1883 Mamie Smith*
1909 Papa Charlie McCoy*
1940 Levon Helm*
1949 Hank Williams, Jr.*
1958 „Baby Face“ Leroy Foster+
1968 Little Willie John+
1971 Stefