923 by Frank Walker, a talent agent who had seen her perform years earlier. Her first session for Columbia was February 15, 1923. For most of 1923, her records were issued on Columbia's regular A- series; when the label decided to establish a "race records" series, Smith's "Cemetery Blues" (September 26, 1923) was the first issued.
She scored a big hit with her first release, a coupling of "Gulf Coast Blues" and "Downhearted Blues", which its composer Alberta Hunter had already turned into a hit on the Paramount label. Smith became a headliner on the black T.O.B.A. circuit and rose to become its top attraction in the 1920s.[6] Working a heavy theater schedule during the winter months and doing tent tours the rest of the year (eventually traveling in her own railroad car), Smith became the highest-paid black entertainer of her day.[7] Columbia nicknamed her "Queen of the Blues," but a PR-minded press soon upgraded her title to "Empress".
Smith had a powerfully strong voice that recorded very well from her first record, made during the time when recordings were made acoustically. With the coming of electrical recording (her first electrical recording was "Cake Walking Babies (From Home)" recorded Tuesday, May 5, 1925),[8] the sheer power of her voice was even more evident. She was also able to benefit from the new technology of radio broadcasting, even on stations that were in the segregated south. For example, after giving a concert for a white-only audience at a local theater in Memphis, Tennessee, in October 1923, she then performed a late night concert on station WMC, where her songs were very well received by the radio audience.[9]
She made 160 recordings for Columbia, often accompanied by the finest musicians of the day, most notably Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, Joe Smith, and Charlie Green.
Broadway
Smith's career was cut short by a combination of the Great Depression, which nearly put the recording industry out of business, and the advent of "talkies", which spelled the end for vaudeville. She never stopped performing, however. While the days of elaborate vaudeville shows were over, Smith continued touring and occasionally singing in clubs. In 1929, she appeared in a Broadway flop called Pansy, a musical in which top critics said she was the only asset.
Film
In 1929, Smith made her only film appearance, starring in a two-reeler titled St. Louis Blues, based on W. C. Handy's song of the same name. In the film, directed by Dudley Murphy and shot in Astoria, she sings the title song accompanied by members of Fletcher Henderson's orchestra, the Hall Johnson Choir, pianist James P. Johnson and a string section—a musical environment radically different from any found on her recordings.
Swing era
In 1933, John Hammond, who also mentored Billie Holiday, asked Smith to record four sides for Okeh (which had been acquired by Columbia Records in 1925). He claimed to have found her in semi-obscurity, working as a hostess in a speakeasy on Philadelphia's Ridge Avenue.[10] Bessie Smith worked at Art's Cafe on Ridge Avenue, but not as a hostess and not until the summer of 1936. In 1933, when she made the Okeh sides, Bessie was still touring. Hammond was known for his selective memory and gratuitous embellishments.[11]
Bessie Smith was paid a non-royalty fee of $37.50 for each selection and these Okeh sides, which were her last recordings. Made on November 24, 1933, they serve as a hint of the transformation she made in her performances as she shifted her blues artistry into something that fit the "swing era". The relatively modern accompaniment is notable. The band included such swing era musicians as trombonist Jack Teagarden, trumpeter Frankie Newton, tenor saxophonist Chu Berry, pianist Buck Washington, guitarist Bobby Johnson, and bassist Billy Taylor. Benny Goodman, who happened to be recording with Ethel Waters in the adjoining studio, dropped by and is barely audible on one selection. Hammond was not entirely pleased with the results, preferring to have Smith revisit her old blues groove. "Take Me for a Buggy Ride" and "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)", both written by Wesley Wilson, continue to be ranked among her most popular recordings.[3] Billie Holiday, who credited Smith as her major influence along with Louis Armstrong, would go on to record her first record for Columbia three days later under the same band personnel.
Death
On September 26, 1937, Smith was critically injured in a car accident while traveling along U.S. Route 61 between Memphis, Tennessee, and Clarksdale, Mississippi. Her lover, Richard Morgan, was driving and, probably mesmerized by the long stretch of straight road, misjudged the speed of a slow-moving truck ahead of him. Tire marks at the scene suggested that Morgan tried to avoid the truck by driving around its left side, but he hit the rear of the truck side-on at high speed. The tailgate of the truck sheared off the wooden roof of Smith's old Packard. Smith, who was in the passenger seat, probably with her right arm or elbow out the window, took the full brunt of the impact. Morgan escaped without injuries.
The first people on the scene were a Memphis surgeon, Dr. Hugh Smith (no relation), and his fishing partner Henry Broughton. In the early 1970s, Dr. Smith gave a detailed account of his experience to Bessie's biographer Chris Albertson. This is the most reliable eyewitness testimony about the events surrounding Bessie Smith's death.
After stopping at the accident scene, Dr. Smith examined Bessie Smith, who was lying in the middle of the road with obviously severe injuries. He estimated she had lost about a half-pint of blood, and immediately noted a major traumatic injury to her right arm; it had been almost completely severed at the elbow.[12] But Dr. Smith was emphatic that this arm injury alone did not cause her death. Although the light was poor, he observed only minor head injuries. He attributed her death to extensive and severe crush injuries to the entire right side of her body, consistent with a "sideswipe" collision.[13]
Broughton and Dr. Smith moved the singer to the shoulder of the road. Dr. Smith dressed her arm injury with a clean handkerchief and asked Broughton to go to a house about 500 feet off the road to call an ambulance.
By the time Broughton returned approximately 25 minutes later, Bessie Smith was in shock. Time passed with no sign of the ambulance, so Dr. Smith suggested that they take her into Clarksdale in his car. He and Broughton had almost finished clearing the back seat when they heard the sound of a car approaching at high speed. Dr. Smith flashed his lights in warning, but the oncoming car failed to stop and plowed into the doctor's car at full speed. It sent his car careening into Bessie Smith's overturned Packard, completely wrecking it. The oncoming car ricocheted off Dr. Smith's car into the ditch on the right, barely missing Broughton and Bessie Smith.[14]
The young couple in the new car did not have life-threatening injuries. Two ambulances arrived on the scene from Clarksdale; one from the black hospital, summoned by Mr. Broughton, the other from the white hospital, acting on a report from the truck driver, who had not seen the accident victims.
Bessie Smith was taken to Clarksdale's G. T. Thomas Afro-American Hospital, where her right arm was amputated. She died that morning without regaining consciousness. After Smith's death, an often repeated but now discredited story emerged about the circumstances; namely, that she had died as a result of having been refused admission to a "whites only" hospital in Clarksdale. Jazz writer/producer John Hammond gave this account in an article in the November 1937 issue of Down Beat magazine. The circumstances of Smith's death and the rumor promoted by Hammond formed the basis for Edward Albee's 1959 one-act play The Death of Bessie Smith.[15]
"The Bessie Smith ambulance would not have gone to a white hospital, you can forget that." Dr. Smith told Albertson. "Down in the Deep South cotton country, no ambulance driver, or white driver, would even have thought of putting a colored person off in a hospital for white folks."[16]
Smith's funeral was held in Philadelphia a little over a week later on October 4, 1937. Her body was originally laid out at Upshur's funeral home. As word of her death spread through Philadelphia's black community, the body had to be moved to the O.V. Catto Elks Lodge to accommodate the estimated 10,000 mourners who filed past her coffin on Sunday, October 3.[17] Contemporary newspapers reported that her funeral was attended by about seven thousand people. Far fewer mourners attended the burial at Mount Lawn Cemetery, in nearby Sharon Hill. Gee thwarted all efforts to purchase a stone for his estranged wife, once or twice pocketing money raised for that purpose.[18]
The grave remained unmarked until August 7, 1970, when a tombstone—paid for by singer Janis Joplin and Juanita Green, who as a child had done housework for Smith—was erected.[19]
Dory Previn wrote a song of Janis Joplin and the tombstone called "Stone for Bessie Smith" on her album Mythical Kings and Iguanas.
The Afro-American Hospital, now the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale, was the site of the dedication of the fourth historic marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail.
Bessie
Smith - Yellowdog Blues
Frank Frost *15.04.1936
Er wurde 1936 als Frank Otis Frost in Auvergne als Sohn von Theodore and Darthula Frost geboren. Seine Familie war sehr musikalisch, sein Vater spielte Horn und seine Mutter Klavier.[1] In der Kirche, in der seine Eltern spielten, lernte er das Klavierspielen.
1951 übersiedelte er nach St. Louis, wo er von Little Willie Foster und später von Sonny Boy Williamson II., der ihn zwischen 1956 und 1959 als Gitarrenspieler auf Tournee mitnahm, Bluesharmonika lernte. Williamson betrachtete ihn als eine Art Sohn. [1] Hier spielte er mit Sam Carr, dem Sohn von Robert Nighthawk, mit dem er sein ganzes Leben lang in enger Verbindung stand.[2] Eine Handverletzung zwang ihn, sich auf Mundharmonika- und Klavierspiel zu konzentrieren.[3]
Nachdem er sich 1959 von Williamson getrennt hatte, bildete er mit Sam Carr ein Duo, zu dem 1962 der Gitarrist Jack Johnson kam. Sie spielten in lokalen Bluesklubs und auch in der King Biscuit Time, einer Bluessendung aus Helena, die von Sonny Boy Williamson moderiert wurde.[4]
Ab 1963 ging er mit verschiedenen Musikern auf Tournee, so zum Beispiel Albert King, B.B.King, Carl Perkins und Conway Twitty. Seine eigene Gruppe erregte die Aufmerksamkeit von Sam Phillips, dem Besitzer von Sun Records, der mit ihnen auf dem Sublabel International die Platte Hey Boss Man! aufnahm![2] Frank Frost hatte keine gute Erinnerung an Phillips, so sagte er in einem Interview mit Blues Acces: „We recorded it, and all he offered me was $800. That's all. We didn't come out with it. Then it came out later, and I didn't get paid.“[1][5]
Die nächsten Aufnahmen von Frost für Juwel Records wurden von Elvis Presleys Gitarristen Scotty Moore produziert. In den späten 1970er-Jahren wurde er vom Chicagoer Blues-Fan Michael Frank wiederentdeckt, der mit ihm Alben für die von ihm gegründeten Earwing Records aufnahm. Die Alben erschienen unter dem Gruppennamen The Jelly Roll Kings.
Frost hatte Auftritte in den Filmen Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads, einer Dokumentation über den Delta Blues und in Crossroads, einem Spielfilm, in dem er einen Musiker in einem Juke Joint verkörperte.[2] Auch in einem Werbetrailer für Präsident Bill Clinton trat er auf.[6]
Frank Frost starb am 12. Oktober 1999 in seinem Haus in Helena, Arkansas an Herzstillstand.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Frost
Frank Frost (April 15, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was one of the foremost American Delta blues harmonica players of his generation.
Life and career
Frost was born April 15, 1936 in Auvergne, Jackson County, Arkansas. Frost began his musical career at a young age by playing the piano for his family church.[1] At the age of 15, Frost left for St. Louis, where he became a guitarist. At the age of 18, Frost began touring with drummer Sam Carr and Robert Nighthawk.[2] Soon after touring, he toured again with Sonny Williamson for several years, who helped teach him how to play the harmonica.[3]
While playing with guitarist Big Jack Johnson, Frost attracted the interest of the record producer Sam Phillips, founder of Sun Records. Some recordings of note that followed included "Hey Boss Man" and "My Back Scratcher".[3][4] Frost also recorded for the Jewel label, four years later. The Sun Records and Jewel Records material was re-released on one CD by Charly Records of London, England.[5]
In the late 1970s, Frost was re-discovered by a blues enthusiast, Michael Franks, who began releasing albums on his Earwig Music Company label by the trio, now called The Jelly Roll Kings, after a song from Hey Boss Man.[4]
Frost appeared in the films Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads and Crossroads.[6]
In later years, Frost's health declined, yet he continued to play. Four days before his death, he made an appearance with Carr at the King Biscuit Blues.[5] He died of cardiac arrest in Helena, Arkansas in 1999,[3][4] and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Helena.
Life and career
Frost was born April 15, 1936 in Auvergne, Jackson County, Arkansas. Frost began his musical career at a young age by playing the piano for his family church.[1] At the age of 15, Frost left for St. Louis, where he became a guitarist. At the age of 18, Frost began touring with drummer Sam Carr and Robert Nighthawk.[2] Soon after touring, he toured again with Sonny Williamson for several years, who helped teach him how to play the harmonica.[3]
While playing with guitarist Big Jack Johnson, Frost attracted the interest of the record producer Sam Phillips, founder of Sun Records. Some recordings of note that followed included "Hey Boss Man" and "My Back Scratcher".[3][4] Frost also recorded for the Jewel label, four years later. The Sun Records and Jewel Records material was re-released on one CD by Charly Records of London, England.[5]
In the late 1970s, Frost was re-discovered by a blues enthusiast, Michael Franks, who began releasing albums on his Earwig Music Company label by the trio, now called The Jelly Roll Kings, after a song from Hey Boss Man.[4]
Frost appeared in the films Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads and Crossroads.[6]
In later years, Frost's health declined, yet he continued to play. Four days before his death, he made an appearance with Carr at the King Biscuit Blues.[5] He died of cardiac arrest in Helena, Arkansas in 1999,[3][4] and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Helena.
Tommy Castro *15.4.1955
Beschreibung Tommy Castro
Datum 14. März 2008, 23:14
Quelle IMG_3114-1
Uploaded by davepape
Urheber Bengt Nyman
Datum 14. März 2008, 23:14
Quelle IMG_3114-1
Uploaded by davepape
Urheber Bengt Nyman
Tommy Castro (* 15. April 1955 in San José, Kalifornien) ist ein US-amerikanischer Bluesgitarrist.
Schon mit zehn Jahren zeigte er Interesse an der Gitarre und hörte Bluesgrößen wie Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield und Elvin Bishop. Als er sich näher mit Blues beschäftigte, begeisterte ihn das Gitarrespiel von B. B. King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Elmore James und Freddie King, genauso wie die Gesangsstile von Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett und James Brown.[1] Bis 1991, dem Jahr der Gründung der Tommy Castro Band, spielte er in verschiedenen Bands in der Bay Area. Schon 1993 gewann die Band den Bay Area Music Award als beste Clubband des Jahres, einen Erfolg, den sie im nächsten Jahr wiederholen konnte. Die Arbeit als Hausband für die NBC Sendung Comedy Showcase steigerte ihre Popularität, da sie unmittelbar nach "Saturday Night Live" ausgestrahlt wurde und so viele Zuseher erreichte.[2] 1996 nahmen sie ihre erstes Album auf, Exception to the Rule, das von der Kritik positiv aufgenommen wurde, ebenso wie sein zweites, das ihn im ganzen Land bekannt machte. Castro kam auf das Titelbild der Blues Revue und erhielt einen speziellen Artikel, der voll des Lobes war. Auf seinem dritten Album traten Delbert McClinton und Dr. John als Gastmusiker auf. 2000 wurde das Album "Live at the Fillmore" veröffentlicht, von dem auch B. B. King beeindruckt war.[3]. 2001 verließ er Blind Pig Records und nahm danach für verschiedene Labels Alben auf. Sein letztes Werk, "Hard Believer" erschien bei Alligator Records. 2010 wurde er für den Blues Music Award in vier Kategorien nominiert. (Entertainer of the Year, Contemporary Blues Album of the Year, Blues Male Artist of the Year, Band of the Year).Auszeichnungen
2008: Blues Music Award Contemporary Blues Album of the Year (Painkiller)
2010: Blues Music Awards in den Kategorien Entertainer of the Year, Band of the Year und Contemporary Blues Album of the Year (Hard Believer).
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Castro
http://www.allmusic.com/album/new-orleans-r-b-gems-mw0000074048
https://www.facebook.com/brettnod.clarke
http://www.karagrainger.com/bio-encore/
Der Roots-Musiker LIGHTNIN' WELLS kommt aus Fountain, North Carolina, USA. In seiner über 40jährigen Karriere konnte sich Michael "Lightnin' Wells als einer der kompetentesten und authentischsten Musiker des "Americana" Genres etablieren. Zu hören sein wird eine anbechslungsreiche Mischung von diversen Spielarten des Blues, wobei sein Schwerpunkt auf dem vom Ragtime beeinflussten "Piedmont" Blues der Ostküste des Südens der USA liegt, sowie sein schier unerschöpfliches Repertoire von Folk Songs, Boogies, Gospel, Hillbilly Musik und Pop Songs der 1920er bis 40er Jahre. Bei seinem Auftritt wird Lightnin' Wells als exzellenter Finger - Picker auf der Gitarre zu hören sein und ebenfalls auf der Mundharmonika, dem 5-string Banjo und auf der Ukulele.
http://www.agent0007.com/Promo/Oldies/p_LittleJoeCook-Thrillers.htm
Tommy Castro (born April 15, 1955, San Jose, California, United States) is an American blues, R&B and rock guitarist and singer. He has been recording since the mid-1990s. His music has taken him from local stages to national and international touring. His popularity was marked by his winning the 2008 Blues Music Award for Entertainer of the Year. According to The Chicago Sun-Times, Castro plays "Memphis soul-drenched R&B…top-of-the-line blues."[1] Blurt[who?] added, "Castro has a soulful voice, searing guitar and is an excellent songwriter and vocalist. If you close your eyes you will be convinced that you are listening to Otis Redding singing in 1967…tremendous."[2]
Biography
Castro began playing guitar at the age of 10 and was influenced and inspired by electric blues, Chicago blues, West Coast blues, soul music, 1960s rock and roll and Southern rock. His style has always been a hybrid of all his favorite genres. He names Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James and Freddie King as guitar influences and Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett and James Brown as vocal influences.
He began playing professionally in Bay Area cover-song bands in the 1970s. In the 1980s he joined the Warner Bros. Records' band The Dynatones. Since 1991, he has led his own bands, featuring a drummer, bass guitar player and saxophone player (Keith Crossan has held the saxophone position for many years). As of 2009, he had added trumpeter Tom Poole and keyboards to the band. He was signed to Blind Pig Records label and released Exception to the Rule in late 1996. It won the 1997 Bay Area Music Award for Outstanding Blues Album, and Castro also took the award for Outstanding Blues Musician that same year. In the mid-1990s The Tommy Castro Band served as the house band for three seasons on NBC Television's Comedy Showcase (airing right after Saturday Night Live), bringing him in front of millions of viewers every week.
In 2001 and 2002, B.B. King asked Castro to open his summer concert tours. Castro received an open invitation to join King on stage for the nightly finale.
Castro has released albums on the Telarc, 33rd Street and Heart And Soul and most recently on the Alligator label, as well as on Blind Pig. His album Guilty of Love featured the last recording session for John Lee Hooker. In 2002 he was featured on the Bo Diddley tribute album Hey Bo Diddley – A Tribute!, performing the song "I Can Tell". In 2007 the readers of BluesWax (online magazine) voted Painkiller as BluesWax album of the year. It also won the 2008 Blues Music Award for Contemporary Blues Album of the Year.
In 2009, Castro joined the roster of Chicago's Alligator Records with his release Hard Believer, produced by John Porter. The album was described by Billboard as "irresistibly funky…it has a street-level grit and a soulful sincerity that's impossible to ignore."[3] Blues Revue said Hard Believer is "a fine set of roadhouse-rockin' blues.".[4] Blurt says, "Hard Believer might just be the best yet from this veteran Bay Area blues artist."[2]
In May 2010, The Blues Foundation awarded Castro multiple Blues Music Award honors for Blues Male Artist of the Year, Contemporary Blues Album of the Year, B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, and with his band, Band of the Year.
In 2011, Castro stripped down his band to a four-piece unit called the Painkillers, including keyboards, bass and drums as well as his own guitar and vocals. His most recent album, 2013's The Devil You Know, was recorded with this lineup plus guest appearances by Marcia Ball, Tab Benoit, Joe Bonamassa, The Holmes Brothers and Magic Dick.[5] The album was reviewed by Allmusic.com, saying "Castro brings fiery garage energy to everything. His guitar playing is fired up and roaring with a renewed sharpness that keeps the pot boiling. His voice is a soulful and versatile blue-collar growl. This album is full of the blues, but it's also like a full-charged blue-eyed R&B and soul review, making this one of Castro's finest releases."
Biography
Castro began playing guitar at the age of 10 and was influenced and inspired by electric blues, Chicago blues, West Coast blues, soul music, 1960s rock and roll and Southern rock. His style has always been a hybrid of all his favorite genres. He names Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James and Freddie King as guitar influences and Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett and James Brown as vocal influences.
He began playing professionally in Bay Area cover-song bands in the 1970s. In the 1980s he joined the Warner Bros. Records' band The Dynatones. Since 1991, he has led his own bands, featuring a drummer, bass guitar player and saxophone player (Keith Crossan has held the saxophone position for many years). As of 2009, he had added trumpeter Tom Poole and keyboards to the band. He was signed to Blind Pig Records label and released Exception to the Rule in late 1996. It won the 1997 Bay Area Music Award for Outstanding Blues Album, and Castro also took the award for Outstanding Blues Musician that same year. In the mid-1990s The Tommy Castro Band served as the house band for three seasons on NBC Television's Comedy Showcase (airing right after Saturday Night Live), bringing him in front of millions of viewers every week.
In 2001 and 2002, B.B. King asked Castro to open his summer concert tours. Castro received an open invitation to join King on stage for the nightly finale.
Castro has released albums on the Telarc, 33rd Street and Heart And Soul and most recently on the Alligator label, as well as on Blind Pig. His album Guilty of Love featured the last recording session for John Lee Hooker. In 2002 he was featured on the Bo Diddley tribute album Hey Bo Diddley – A Tribute!, performing the song "I Can Tell". In 2007 the readers of BluesWax (online magazine) voted Painkiller as BluesWax album of the year. It also won the 2008 Blues Music Award for Contemporary Blues Album of the Year.
In 2009, Castro joined the roster of Chicago's Alligator Records with his release Hard Believer, produced by John Porter. The album was described by Billboard as "irresistibly funky…it has a street-level grit and a soulful sincerity that's impossible to ignore."[3] Blues Revue said Hard Believer is "a fine set of roadhouse-rockin' blues.".[4] Blurt says, "Hard Believer might just be the best yet from this veteran Bay Area blues artist."[2]
In May 2010, The Blues Foundation awarded Castro multiple Blues Music Award honors for Blues Male Artist of the Year, Contemporary Blues Album of the Year, B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, and with his band, Band of the Year.
In 2011, Castro stripped down his band to a four-piece unit called the Painkillers, including keyboards, bass and drums as well as his own guitar and vocals. His most recent album, 2013's The Devil You Know, was recorded with this lineup plus guest appearances by Marcia Ball, Tab Benoit, Joe Bonamassa, The Holmes Brothers and Magic Dick.[5] The album was reviewed by Allmusic.com, saying "Castro brings fiery garage energy to everything. His guitar playing is fired up and roaring with a renewed sharpness that keeps the pot boiling. His voice is a soulful and versatile blue-collar growl. This album is full of the blues, but it's also like a full-charged blue-eyed R&B and soul review, making this one of Castro's finest releases."
"Bad Luck" TOMMY CASTRO & the PAINKILLERS - Big Blues Bender 2015
TOMMY CASTRO & the Painkillers @ Montreux Jazz Festival 2015
Little Sonny Jones *15.04.1931
Little Sonny Jones (April 15, 1931 – December 17, 1989) was an American New Orleans blues singer and songwriter.[1] Over his lengthy career, Jones worked with various blues musicians, most notably Fats Domino.
He is not to be confused with fellow blues musicians, Little Sonny nor Little Sonny Warner.
He was born Johnny Jones in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, and started singing professionally in the late 1940s. He befriended Fats Domino and, whilst working together, was given his nickname by Domino. In 1953 he released his debut single, "Do You Really Love Me" / "Is Everything Allright?", on Specialty. Jones recorded a further four songs for Imperial in 1954, which were produced by Dave Bartholomew, but all releases failed to find a commercial market. His connection with Domino endured and, up to 1961, Jones remained as Domino's opening act.[1][2] Jones tracks included the blues standard, "Farther Up the Road".
Jones was employed as the vocalist by a New Orleans based band led by the brothers, David and Melvin Lastie, until the late 1960s.[1] Jones also had regular employment at a sugar factory.[3] He returned to the recording studio in 1975, and issued his album, New Orleans R&B Gems, initially on the Netherlands based Black Magic label.[1] With contributions from veteran musicians including Dave "Fat Man" Williams, the record faithfully copied the R&B style and sound of the 1950s. It was re-issued in 1995 by Black Top.[4]
Jones was a regular performer at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.[1]
In December 1989, Jones died of heart failure in New Orleans, at the age of 58.
He is not to be confused with fellow blues musicians, Little Sonny nor Little Sonny Warner.
He was born Johnny Jones in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, and started singing professionally in the late 1940s. He befriended Fats Domino and, whilst working together, was given his nickname by Domino. In 1953 he released his debut single, "Do You Really Love Me" / "Is Everything Allright?", on Specialty. Jones recorded a further four songs for Imperial in 1954, which were produced by Dave Bartholomew, but all releases failed to find a commercial market. His connection with Domino endured and, up to 1961, Jones remained as Domino's opening act.[1][2] Jones tracks included the blues standard, "Farther Up the Road".
Jones was employed as the vocalist by a New Orleans based band led by the brothers, David and Melvin Lastie, until the late 1960s.[1] Jones also had regular employment at a sugar factory.[3] He returned to the recording studio in 1975, and issued his album, New Orleans R&B Gems, initially on the Netherlands based Black Magic label.[1] With contributions from veteran musicians including Dave "Fat Man" Williams, the record faithfully copied the R&B style and sound of the 1950s. It was re-issued in 1995 by Black Top.[4]
Jones was a regular performer at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.[1]
In December 1989, Jones died of heart failure in New Orleans, at the age of 58.
Ride With Me - Little Sonny Jones (Fab T-Birds)
Mighty Sam McClain *15.04.1943
Er war einer der wenigen Überlebenden aus der großen Zeit des Soul. Doch für Mighty Sam McClain sind die Grenzen zwischen Blues, Soul und anderer Musik nicht wirklich wichtig. So hat er selbst mit einer iranischen Sängerin Duette aufgenommen. Wichtig ist ihm immer die Botschaft, die er verkündet. Auf seinem letzten Album "Too Much Jesus (Not Enough Whiskey)“ verpackte er die in Songs zwischen Philly-Soul, Funk und klassischen Rhythm & Blues. Am 16. Juni ist der Sänger verstorben. Im April hatte er einen Schlaganfall erlitten.
Wenn von neuen Soulsängern oder -sängerinnen geredet wird, dann macht sich manchmal schnell eine Enttäuschung breit. Zwar können die Musiker den alten Stil kunstgerecht nachahmen. Doch das Eigentliche fehlt. Denn was Castingagenten schwer zu erklären ist: Soul hat immer mehr mit der Seele des Künstlers zu tun. nicht mit einer bestimmten Art zu singen. Man höre sich nur ein beliebiges Album von Solomon Burke an - oder eben von Sam McClain. Egal, ob sie Gospel singen, oder Blues - oder gar Country: Jede einzelne Note dieser Sänger hat mehr Soul, als ein beliebiges Neo-Soul-Album der letzten Jahre.
Wenn man das Cover und den Plattentitel betrachtet, dann kann man leicht in die Irre geführt werden. Nein: Das ist kein Album, was sich über den Mangel an Alkohol beklagt. Im Titelsong, eigentlich einem Gebet zu Thanksgiving, hat Mighty Sam McClain die Geschichte hinter dem Albumtitel so erklärt: Seit er verheiratet ist und mit dem Trinken aufgehört hat, kommen immer weniger seiner Freunde zu Besuch. Bei ihm gäbe es mittlerweile „Too Much Jesus“ und zu wenig Whiskey. McClain allerdings steht dazu, dass der Glaube ihm im Alter immer wichtiger wird. Und das bringt er in den 14 gemeinsam mit seinem Gitarristen Pat Herlehy geschriebenen Liedern der CD auch immer wieder zum Ausdruck. Und je mehr er dabei die Hörer auch musikalisch mit in die Kirche nimmt, desto besser funktioniert das Album.
Funkiger Gospel, Rhythm&Blues-Bläser und manchmal sogar Reggae-Rhythmen: All das sind nur Mittel, um diese unwahrscheinliche Stimme McClains zu präsentieren: Nach Solomon Burkes Tod war er so ziemlich der letzte dieser großen Soulsänger der 60er Jahre. Soul als Mixtur von Kirche und Kneipe, als tiefempfundenes Bekenntnis des Sünders ebenso wie die Klage des verlassenen Liebhabers. Hier kommt es alles nochmal zusammen ohne irgendwelche Modernismen oder das Schielen nach verkaufsfördernden Referenzen. Denn seit einigen Jahren lässt sich McClain hier von niemandem mehr hereinreden: Seine Platten entstehen für die eigene Firma, die Lieder werden im eigenen Verlag veröffentlicht.
Sam McClain hat nie die ganz große Karriere gemacht, hatte wenige Hitparadenerfolge - doch er ist über die ganzen Jahre hin dieser Musik treu geblieben. Geboren wurde er 1943 in Monroe, Louisiana, ganz im Norden des Bibel Belt. Und so war es ganz natürlich, dass er schon als Kind im Kirchenchor zu singen begann. Besonders, da es die Gemeinde seiner Mutter war. Erst danach begann er auch als Baumwollpflücker zu arbeiten. Als er dreizehn war, haute er von zu Hause ab, um seinem gewalttätigen Stiefvater zu entkommen. Gemeinsam mit dem lokal bekannten Gitarristen „Little Melvin“ Underwood zog er durch die Clubs des Südens, schon bald als Leadsänger. Und 1966 hatte er mit einer Aufnahme von Patsy Cline‘s „Sweet Dreams“ seinen ersten kleineren Erfolg. In den Fame-Studios von Muscle Shoals konnte er daraufhin etliche Singles aufnehmen. Eines der Vorbilder für seine Musik war Bobby „Blue“ Bland mit seinem Soulblues. Doch seine Karriere kam nie richtig in Gang, auch wenn die Platten über so renommierte Label wie Atlantic oder Malaco veröffentlicht wurden. Auch dass er insgesamt drei Mal in den berühmten Shows des Apollo Theatre in New York auftrat, änderte nichts daran.
15 Jahre lang musste er sich mit miesen Jobs durchschlagen, war er zeitweise obdachlos und verkaufte sein Blutplasma um zu überleben. Erst Mitte der 80er Jahre bekam er als Musiker eine echte Chance. Er war mittlerweile über Nashville nach New Orleans gekommen. Und dort setzten sich die Neville Brothers für ihn ein, als er am absoluten Tiefpunkt angekommen war. 1989 bekam er schließlich die Chance, durch Japan zu touren. Die dabei entstandene Platte „Live in Japan“ ist heute ein absolutes Sammlerstück bei Blues- und Soulfans. Zuvor hatte er von Hubert Sumlin die Chance bekommen, auf seinen Platten mitzuwirken, bevor er wiederum für einige Zeit in einem zum Scheitern verurteilten Immobilienbüro mit seiner dritten Frau in Houston arbeitete.
In den frühen 90er Jahren fand er Verbindungen in die Szene von Boston und Umgebung über das Projekt der „Hubert Sumlin Blues Party“. Auf diesem Wege bekam er auch einen guten Plattenvertrag bei AudioQuest Music, wo er dann erfolgreiche Platten wie „Give It Up To Love“ und „Keep on Movin“ oder „Sledgehammer Soul and Down Home Blues“ veröffentlichte. Produzent und Labelchef Joe Harley gab McClain hier erstmals die Möglichkeit, seine eigenen Songs zu produzieren.
Gerade „Give It Up to Love“ zeigte McClain als Sänger und Songschreiber in absoluter Höchstform. Nur zwei Cover von Al Green und Carlene Carter waren auf der Platte. Mit diesen Liedern tauchte er dann auch bei „Ally McBeal“ auf, was eine der Ursachen für seine Grammy-Nominierung in der damaligen Zeit war. Und noch heute werden die Alben als Referenzen für audiophile Produktionen immer wieder in den neuesten Varianten, ob als SACD oder wie die angesagten Trends auch immer heißen mögen, wieder auf den Markt geworfen. Damit konnte er seinen Ruf sowohl in der Blues- als auch der Soulszene nicht nur in den USA sondern auch in Europa festigen. In Europa hat man ihm den Titel „The Soul of America“ verliehen“, was vom großen Respekt, den man ihm hierzulande als Künstler zollt, Zeugnis ablegt.
Und so kam es letztlich auch zu dem Album „Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations“, wo er gemeinsam mit der iranischen Sängerin Mahsa Vahdat Lieder singt, die auf Texten iranischer und englischer Lyriker beruhen. Entstanden ist das Album in Norwegen gemeinsam mit dem Komponisten und Produzenten Erik Hillestadt und Musikern wie dem Gitarristen Knut Reiersrud, mit dem er später auch noch ein weiteres Album einspielte. Das transkulturelle Album gelangte in Europa in die World Music Charts und wurde so zu einem seiner größten Erfolge. Eine Fortsetzung des Projekts erschien unter dem Titel „Deeper Tone of Longing: Love Duets Across Civilisations“ in Norwegen.
2014 tauchte McClain auch auf dem Projekt "Songs from a stolen Spring" auf, auf dem Lieder westlicher Künstler mit denen von Musikern aus den Ländern des arabischen Frühlings vermischt wurden. Jetzt ist die Stimme dieses großen Soulpredigers verstummt.
Vocalist Mighty Sam McClain is a specialist in Southern soul-blues, one of the original masters from the 1960s, when the music enjoyed its peak popularity. He carries on the tradition of vocalists like Bobby Bland, Solomon Burke, Otis Clay, James Carr, and Otis Redding. His excellent '90s recordings are now widely available, but that wasn't always the case. Like so many other soul-blues vocalists, McClain began singing gospel in his mother's choir when he was five. At 13, owing to disagreements with his stepfather, he left home and lived with grandparents for a while before hooking up with Little Melvin Underwood. He worked with Underwood first as a valet and later as a featured vocalist in his road show. His inspirations included Little Willie John, Clyde McPhatter of the Drifters, B.B. King, and Bobby "Blue" Bland. McClain recalled seeing Bland at the city auditorium in Monroe, Louisiana as a revelatory moment. Years later, McClain would open for Bland at Tipitina's, a blues club in New Orleans. To this day, he considers Bland's nod of approval a high point of his career.
While working at the 506 Club in Pensacola, Florida in the mid-'60s, he was introduced to producer and DJ Don Schroeder. Working with Schroeder, he recorded Patsy Cline's hit "Sweet Dreams." After this, several other visits to Muscle Shoals Studios in Alabama yielded singles like "Fannie Mae" and "In the Same Old Way." McClain continued to create an ever-broadening audience for his singing via his engagements at the 506 Club and later at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He recorded a single for Malaco and two singles for Atlantic in 1971 before falling off the music scene for a while.
For the next 15 years or so, McClain took menial day jobs, living in Nashville and New Orleans. The Neville Brothers and others from the Crescent City scene have been credited with helping him revive his career as a singer. McClain met Mason Ruffner's drummer Kerry Brown, and the two put a band together. Shortly after, they recorded a single for Carlo Ditta's Orleans label, and McClain's recording and performing career was rejuvenated. After recording with Hubert Sumlin on Hubert Sumlin's Blues Party for the BlackTop label in 1987, McClain began to re-establish his former reputation as a great soul-blues singer, touring with Sumlin and his entourage. By the late '80s, McClain had moved from Houston to Boston. For most of the years thereafter, he lived in Boston and southern New Hampshire.
McClain didn't record his first studio album under his own name until he was 50, through his Boston drummer Lorne Entress, who made a connection with the California-based Audioquest label. McClain's Audioquest albums include Give It Up to Love (1992), Keep on Moving (1995), and Sledgehammer Soul and Down Home Blues (1996), the last nominated for a W.C. Handy Award. All received rave reviews from the critics, and for the first time in his life, he was in control of his own song publishing rights. Most of the songs on all three albums utilized a full horn section, and on top of this rode McClain's deep, powerful vocals, oftentimes in self-penned songs.
Blues for the Soul (2000) was issued on Sundazed, and Sweet Dreams followed on Telarc in 2001. Starting his own label, Mighty Music Records, McClain released One More Bridge to Cross on the new imprint in 2003, following it with Betcha Didn't Know in 2009. The Norwegian label Kirkelig Kulturverksted assisted in the release of 2010's Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations and the following year's One Drop Is Plenty.
Wenn von neuen Soulsängern oder -sängerinnen geredet wird, dann macht sich manchmal schnell eine Enttäuschung breit. Zwar können die Musiker den alten Stil kunstgerecht nachahmen. Doch das Eigentliche fehlt. Denn was Castingagenten schwer zu erklären ist: Soul hat immer mehr mit der Seele des Künstlers zu tun. nicht mit einer bestimmten Art zu singen. Man höre sich nur ein beliebiges Album von Solomon Burke an - oder eben von Sam McClain. Egal, ob sie Gospel singen, oder Blues - oder gar Country: Jede einzelne Note dieser Sänger hat mehr Soul, als ein beliebiges Neo-Soul-Album der letzten Jahre.
Wenn man das Cover und den Plattentitel betrachtet, dann kann man leicht in die Irre geführt werden. Nein: Das ist kein Album, was sich über den Mangel an Alkohol beklagt. Im Titelsong, eigentlich einem Gebet zu Thanksgiving, hat Mighty Sam McClain die Geschichte hinter dem Albumtitel so erklärt: Seit er verheiratet ist und mit dem Trinken aufgehört hat, kommen immer weniger seiner Freunde zu Besuch. Bei ihm gäbe es mittlerweile „Too Much Jesus“ und zu wenig Whiskey. McClain allerdings steht dazu, dass der Glaube ihm im Alter immer wichtiger wird. Und das bringt er in den 14 gemeinsam mit seinem Gitarristen Pat Herlehy geschriebenen Liedern der CD auch immer wieder zum Ausdruck. Und je mehr er dabei die Hörer auch musikalisch mit in die Kirche nimmt, desto besser funktioniert das Album.
Funkiger Gospel, Rhythm&Blues-Bläser und manchmal sogar Reggae-Rhythmen: All das sind nur Mittel, um diese unwahrscheinliche Stimme McClains zu präsentieren: Nach Solomon Burkes Tod war er so ziemlich der letzte dieser großen Soulsänger der 60er Jahre. Soul als Mixtur von Kirche und Kneipe, als tiefempfundenes Bekenntnis des Sünders ebenso wie die Klage des verlassenen Liebhabers. Hier kommt es alles nochmal zusammen ohne irgendwelche Modernismen oder das Schielen nach verkaufsfördernden Referenzen. Denn seit einigen Jahren lässt sich McClain hier von niemandem mehr hereinreden: Seine Platten entstehen für die eigene Firma, die Lieder werden im eigenen Verlag veröffentlicht.
Sam McClain hat nie die ganz große Karriere gemacht, hatte wenige Hitparadenerfolge - doch er ist über die ganzen Jahre hin dieser Musik treu geblieben. Geboren wurde er 1943 in Monroe, Louisiana, ganz im Norden des Bibel Belt. Und so war es ganz natürlich, dass er schon als Kind im Kirchenchor zu singen begann. Besonders, da es die Gemeinde seiner Mutter war. Erst danach begann er auch als Baumwollpflücker zu arbeiten. Als er dreizehn war, haute er von zu Hause ab, um seinem gewalttätigen Stiefvater zu entkommen. Gemeinsam mit dem lokal bekannten Gitarristen „Little Melvin“ Underwood zog er durch die Clubs des Südens, schon bald als Leadsänger. Und 1966 hatte er mit einer Aufnahme von Patsy Cline‘s „Sweet Dreams“ seinen ersten kleineren Erfolg. In den Fame-Studios von Muscle Shoals konnte er daraufhin etliche Singles aufnehmen. Eines der Vorbilder für seine Musik war Bobby „Blue“ Bland mit seinem Soulblues. Doch seine Karriere kam nie richtig in Gang, auch wenn die Platten über so renommierte Label wie Atlantic oder Malaco veröffentlicht wurden. Auch dass er insgesamt drei Mal in den berühmten Shows des Apollo Theatre in New York auftrat, änderte nichts daran.
15 Jahre lang musste er sich mit miesen Jobs durchschlagen, war er zeitweise obdachlos und verkaufte sein Blutplasma um zu überleben. Erst Mitte der 80er Jahre bekam er als Musiker eine echte Chance. Er war mittlerweile über Nashville nach New Orleans gekommen. Und dort setzten sich die Neville Brothers für ihn ein, als er am absoluten Tiefpunkt angekommen war. 1989 bekam er schließlich die Chance, durch Japan zu touren. Die dabei entstandene Platte „Live in Japan“ ist heute ein absolutes Sammlerstück bei Blues- und Soulfans. Zuvor hatte er von Hubert Sumlin die Chance bekommen, auf seinen Platten mitzuwirken, bevor er wiederum für einige Zeit in einem zum Scheitern verurteilten Immobilienbüro mit seiner dritten Frau in Houston arbeitete.
In den frühen 90er Jahren fand er Verbindungen in die Szene von Boston und Umgebung über das Projekt der „Hubert Sumlin Blues Party“. Auf diesem Wege bekam er auch einen guten Plattenvertrag bei AudioQuest Music, wo er dann erfolgreiche Platten wie „Give It Up To Love“ und „Keep on Movin“ oder „Sledgehammer Soul and Down Home Blues“ veröffentlichte. Produzent und Labelchef Joe Harley gab McClain hier erstmals die Möglichkeit, seine eigenen Songs zu produzieren.
Gerade „Give It Up to Love“ zeigte McClain als Sänger und Songschreiber in absoluter Höchstform. Nur zwei Cover von Al Green und Carlene Carter waren auf der Platte. Mit diesen Liedern tauchte er dann auch bei „Ally McBeal“ auf, was eine der Ursachen für seine Grammy-Nominierung in der damaligen Zeit war. Und noch heute werden die Alben als Referenzen für audiophile Produktionen immer wieder in den neuesten Varianten, ob als SACD oder wie die angesagten Trends auch immer heißen mögen, wieder auf den Markt geworfen. Damit konnte er seinen Ruf sowohl in der Blues- als auch der Soulszene nicht nur in den USA sondern auch in Europa festigen. In Europa hat man ihm den Titel „The Soul of America“ verliehen“, was vom großen Respekt, den man ihm hierzulande als Künstler zollt, Zeugnis ablegt.
Und so kam es letztlich auch zu dem Album „Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations“, wo er gemeinsam mit der iranischen Sängerin Mahsa Vahdat Lieder singt, die auf Texten iranischer und englischer Lyriker beruhen. Entstanden ist das Album in Norwegen gemeinsam mit dem Komponisten und Produzenten Erik Hillestadt und Musikern wie dem Gitarristen Knut Reiersrud, mit dem er später auch noch ein weiteres Album einspielte. Das transkulturelle Album gelangte in Europa in die World Music Charts und wurde so zu einem seiner größten Erfolge. Eine Fortsetzung des Projekts erschien unter dem Titel „Deeper Tone of Longing: Love Duets Across Civilisations“ in Norwegen.
2014 tauchte McClain auch auf dem Projekt "Songs from a stolen Spring" auf, auf dem Lieder westlicher Künstler mit denen von Musikern aus den Ländern des arabischen Frühlings vermischt wurden. Jetzt ist die Stimme dieses großen Soulpredigers verstummt.
Autor: Bluespfaffe
Vocalist Mighty Sam McClain is a specialist in Southern soul-blues, one of the original masters from the 1960s, when the music enjoyed its peak popularity. He carries on the tradition of vocalists like Bobby Bland, Solomon Burke, Otis Clay, James Carr, and Otis Redding. His excellent '90s recordings are now widely available, but that wasn't always the case. Like so many other soul-blues vocalists, McClain began singing gospel in his mother's choir when he was five. At 13, owing to disagreements with his stepfather, he left home and lived with grandparents for a while before hooking up with Little Melvin Underwood. He worked with Underwood first as a valet and later as a featured vocalist in his road show. His inspirations included Little Willie John, Clyde McPhatter of the Drifters, B.B. King, and Bobby "Blue" Bland. McClain recalled seeing Bland at the city auditorium in Monroe, Louisiana as a revelatory moment. Years later, McClain would open for Bland at Tipitina's, a blues club in New Orleans. To this day, he considers Bland's nod of approval a high point of his career.
While working at the 506 Club in Pensacola, Florida in the mid-'60s, he was introduced to producer and DJ Don Schroeder. Working with Schroeder, he recorded Patsy Cline's hit "Sweet Dreams." After this, several other visits to Muscle Shoals Studios in Alabama yielded singles like "Fannie Mae" and "In the Same Old Way." McClain continued to create an ever-broadening audience for his singing via his engagements at the 506 Club and later at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He recorded a single for Malaco and two singles for Atlantic in 1971 before falling off the music scene for a while.
For the next 15 years or so, McClain took menial day jobs, living in Nashville and New Orleans. The Neville Brothers and others from the Crescent City scene have been credited with helping him revive his career as a singer. McClain met Mason Ruffner's drummer Kerry Brown, and the two put a band together. Shortly after, they recorded a single for Carlo Ditta's Orleans label, and McClain's recording and performing career was rejuvenated. After recording with Hubert Sumlin on Hubert Sumlin's Blues Party for the BlackTop label in 1987, McClain began to re-establish his former reputation as a great soul-blues singer, touring with Sumlin and his entourage. By the late '80s, McClain had moved from Houston to Boston. For most of the years thereafter, he lived in Boston and southern New Hampshire.
McClain didn't record his first studio album under his own name until he was 50, through his Boston drummer Lorne Entress, who made a connection with the California-based Audioquest label. McClain's Audioquest albums include Give It Up to Love (1992), Keep on Moving (1995), and Sledgehammer Soul and Down Home Blues (1996), the last nominated for a W.C. Handy Award. All received rave reviews from the critics, and for the first time in his life, he was in control of his own song publishing rights. Most of the songs on all three albums utilized a full horn section, and on top of this rode McClain's deep, powerful vocals, oftentimes in self-penned songs.
Blues for the Soul (2000) was issued on Sundazed, and Sweet Dreams followed on Telarc in 2001. Starting his own label, Mighty Music Records, McClain released One More Bridge to Cross on the new imprint in 2003, following it with Betcha Didn't Know in 2009. The Norwegian label Kirkelig Kulturverksted assisted in the release of 2010's Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations and the following year's One Drop Is Plenty.
Samuel McClain (April 15, 1943 – June 15, 2015), billed as Mighty Sam McClain, was an American Grammy nominated soul blues singer and songwriter.[1]
Life and career
He was born in Monroe, Louisiana.[2] As a five-year-old, he began singing in his mother's Gospel Church. McClain left home when he was thirteen and followed local R&B guitarist, Little Melvin Underwood through the Chitlin' circuit, first as his valet and then as lead vocalist himself at 15.[1]
While singing at the 506 Club in Pensacola, Florida he was introduced to the record producer and DJ, Papa Don Schroeder and in 1966, McClain recorded a cover version of Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams". Several recording sessions at Muscle Shoals produced the further singles, "Fannie-May" and "In the Same Old Way".[1] For fifteen years, first in Nashville, Tennessee, then in New Orleans, McClain worked at menial jobs. McClain toured and recorded in Japan in 1989. The end product, Live in Japan, featured Wayne Bennett.[citation needed]
By the early 1990s, McClain relocated to New England through his participation in the "Hubert Sumlin Blues Party" project.[1] This led to Joe Harley and AudioQuest Music. The results were the successful releases, Give It Up To Love and Keep On Movin'. After his move to New Hampshire, then followed Sledgehammer Soul and Down Home Blues.[1] In 1998 McClain had two releases, Journey and Joy & Pain on the CrossCut Records label. Soul Survivor: The Best of Mighty Sam McClain was his farewell to AudioQuest in 1999. McClain signed on with the Telarc Blues in 1999, taking his longtime producer Joe Harley with him, and recorded the Blues Music Award nominated Blues for the Soul (2000) and Sweet Dreams (2001).[1]
In 1996, McClain formed McClain Productions after successfully co-producing his albums with Joe Harley. He also created his own record label, Mighty Music, which released One More Bridge To Cross in February 2003. Betcha Didn't Know was issued in July 2009 on Mighty Music.[1] It was nominated by the Blues Association as 'Soul/Blues Album 2010'.
In 2008, McClain joined the 'Give US Your Poor' project, benefiting the homeless. He also co-wrote with the saxophonist Scott Shetler, "Show Me the Way". He continues to work with this project, performing at both the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, and at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and other venues, sharing the stage with Natalie Merchant, and Mario Frangoulis. In early 2009, McClain recorded an album of duets with the Iranian folk singer, Mahsa Vahdat. The resulting album, Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations reached #6 in the European World Music Chart.[citation needed]
McClain and the guitarist for this project, Knut Reiersrud, collaborated on One Drop is Plenty that was recorded in Norway in January 2011. Also, McClain sung the theme song for the film, Time and Charges. "Find the Sun" was written by Thompson and Joe Deleault, and McClain appeared in a cameo role in the film singing the song.
McClain recorded Too Much Jesus (Not Enough Whiskey) in 2012. The following year the title song, "Too Much Jesus (Not Enough Whiskey)," written by McClain and Pat Herlehy, was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Best Song' category.[3]
In 2014 McClain was featured on the compilation Songs from a Stolen Spring that paired Western musicians with artists from the Arab Spring. On the album McClain performed "If I Can Dream" - a Walter Earl Brown song made famous by Elvis Presley. The performance was meshed with "Bread, Freedom" by the Egyptian musician Ramy Essam who is best known for his appearances in Tahrir Square in Cairo during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.[4]
McClain suffered a stroke in April 2015, and died on June 15, 2015. The cause of death is not yet known.[5]
Life and career
He was born in Monroe, Louisiana.[2] As a five-year-old, he began singing in his mother's Gospel Church. McClain left home when he was thirteen and followed local R&B guitarist, Little Melvin Underwood through the Chitlin' circuit, first as his valet and then as lead vocalist himself at 15.[1]
While singing at the 506 Club in Pensacola, Florida he was introduced to the record producer and DJ, Papa Don Schroeder and in 1966, McClain recorded a cover version of Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams". Several recording sessions at Muscle Shoals produced the further singles, "Fannie-May" and "In the Same Old Way".[1] For fifteen years, first in Nashville, Tennessee, then in New Orleans, McClain worked at menial jobs. McClain toured and recorded in Japan in 1989. The end product, Live in Japan, featured Wayne Bennett.[citation needed]
By the early 1990s, McClain relocated to New England through his participation in the "Hubert Sumlin Blues Party" project.[1] This led to Joe Harley and AudioQuest Music. The results were the successful releases, Give It Up To Love and Keep On Movin'. After his move to New Hampshire, then followed Sledgehammer Soul and Down Home Blues.[1] In 1998 McClain had two releases, Journey and Joy & Pain on the CrossCut Records label. Soul Survivor: The Best of Mighty Sam McClain was his farewell to AudioQuest in 1999. McClain signed on with the Telarc Blues in 1999, taking his longtime producer Joe Harley with him, and recorded the Blues Music Award nominated Blues for the Soul (2000) and Sweet Dreams (2001).[1]
In 1996, McClain formed McClain Productions after successfully co-producing his albums with Joe Harley. He also created his own record label, Mighty Music, which released One More Bridge To Cross in February 2003. Betcha Didn't Know was issued in July 2009 on Mighty Music.[1] It was nominated by the Blues Association as 'Soul/Blues Album 2010'.
In 2008, McClain joined the 'Give US Your Poor' project, benefiting the homeless. He also co-wrote with the saxophonist Scott Shetler, "Show Me the Way". He continues to work with this project, performing at both the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, and at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and other venues, sharing the stage with Natalie Merchant, and Mario Frangoulis. In early 2009, McClain recorded an album of duets with the Iranian folk singer, Mahsa Vahdat. The resulting album, Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations reached #6 in the European World Music Chart.[citation needed]
McClain and the guitarist for this project, Knut Reiersrud, collaborated on One Drop is Plenty that was recorded in Norway in January 2011. Also, McClain sung the theme song for the film, Time and Charges. "Find the Sun" was written by Thompson and Joe Deleault, and McClain appeared in a cameo role in the film singing the song.
McClain recorded Too Much Jesus (Not Enough Whiskey) in 2012. The following year the title song, "Too Much Jesus (Not Enough Whiskey)," written by McClain and Pat Herlehy, was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Best Song' category.[3]
In 2014 McClain was featured on the compilation Songs from a Stolen Spring that paired Western musicians with artists from the Arab Spring. On the album McClain performed "If I Can Dream" - a Walter Earl Brown song made famous by Elvis Presley. The performance was meshed with "Bread, Freedom" by the Egyptian musician Ramy Essam who is best known for his appearances in Tahrir Square in Cairo during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.[4]
McClain suffered a stroke in April 2015, and died on June 15, 2015. The cause of death is not yet known.[5]
Jeff Golub *15.04.1955
Jeff Golub (* 15. April 1955 in Copley, Ohio; † 1. Januar 2015) war ein US-amerikanischer Jazz-Gitarrist, der auch im Blues und Rock in Erscheinung trat. Von 1988 bis 1995 war er über einen Zeitraum von rund acht Jahren in der Band von Rod Stewart aktiv, wobei er an vier Alben beteiligt war und an fünf Welttourneen teilnahm. Des Weiteren veröffentlichte er in den Jahren 1988 bis 2013 zwölf Soloalben sowie drei Alben mit dem Instrumentalensemble Avenue Blue.
Leben und Karriere
Der im Jahre 1955 in Copley, einem westlichen Vorort Akrons im US-Bundesstaat Ohio, geborene Jeff Golub begann schon in jungen Jahren seine Karriere als Gitarrist und hatte mit zwölf Jahren im Jahre 1967 seinen ersten Auftritt, ehe er im darauffolgenden Jahrzehnt sein Spielen professionalisierte. So besuchte er unter anderem das Berklee College of Music in Boston und spielte während dieser Zeit auch in James Montgomerys Band. Nach seiner Übersiedelung nach New York City 1980 schloss sich Golub der Band des Rockmusikers Billy Squier an, der es ab dieser Zeit zu seinen ersten großen Erfolgen und Chartplatzierungen brachte. An der Seite Squiers war er an sieben Alben beteiligt und nahm an drei Welttourneen teil. Über das Label GAIA Records veröffentlichte der mittlerweile 33-jährige Gitarrist schließlich im Jahre 1988 sein Debütalbum mit dem Titel Unspoken Words. Im selben Jahr schloss er sich der Band eines der erfolgreichsten Künstlers dieser Zeit an, der Band Rod Stewarts, mit der er in weiterer Folge bis zu seinem Abgang im Jahre 1995 an vier Alben (Vagabond Heart, Unplugged... and Seated, A Spanner in the Works und Lead Vocalist) und fünf Welttourneen beteiligt war. Bereits ein Jahr vor seinem Abgang veröffentlichte er mit Avenue Blue das gleichnamige Album Avenue Blue über Mesa/Bluemoon Recordings und Atlantic Records. Zwei Jahre später folgte mit Naked City das zweite Album des Instrumentalensembles, gefolgt von Nightlife im Jahr 1997. Im gleichen Jahr veröffentlichte er mit seiner Band auch sein Weihnachtsalbum Six String Santa, das er zehn Jahre später ein weiteres Mal in neuem Klang und somit komplett neu aufgenommen herausbrachte.
1999 kam mit Out of the Blue das bereits fünfte Album Golubs in Folge über das Label Mesa/Bluemoon Recordings heraus, in dem er nach drei Alben mit Avenue Blue funky angehauchte Latino-Rhythmen, gefühlvolle Melodien und dramatische Arrangements einfließen ließ. Ein Jahr später kam es zur ersten Zusammenarbeit mit dem Plattenlabel GRP Records, bei dem er das Album Dangerous Curves, veröffentlichte. Das Album wurde binnen einer Woche Anfang des Jahres 2000 in den Cherokee Studios, sowie bei LAFX in North Hollywood aufgenommen und hat auch einen großen Souleinfluss. Im 2002 veröffentlichten Studioalbum Do It Again, wo er vor allem Lieder aus den 1960er und 1970er Jahren, die ihn mitunter stark geprägt haben, coverte, wird die Mischung zwischen klassischem Jazz und R&B deutlich gemacht. Mit dem 2003 herausgebrachten Album Soul Sessions verkörperte Golubs Verschmelzung von Jazz, R&B und Pop einen noch härteren, raueren und erdigeren Smooth Jazz, als in all seinen bisherigen Alben. Über Narada Productions wurde im Jahre 2005 Temptation veröffentlicht; das Album ist ebenfalls durch Golubs größten Einfluss, Wes Montgomery und dem Modernen Jazz, geprägt. 2007 publizierte er über Narada sein siebentes Soloalbum Grand Central; abermals zwei Jahre später folgte mit dem Album Blues for You eine neue Mischung aus Blues und Jazz.
Im Jahre 2010 gehörte er der Hausband Dave Koz & The Kozmos, die an der The Emeril Lagasse Show mit Emeril Lagasse auftrat, an. Im Juni 2011, als sein neuntes Album The Three Kings vom Independent-Label E1 Music veröffentlicht wurde, wurde bekanntgegeben, dass Jeff Golub aufgrund eines Kollapses seines Sehnerves erblindet war. Auf dem Album trat neben ihm vor allem der von Geburt an erblindete Henry Butler in Erscheinung. Am 3. September 2012 fiel Golub, der zu diesem Zeitpunkt mit seinem Blindenhund, dem Labrador Luke, unterwegs war, in der U-Bahn-Station 66th Street – Lincoln Center auf die Geleise und wurde leicht verletzt ins Weill Cornell Medical Center des NewYork-Presbyterian Hospitals gebracht.[1] Im 2013 veröffentlichten Album Train Keeps A Rolling verarbeitete er unter anderem diesen Vorfall des vorangegangenen Jahres, wo er nur kurz vor dem Einfahren der U-Bahn von Passanten gerettet werden konnte. Auf dem Cover des Albums, das er vor allem mit dem britischen Organisten Brian Auger herausbrachte, ist Golub mit seiner Gitarre und seinem Blindenhund Luke zwischen Bahngleisen zu sehen. Nachdem bei Golub im November 2014 progressive supranukleäre Blickparese, eine sehr seltene degenerative Erkrankung des Gehirns, diagnostiziert worden war,[2] verstarb er nur etwas mehr als einen Monat später, am 1. Januar 2015, an dieser Krankheit.[3] In den Jahren nach seiner Erblindung kam es bei Golub aufgrund der hohen Kosten der Therapien, Medikamente usw. zu finanziellen Engpässen, weshalb unter anderem eine Onlineauktion zu Gunsten Golubs gestartet wurde, die über 50.000 US-Dollar einbrachte.[4] Das letzte Jahr vor seinem Tod trat er, nachdem die Krankheit bereits so weit fortgeschritten war, nicht mehr als Künstler in Erscheinung. Einer seiner letzten Auftritte war jener beim Smooth Jazz Festival in Augsburg Mitte September 2013.
Er hinterließ seine Ehefrau Audrey Stafford sowie die gemeinsamen Söhne Christopher und Matthew.
Leben und Karriere
Der im Jahre 1955 in Copley, einem westlichen Vorort Akrons im US-Bundesstaat Ohio, geborene Jeff Golub begann schon in jungen Jahren seine Karriere als Gitarrist und hatte mit zwölf Jahren im Jahre 1967 seinen ersten Auftritt, ehe er im darauffolgenden Jahrzehnt sein Spielen professionalisierte. So besuchte er unter anderem das Berklee College of Music in Boston und spielte während dieser Zeit auch in James Montgomerys Band. Nach seiner Übersiedelung nach New York City 1980 schloss sich Golub der Band des Rockmusikers Billy Squier an, der es ab dieser Zeit zu seinen ersten großen Erfolgen und Chartplatzierungen brachte. An der Seite Squiers war er an sieben Alben beteiligt und nahm an drei Welttourneen teil. Über das Label GAIA Records veröffentlichte der mittlerweile 33-jährige Gitarrist schließlich im Jahre 1988 sein Debütalbum mit dem Titel Unspoken Words. Im selben Jahr schloss er sich der Band eines der erfolgreichsten Künstlers dieser Zeit an, der Band Rod Stewarts, mit der er in weiterer Folge bis zu seinem Abgang im Jahre 1995 an vier Alben (Vagabond Heart, Unplugged... and Seated, A Spanner in the Works und Lead Vocalist) und fünf Welttourneen beteiligt war. Bereits ein Jahr vor seinem Abgang veröffentlichte er mit Avenue Blue das gleichnamige Album Avenue Blue über Mesa/Bluemoon Recordings und Atlantic Records. Zwei Jahre später folgte mit Naked City das zweite Album des Instrumentalensembles, gefolgt von Nightlife im Jahr 1997. Im gleichen Jahr veröffentlichte er mit seiner Band auch sein Weihnachtsalbum Six String Santa, das er zehn Jahre später ein weiteres Mal in neuem Klang und somit komplett neu aufgenommen herausbrachte.
1999 kam mit Out of the Blue das bereits fünfte Album Golubs in Folge über das Label Mesa/Bluemoon Recordings heraus, in dem er nach drei Alben mit Avenue Blue funky angehauchte Latino-Rhythmen, gefühlvolle Melodien und dramatische Arrangements einfließen ließ. Ein Jahr später kam es zur ersten Zusammenarbeit mit dem Plattenlabel GRP Records, bei dem er das Album Dangerous Curves, veröffentlichte. Das Album wurde binnen einer Woche Anfang des Jahres 2000 in den Cherokee Studios, sowie bei LAFX in North Hollywood aufgenommen und hat auch einen großen Souleinfluss. Im 2002 veröffentlichten Studioalbum Do It Again, wo er vor allem Lieder aus den 1960er und 1970er Jahren, die ihn mitunter stark geprägt haben, coverte, wird die Mischung zwischen klassischem Jazz und R&B deutlich gemacht. Mit dem 2003 herausgebrachten Album Soul Sessions verkörperte Golubs Verschmelzung von Jazz, R&B und Pop einen noch härteren, raueren und erdigeren Smooth Jazz, als in all seinen bisherigen Alben. Über Narada Productions wurde im Jahre 2005 Temptation veröffentlicht; das Album ist ebenfalls durch Golubs größten Einfluss, Wes Montgomery und dem Modernen Jazz, geprägt. 2007 publizierte er über Narada sein siebentes Soloalbum Grand Central; abermals zwei Jahre später folgte mit dem Album Blues for You eine neue Mischung aus Blues und Jazz.
Im Jahre 2010 gehörte er der Hausband Dave Koz & The Kozmos, die an der The Emeril Lagasse Show mit Emeril Lagasse auftrat, an. Im Juni 2011, als sein neuntes Album The Three Kings vom Independent-Label E1 Music veröffentlicht wurde, wurde bekanntgegeben, dass Jeff Golub aufgrund eines Kollapses seines Sehnerves erblindet war. Auf dem Album trat neben ihm vor allem der von Geburt an erblindete Henry Butler in Erscheinung. Am 3. September 2012 fiel Golub, der zu diesem Zeitpunkt mit seinem Blindenhund, dem Labrador Luke, unterwegs war, in der U-Bahn-Station 66th Street – Lincoln Center auf die Geleise und wurde leicht verletzt ins Weill Cornell Medical Center des NewYork-Presbyterian Hospitals gebracht.[1] Im 2013 veröffentlichten Album Train Keeps A Rolling verarbeitete er unter anderem diesen Vorfall des vorangegangenen Jahres, wo er nur kurz vor dem Einfahren der U-Bahn von Passanten gerettet werden konnte. Auf dem Cover des Albums, das er vor allem mit dem britischen Organisten Brian Auger herausbrachte, ist Golub mit seiner Gitarre und seinem Blindenhund Luke zwischen Bahngleisen zu sehen. Nachdem bei Golub im November 2014 progressive supranukleäre Blickparese, eine sehr seltene degenerative Erkrankung des Gehirns, diagnostiziert worden war,[2] verstarb er nur etwas mehr als einen Monat später, am 1. Januar 2015, an dieser Krankheit.[3] In den Jahren nach seiner Erblindung kam es bei Golub aufgrund der hohen Kosten der Therapien, Medikamente usw. zu finanziellen Engpässen, weshalb unter anderem eine Onlineauktion zu Gunsten Golubs gestartet wurde, die über 50.000 US-Dollar einbrachte.[4] Das letzte Jahr vor seinem Tod trat er, nachdem die Krankheit bereits so weit fortgeschritten war, nicht mehr als Künstler in Erscheinung. Einer seiner letzten Auftritte war jener beim Smooth Jazz Festival in Augsburg Mitte September 2013.
Er hinterließ seine Ehefrau Audrey Stafford sowie die gemeinsamen Söhne Christopher und Matthew.
Jeff Golub (April 15, 1955 – January 1, 2015) was an American jazz guitarist. Golub was a contemporary jazz guitarist with 12 solo albums and three CDs as the leader of the instrumental band, Avenue Blue. Before becoming an instrumentalist, Golub worked as a sideman to a number of successful rock and pop artists.
He was arguably best known for his work with Rod Stewart, with whom he played from 1988 until 1995 performing on four albums and five world tours, as well as recording the live DVD, One Night Only, at the Royal Albert Hall.
Biography
Born in Copley, Ohio, outside of Akron, Golub started playing by emulating 1960s blues rock guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix.[citation needed] Then, following up on the artists that these musicians cited as their inspiration, he delved deeper into the blues listening to Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, plus B.B., Albert, and Freddie King.
Golub was in his teens when he first heard a Wes Montgomery record. This moment set him on a whole new course which led him to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. While in Boston he played in The James Montgomery Band. From Boston, Golub moved to New York in 1980 where his first major gig was with Billy Squier. Golub appeared on seven albums and three world tours with Billy. He released his first solo recording, Unspoken Words for Gaia Records in 1988, but really embraced his role as band leader and instrumentalist with the release of Avenue Blue in 1994 for Mesa Bluemoon/Atlantic Records.
Golub was a member of Dave Koz & The Kozmos, the house band of The Emeril Lagasse Show.[1]
In June 2011, Golub became blind due to collapse of the optic nerve.[2]
In September 2012, Golub fell on the tracks of a subway but was saved by Good Samaritans. Golub was brought to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center with minor injuries.[3] He was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy in November 2014,[4] and died of the disease on January 1, 2015.
He was arguably best known for his work with Rod Stewart, with whom he played from 1988 until 1995 performing on four albums and five world tours, as well as recording the live DVD, One Night Only, at the Royal Albert Hall.
Biography
Born in Copley, Ohio, outside of Akron, Golub started playing by emulating 1960s blues rock guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix.[citation needed] Then, following up on the artists that these musicians cited as their inspiration, he delved deeper into the blues listening to Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, plus B.B., Albert, and Freddie King.
Golub was in his teens when he first heard a Wes Montgomery record. This moment set him on a whole new course which led him to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. While in Boston he played in The James Montgomery Band. From Boston, Golub moved to New York in 1980 where his first major gig was with Billy Squier. Golub appeared on seven albums and three world tours with Billy. He released his first solo recording, Unspoken Words for Gaia Records in 1988, but really embraced his role as band leader and instrumentalist with the release of Avenue Blue in 1994 for Mesa Bluemoon/Atlantic Records.
Golub was a member of Dave Koz & The Kozmos, the house band of The Emeril Lagasse Show.[1]
In June 2011, Golub became blind due to collapse of the optic nerve.[2]
In September 2012, Golub fell on the tracks of a subway but was saved by Good Samaritans. Golub was brought to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center with minor injuries.[3] He was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy in November 2014,[4] and died of the disease on January 1, 2015.
Jeff Golub "Boom Boom" 2009 Smooth Jazz Cruise
Jeff Golub - I'll Play The Blues For You
Brett Nod Clarke *15.04.1960
https://www.facebook.com/brettnod.clarke
Stormy Monday/Acoustic Blues
Brett (Nastyolddog) Clarke/Harmonica
Rob Conway Guitar/Vocals
Rob Conway Guitar/Vocals
Kara Grainger *15.04.
Australian-born blues singer/guitarist Kara Grainger may draw initial comparisons to Bonnie Raitt -- both play slide guitar and sing soulfully -- but she bears her own distinctive style, one that evenly balances the blues with soul and roots rock, something that can be heard on her solo albums as well as the music she made with her brother as part of two different bands -- Papa Lips and Grainger.
The Sydney blues band Papa Lips, which also featured her brother Mitch on harmonica, was the first professional outfit for Kara Grainger. During the late '90s, Papa Lips toured the east coast of Australia with regularity and their two albums, Harmony and High Time Now, garnered some acclaim. The band changed their name to Grainger in 2000 and released an EP, then Kara received an opportunity to play guitar with Cold Chisel's Steve Prestwich. This, along with a spot on television, helped elevate her profile and soon she started pursuing a solo career, first releasing an EP called Secret Soul, then following up with the full-length Grand and Green River in 2008. In 2013, she released Shiver & Sigh.
The Sydney blues band Papa Lips, which also featured her brother Mitch on harmonica, was the first professional outfit for Kara Grainger. During the late '90s, Papa Lips toured the east coast of Australia with regularity and their two albums, Harmony and High Time Now, garnered some acclaim. The band changed their name to Grainger in 2000 and released an EP, then Kara received an opportunity to play guitar with Cold Chisel's Steve Prestwich. This, along with a spot on television, helped elevate her profile and soon she started pursuing a solo career, first releasing an EP called Secret Soul, then following up with the full-length Grand and Green River in 2008. In 2013, she released Shiver & Sigh.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/kara-grainger-mn0001941988/biography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvDgM3IUM2E
Australian born artist Kara Grainger is a truly unique talent who continues to uplift and inspire audiences all around the world. Her debut Cd 'Grand and Green River' received first prize in the IAP awards in Austin Texas and also ran in the top 30 of the US Americana charts for 34 weeks. She has openned the show for Buddy Guy, Marc Cohn, Peter Frampton, Heart and Russell Crowe to name a few, and has also performed her own show at many Festivals and venues throughout the US. She has also toured constantly in Japan. Indonesia, Europe and ofcourse Australia Kara Grainger is currently preparing for her second European tour which will take her through Spain, France, Luxembourg and the UK, she will also be promoting her new Ep entitled "All I want is Now".
Classic songwriting skills, smooth sultry vocals, and the ability to whip up a storm with a fiery slide guitar. Very few can boast this set of trump cards, but it just happens to be the hand dealt to Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist Kara Grainger who exhibits an effortlessly seductive and modern take on roots, blues and soul music.
With inspiration from greats like Ry Cooder, Mavis Staples and John Lee Hooker, Kara's warm and accessible style is perfectly captured on her debut full-length record, GRAND AND GREEN RIVER.
The album also showcases some of America's most celebrated musicians, including blues/jazz guitarist Eric Johnson, Reggie McBride (Stevie Wonder, John Lee Hooker), Jeff Young (Jackson Browne) Richie Hayward (Little Feat), Arnold McCuller (James Taylor), and Grammy Award winning pianist Joel Guzman (Los Lobos). The Cd was released in Australia and the Us through Independent Australian label "Craving Records"
On the album, Kara Grainger sings of love, loss and heartache across a rich palette of swamp-blues, contemporary folk and fresh soul-pop grooves. It's a captivating blend of sounds – big on swagger, sugar and spice – and comes packed with passionate storytelling and provocative guitar work from a simply stunning entertainer.
In 2011 Kara Grainger released Her second solo Cd entitled 'LA Blues' The CD celebrated and paid homage to many of Kara's major musical influences. In June 2012 Kara is also set to release an EP of her own works entitled, "All I Want Is Now"
The calibre of talent working with Kara Grainger indicates how steadily her career is rising. Since first traveling to LA in 2005, Kara Grainger has showcased at SXSW and the 2006, 2007 and 2008 International Folk Alliance Conference in Austin and Memphis. She's also played regularly at Austin's famous Continental Club and at Hollywood's legendary House of Blues opening for legendary guitarist's Eric Johnson and Jonny Lang, also for fellow Australian performer Russell Crowe.
Of course, Kara's ascent has not come out of nowhere. Growing up in Australia, she spent the latter half of the 1990's as lead vocalist and guitarist with successful Sydney-based blues outfit, Papa Lips – the band became a regular fixture at Sydney's premiere music venue, "The Basement". Alongside her brother, acclaimed harmonica player "Mitch Grainger", Kara Grainger and Papa Lips enjoyed a quintessentially Australian experience. Fuelled by national ABC Radio play for their two albums (HARMONY and HIGH TIME NOW) the band toured up and down the sun drenched beach towns of Australia's east coast in the classic style of an old Tarago van.
They blew away audiences, soaked up the outdoor lifestyle, and notched up experience at all the significant blues and folk festivals along the way, such as the Woodford Folk Festival and the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival.
With the band's name change in 2000 to Grainger, an EP was recorded, featuring Kara's title track, "Sky isFalling" with producer Harry Vanda (ACDC, The Easy Beats) and the band continued to tour the country, with an acclaimed live performance aired on Country Music Television (CMT).
Then during her stint as guitarist-vocalist for the 'Steve Prestwich Band' (Cold Chisel), Kara Grainger was also featured in both the ABC-TV series "Live at The Basement" and the group's extended DVD release.
Kara has been going from strength to strength. She has toured extensively throughout Japan, Australia and parts of the US. She has also played at the Jakarta International Blues Festival for the last three years in a row. National tours in Australia also included supporting Eric Johnson, Amos Lee, Little Feat and Jeff Lang. Jeff Lang was so impressed by Kara's performances that he also offered to produced an Ep for Kara Grainger in 2010 The title track from her "Secret Soul" EP has also been played across Australian radio, on BBC Radio 2 in the UK, and was even a finalist in Billboard's International Songwriting Competition.
So what drives Kara Grainger? In short, she has an unflinching desire to express herself combined with a daily dedication to her craft. In person, she exudes the depth, grace and authenticity, which really set her apart from others. Of the songwriting process, Kara Grainger says, "While many of my songs are framed in tales of hardship and heartbreak they're really representative of life's spiritual challenges, and for me, a quest for the ultimate truth. It's very healing when the right words come for a song, so much so that when I sing them, it's like something is finally resolved." It gives me tremendous joy to sing and play my music, I aim to pass this feeling on to my audience's all over the world and to hopefully leave them inspired and uplifted.
Over the last 6 years Kara Grainger has been forging a touring pathway for herself as well as musicians all over Australia. Her fan base and career has only been expanding and her songs have been enjoyed and played all around the world, Her story is truly unique and her courage and dedication to her craft is inspiring to all Australians.
Classic songwriting skills, smooth sultry vocals, and the ability to whip up a storm with a fiery slide guitar. Very few can boast this set of trump cards, but it just happens to be the hand dealt to Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist Kara Grainger who exhibits an effortlessly seductive and modern take on roots, blues and soul music.
With inspiration from greats like Ry Cooder, Mavis Staples and John Lee Hooker, Kara's warm and accessible style is perfectly captured on her debut full-length record, GRAND AND GREEN RIVER.
The album also showcases some of America's most celebrated musicians, including blues/jazz guitarist Eric Johnson, Reggie McBride (Stevie Wonder, John Lee Hooker), Jeff Young (Jackson Browne) Richie Hayward (Little Feat), Arnold McCuller (James Taylor), and Grammy Award winning pianist Joel Guzman (Los Lobos). The Cd was released in Australia and the Us through Independent Australian label "Craving Records"
On the album, Kara Grainger sings of love, loss and heartache across a rich palette of swamp-blues, contemporary folk and fresh soul-pop grooves. It's a captivating blend of sounds – big on swagger, sugar and spice – and comes packed with passionate storytelling and provocative guitar work from a simply stunning entertainer.
In 2011 Kara Grainger released Her second solo Cd entitled 'LA Blues' The CD celebrated and paid homage to many of Kara's major musical influences. In June 2012 Kara is also set to release an EP of her own works entitled, "All I Want Is Now"
The calibre of talent working with Kara Grainger indicates how steadily her career is rising. Since first traveling to LA in 2005, Kara Grainger has showcased at SXSW and the 2006, 2007 and 2008 International Folk Alliance Conference in Austin and Memphis. She's also played regularly at Austin's famous Continental Club and at Hollywood's legendary House of Blues opening for legendary guitarist's Eric Johnson and Jonny Lang, also for fellow Australian performer Russell Crowe.
Of course, Kara's ascent has not come out of nowhere. Growing up in Australia, she spent the latter half of the 1990's as lead vocalist and guitarist with successful Sydney-based blues outfit, Papa Lips – the band became a regular fixture at Sydney's premiere music venue, "The Basement". Alongside her brother, acclaimed harmonica player "Mitch Grainger", Kara Grainger and Papa Lips enjoyed a quintessentially Australian experience. Fuelled by national ABC Radio play for their two albums (HARMONY and HIGH TIME NOW) the band toured up and down the sun drenched beach towns of Australia's east coast in the classic style of an old Tarago van.
They blew away audiences, soaked up the outdoor lifestyle, and notched up experience at all the significant blues and folk festivals along the way, such as the Woodford Folk Festival and the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival.
With the band's name change in 2000 to Grainger, an EP was recorded, featuring Kara's title track, "Sky isFalling" with producer Harry Vanda (ACDC, The Easy Beats) and the band continued to tour the country, with an acclaimed live performance aired on Country Music Television (CMT).
Then during her stint as guitarist-vocalist for the 'Steve Prestwich Band' (Cold Chisel), Kara Grainger was also featured in both the ABC-TV series "Live at The Basement" and the group's extended DVD release.
Kara has been going from strength to strength. She has toured extensively throughout Japan, Australia and parts of the US. She has also played at the Jakarta International Blues Festival for the last three years in a row. National tours in Australia also included supporting Eric Johnson, Amos Lee, Little Feat and Jeff Lang. Jeff Lang was so impressed by Kara's performances that he also offered to produced an Ep for Kara Grainger in 2010 The title track from her "Secret Soul" EP has also been played across Australian radio, on BBC Radio 2 in the UK, and was even a finalist in Billboard's International Songwriting Competition.
So what drives Kara Grainger? In short, she has an unflinching desire to express herself combined with a daily dedication to her craft. In person, she exudes the depth, grace and authenticity, which really set her apart from others. Of the songwriting process, Kara Grainger says, "While many of my songs are framed in tales of hardship and heartbreak they're really representative of life's spiritual challenges, and for me, a quest for the ultimate truth. It's very healing when the right words come for a song, so much so that when I sing them, it's like something is finally resolved." It gives me tremendous joy to sing and play my music, I aim to pass this feeling on to my audience's all over the world and to hopefully leave them inspired and uplifted.
Over the last 6 years Kara Grainger has been forging a touring pathway for herself as well as musicians all over Australia. Her fan base and career has only been expanding and her songs have been enjoyed and played all around the world, Her story is truly unique and her courage and dedication to her craft is inspiring to all Australians.
Kara Grainger - The Sky Is Falling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvDgM3IUM2E
Patrick Carney *15.04.1980
Patrick James Carney (born April 15, 1980) is an American musician best known as the drummer for The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. He also has a side-project rock band called Drummer.
Early life
Carney's father, Jim, and stepmother, Katie Byard, are reporters for the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio. His mother, Mary Stormer, is an Akron Municipal Court deputy clerk and is a former member of the Akron Board of Education. His stepfather, Barry Stormer, owns B. A. Stormer Construction Services. His uncle, Ralph Carney, is a professional sax player, and has played with Tom Waits, among others. After Carney's parents divorced when he was 8, he lived part of the time with his mother, Mary Stormer, and part of the time with his father, Jim Carney, who had moved to a different neighborhood on the west side of Akron, Ohio. Dan Auerbach also lived in this neighborhood, and the two met and played tag football with Auerbach's friends, although they did not become friends until high school. As a teenager, Carney was musically influenced by bands such as Pavement, Captain Beefheart and fellow Akron band Devo.[2]
Music career
In 2001 Carney and Auerbach, lead singer and guitarist, formed The Black Keys, releasing their debut album The Big Come Up less than a year later. This was followed by Thickfreakness in 2003 and Rubber Factory in 2004. The band's fourth album Magic Potion was released in 2006. Attack & Release, their critically acclaimed fifth album was released in 2008, with a follow up in 2010 titled Brothers. In 2011, the band released the album El Camino. The band's latest album is Turn Blue, released in 2014.
Both Carney and Auerbach record with Nonesuch Records. In 2009, Carney joined the 9th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to support independent musicians' careers.[3][4][5] Carney has produced records for Beaten Awake, Houseguest, Churchbuilder, and The Black Keys. He is the founder of Audio Eagle Records.
Drummer
In 2009, while fellow Black Keys member Dan Auerbach was on his solo tour, Carney formed a new band called Drummer in which he played bass. Each of the band's members had played drums in another band. They released Feel Good Together, their debut album in the same year.
Other ventures
In 2012, he produced the self-titled album for Canadian rockers The Sheepdogs. Atlantic Records released it on September 4 of that year. In 2011, he produced the second studio album by Tennis, titled Young & Old, which was released on Fat Possum Records on February 14, 2012. Carney also contributed the main title music to the 2014 Netflix show "BoJack Horseman".
Carney is the drummer on The Rentals' 2014 album Lost in Alphaville. [6]
Audio Eagle Records
In 2005, Carney created Audio Eagle Records; an independent record label. It signed acts such as Houseguest, Royal Bangs and Carney's own side-project Drummer. Carney shut the label down in 2010.
Personal life
Carney married his first wife, writer Denise Grollmus, in 2007.[7] The couple acrimoniously divorced in 2009. Both talked about the messy breakup in the media, Patrick in the Rolling Stone's May 27, 2010, issue and Denise in her essay, entitled Snapshots From a Rock 'N' Roll Marriage, published on Salon on March 3, 2011.[8]
In 2010, Carney and his bandmate, Dan Auerbach, moved from Akron, OH, and purchased homes in Nashville, TN.[9] They recorded their El Camino album at Auerbach's newly completed Nashville studio, Easy Eye Sound Studio.
On February 13, 2011, hours before the Grammys in Los Angeles, CA, Carney proposed to his girlfriend, Emily Ward. They married on September 15, 2012, in the backyard of their Nashville home.[10] The wedding ceremony was officiated by actor Will Forte.[11] The wedding party included Ward's siblings Danielle Shuster & Henry Ward, Carney's brothers Will Carney, Michael Carney, & Barry Stormer, and the couple's Irish wolfhound, Charlotte. Wearing Carolina Herrera, Ward walked down the aisle to Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells. Carney and Ward invited 350 guests, including bandmate Dan Auerbach and professional snowboarder Shaun White, who was later arrested and charged with vandalism and public intoxication at a hotel in Nashville, TN after the wedding reception.
Early life
Carney's father, Jim, and stepmother, Katie Byard, are reporters for the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio. His mother, Mary Stormer, is an Akron Municipal Court deputy clerk and is a former member of the Akron Board of Education. His stepfather, Barry Stormer, owns B. A. Stormer Construction Services. His uncle, Ralph Carney, is a professional sax player, and has played with Tom Waits, among others. After Carney's parents divorced when he was 8, he lived part of the time with his mother, Mary Stormer, and part of the time with his father, Jim Carney, who had moved to a different neighborhood on the west side of Akron, Ohio. Dan Auerbach also lived in this neighborhood, and the two met and played tag football with Auerbach's friends, although they did not become friends until high school. As a teenager, Carney was musically influenced by bands such as Pavement, Captain Beefheart and fellow Akron band Devo.[2]
Music career
In 2001 Carney and Auerbach, lead singer and guitarist, formed The Black Keys, releasing their debut album The Big Come Up less than a year later. This was followed by Thickfreakness in 2003 and Rubber Factory in 2004. The band's fourth album Magic Potion was released in 2006. Attack & Release, their critically acclaimed fifth album was released in 2008, with a follow up in 2010 titled Brothers. In 2011, the band released the album El Camino. The band's latest album is Turn Blue, released in 2014.
Both Carney and Auerbach record with Nonesuch Records. In 2009, Carney joined the 9th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to support independent musicians' careers.[3][4][5] Carney has produced records for Beaten Awake, Houseguest, Churchbuilder, and The Black Keys. He is the founder of Audio Eagle Records.
Drummer
In 2009, while fellow Black Keys member Dan Auerbach was on his solo tour, Carney formed a new band called Drummer in which he played bass. Each of the band's members had played drums in another band. They released Feel Good Together, their debut album in the same year.
Other ventures
In 2012, he produced the self-titled album for Canadian rockers The Sheepdogs. Atlantic Records released it on September 4 of that year. In 2011, he produced the second studio album by Tennis, titled Young & Old, which was released on Fat Possum Records on February 14, 2012. Carney also contributed the main title music to the 2014 Netflix show "BoJack Horseman".
Carney is the drummer on The Rentals' 2014 album Lost in Alphaville. [6]
Audio Eagle Records
In 2005, Carney created Audio Eagle Records; an independent record label. It signed acts such as Houseguest, Royal Bangs and Carney's own side-project Drummer. Carney shut the label down in 2010.
Personal life
Carney married his first wife, writer Denise Grollmus, in 2007.[7] The couple acrimoniously divorced in 2009. Both talked about the messy breakup in the media, Patrick in the Rolling Stone's May 27, 2010, issue and Denise in her essay, entitled Snapshots From a Rock 'N' Roll Marriage, published on Salon on March 3, 2011.[8]
In 2010, Carney and his bandmate, Dan Auerbach, moved from Akron, OH, and purchased homes in Nashville, TN.[9] They recorded their El Camino album at Auerbach's newly completed Nashville studio, Easy Eye Sound Studio.
On February 13, 2011, hours before the Grammys in Los Angeles, CA, Carney proposed to his girlfriend, Emily Ward. They married on September 15, 2012, in the backyard of their Nashville home.[10] The wedding ceremony was officiated by actor Will Forte.[11] The wedding party included Ward's siblings Danielle Shuster & Henry Ward, Carney's brothers Will Carney, Michael Carney, & Barry Stormer, and the couple's Irish wolfhound, Charlotte. Wearing Carolina Herrera, Ward walked down the aisle to Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells. Carney and Ward invited 350 guests, including bandmate Dan Auerbach and professional snowboarder Shaun White, who was later arrested and charged with vandalism and public intoxication at a hotel in Nashville, TN after the wedding reception.
The Black Keys - Gold On The Ceiling - Lowlands 2012
Lightnin Wells *15.04
Der Roots-Musiker LIGHTNIN' WELLS kommt aus Fountain, North Carolina, USA. In seiner über 40jährigen Karriere konnte sich Michael "Lightnin' Wells als einer der kompetentesten und authentischsten Musiker des "Americana" Genres etablieren. Zu hören sein wird eine anbechslungsreiche Mischung von diversen Spielarten des Blues, wobei sein Schwerpunkt auf dem vom Ragtime beeinflussten "Piedmont" Blues der Ostküste des Südens der USA liegt, sowie sein schier unerschöpfliches Repertoire von Folk Songs, Boogies, Gospel, Hillbilly Musik und Pop Songs der 1920er bis 40er Jahre. Bei seinem Auftritt wird Lightnin' Wells als exzellenter Finger - Picker auf der Gitarre zu hören sein und ebenfalls auf der Mundharmonika, dem 5-string Banjo und auf der Ukulele.
Von Lightnin' Wells gibt es bereits 5 CDs und er spielte ua. mit den Bluesveteranen Big Boy Henry, George Herbert Moore , Algia Mae Hinton (von denen er auch CDs produzierte), sowie mit John Dee Holeman, Etta Baker, Cootie Stark und Taj Mahal. Big Boy Henry aus North Carolina sagte über ihn: "Lightnin' ist der beste weisse Junge, der den Blues spielt". Hiervon kann sich an diesem Aben jeder überzeugen der ein Fan von herausragendem Fingerpicking und amerikanischer Folk und Roots Musik ist.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1635247336752491
Mike "Lightnin'" Wells breathes new life into the vintage tunes of the 1920s and depression era America employing various appropriate stringed instruments in a dynamic style which he has developed in over thirty years of performing experience. Raised in eastern North Carolina, Wells learned to play harmonica as a young child and taught himself to play the guitar as he developed a strong interest in traditional blues and folk music. His many years of public performance began in Chapel Hill, N.C. in the early 1970s. During the following decades he has presented his brand of acoustic blues throughout North Carolina, the United States and Europe.
Lightnin' Wells produced the first commercial recordings of the N.C. blues veterans Big Boy Henry, Algia Mae Hinton and George Higgs. He has traveled and performed extensively with these musicians and has documented their backgrounds and musical histories for future generations. He is also a life-long student and devotee of the pioneering performers in the piedmont blues tradition which once thrived in the Carolinas, including such artists as Blind Boy Fuller, Rev. Gary Davis and Elizabeth Cotton; deceased musicians whose influence seems only to grow with time.
His first solo recording Bull Frog Blues established his blues credentials while his sophomore effort Ragtime Millionaire strengthened his association with the Carolina-piedmont style of blues. His third release Ragged But Right stretched out to explore more facets of American folk music including old-time, country, jazz, ragtime, and early popular music as well as piedmont style blues selections.
The year 2008 saw two new Lightnin' Wells CD releases. Shake 'Em on Down was recorded on the west coast of the U.S. and features solo acoustic renditions of piedmont and delta blues with selections from the American old-time country and popular-music catalogs for added variety. Jump Little Children: Old Songs for Young Folks was designed with the younger listener in mind. These remastered home recordings offer a wide variety of American roots music including children's favorites, blues, folk tunes, old-time music and vaudeville.
Lightnin' remains an insatiable student and researcher, studying the various forms of American roots music from bygone eras. He plays a number of instruments besides the guitar including the harmonica, ukulele, mandolin and banjo. He has taught blues guitar at most of the leading "Blues Weeks" sponsored by universities and teaching organizations throughout the country. He served for ten years as a board member for the Music Maker Relief Foundation which assists elderly blues and old-time musicians to meet their basic needs and continues to serve this organization in an advisory capacity. He is presently included in the North Carolina Arts Council's Touring Artist Roster for 2008-2009 as well as the American Traditions National Roster through the Southern Arts Federation.
With his experience, knowledge and well-honed performance skills, Lightnin' Wells has established himself at the forefront of the traditional blues revival. His musical style is personal and energetic yet remains true to the original root form. His goal is to entertain and educate using a variety of sources, influences and techniques to express his dedication, respect and pleasure in presenting this unique American art form. Wrote one recent reviewer; "Whether you look for to performers for inspiration, education, virtuosity, or sheer entertainment, Lightnin' Wells delivers all the above, every single time".
His first solo recording Bull Frog Blues established his blues credentials while his sophomore effort Ragtime Millionaire strengthened his association with the Carolina-piedmont style of blues. His third release Ragged But Right stretched out to explore more facets of American folk music including old-time, country, jazz, ragtime, and early popular music as well as piedmont style blues selections.
The year 2008 saw two new Lightnin' Wells CD releases. Shake 'Em on Down was recorded on the west coast of the U.S. and features solo acoustic renditions of piedmont and delta blues with selections from the American old-time country and popular-music catalogs for added variety. Jump Little Children: Old Songs for Young Folks was designed with the younger listener in mind. These remastered home recordings offer a wide variety of American roots music including children's favorites, blues, folk tunes, old-time music and vaudeville.
Lightnin' remains an insatiable student and researcher, studying the various forms of American roots music from bygone eras. He plays a number of instruments besides the guitar including the harmonica, ukulele, mandolin and banjo. He has taught blues guitar at most of the leading "Blues Weeks" sponsored by universities and teaching organizations throughout the country. He served for ten years as a board member for the Music Maker Relief Foundation which assists elderly blues and old-time musicians to meet their basic needs and continues to serve this organization in an advisory capacity. He is presently included in the North Carolina Arts Council's Touring Artist Roster for 2008-2009 as well as the American Traditions National Roster through the Southern Arts Federation.
With his experience, knowledge and well-honed performance skills, Lightnin' Wells has established himself at the forefront of the traditional blues revival. His musical style is personal and energetic yet remains true to the original root form. His goal is to entertain and educate using a variety of sources, influences and techniques to express his dedication, respect and pleasure in presenting this unique American art form. Wrote one recent reviewer; "Whether you look for to performers for inspiration, education, virtuosity, or sheer entertainment, Lightnin' Wells delivers all the above, every single time".
Lightnin' Wells: "Little Sadie"
Lightnin' Wells: "Broke and Hungry"
R.I.P.
Little Joe Cook +15.04.2014
Joseph
Cook (December 29, 1922 – April 15, 2014), known as Little Joe Cook,
was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. He is best known
as the lead singer of Little Joe & The Thrillers, whose song
"Peanuts" reached no. 22 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1957.
He was born in South Philadelphia, and started singing in church. His mother, Annie Hall, was a locally well-known blues singer and his grandmother was a Baptist preacher.[2][3] By the time he was 12, he and three cousins had formed a gospel vocal quartet, the Evening Stars, who had a one-hour weekly radio show in Philadelphia. Cook was noted for his falsetto singing as well as his personality, and first recorded in 1949. In 1951 the group recorded "Say A Prayer for the Boys In Korea" for Apex Records.[2] He also worked in shipbuilding for the US Navy, and as a delivery driver.[4]
In the early 1950s Cook decided to make the transition to secular rhythm and blues music,[3] later declining an offer to join The Soul Stirrers after Sam Cooke left.[2] He formed a new doo-wop vocal group, the Thrillers, with Farrie Hill (second lead), Richard Frazier (tenor), Donald Burnett (baritone), and Henry Pascal (bass). They won a contract with OKeh Records in 1956, and their first single, "Do the Slop," was a regional hit in Philadelphia and New York. The song introduced a new dance craze, and the group performed at the Apollo Theater.[5]
The group's second single, "Peanuts", was written by Cook and again featured his falsetto as the lead. Released in 1957, it won the group an appearance on American Bandstand, and rose to no. 22 on the national pop chart,[6] though it failed to make the R&B chart. Cook's falsetto singing style was reportedly an influence on singers Frankie Valli, who recorded "Peanuts" with The Four Seasons, and Lou Christie.[2][3]
Later recordings by the group were less successful, though they continued to release singles on the OKeh label until 1961. After a brief stay with 20th Century Records, the group broke up.[5] Cook began performing solo, and toured with B. B. King and Bobby "Blue" Bland.[2] He also formed a group, The Sherrys, with his daughters, Delthine and Dinell Cook and their friends Charlotte Butler and Delores "Honey" Wylie. Their record "Pop Pop Pop-Pie" reached No. 25 on the R&B chart in 1962.[7]
Cook moved to Boston in the late 1960s, and continued to perform in clubs. He had a residency at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1980 until he retired in 2007,[3][5] being voted the region's Best Local R&B Performer in 2002.[2]
Cook died on April 15, 2014, at the age of 91. He is survived by his wife Joanne and six children.
He was born in South Philadelphia, and started singing in church. His mother, Annie Hall, was a locally well-known blues singer and his grandmother was a Baptist preacher.[2][3] By the time he was 12, he and three cousins had formed a gospel vocal quartet, the Evening Stars, who had a one-hour weekly radio show in Philadelphia. Cook was noted for his falsetto singing as well as his personality, and first recorded in 1949. In 1951 the group recorded "Say A Prayer for the Boys In Korea" for Apex Records.[2] He also worked in shipbuilding for the US Navy, and as a delivery driver.[4]
In the early 1950s Cook decided to make the transition to secular rhythm and blues music,[3] later declining an offer to join The Soul Stirrers after Sam Cooke left.[2] He formed a new doo-wop vocal group, the Thrillers, with Farrie Hill (second lead), Richard Frazier (tenor), Donald Burnett (baritone), and Henry Pascal (bass). They won a contract with OKeh Records in 1956, and their first single, "Do the Slop," was a regional hit in Philadelphia and New York. The song introduced a new dance craze, and the group performed at the Apollo Theater.[5]
The group's second single, "Peanuts", was written by Cook and again featured his falsetto as the lead. Released in 1957, it won the group an appearance on American Bandstand, and rose to no. 22 on the national pop chart,[6] though it failed to make the R&B chart. Cook's falsetto singing style was reportedly an influence on singers Frankie Valli, who recorded "Peanuts" with The Four Seasons, and Lou Christie.[2][3]
Later recordings by the group were less successful, though they continued to release singles on the OKeh label until 1961. After a brief stay with 20th Century Records, the group broke up.[5] Cook began performing solo, and toured with B. B. King and Bobby "Blue" Bland.[2] He also formed a group, The Sherrys, with his daughters, Delthine and Dinell Cook and their friends Charlotte Butler and Delores "Honey" Wylie. Their record "Pop Pop Pop-Pie" reached No. 25 on the R&B chart in 1962.[7]
Cook moved to Boston in the late 1960s, and continued to perform in clubs. He had a residency at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1980 until he retired in 2007,[3][5] being voted the region's Best Local R&B Performer in 2002.[2]
Cook died on April 15, 2014, at the age of 91. He is survived by his wife Joanne and six children.
Little Joe Cook: "Down at the Cantab"
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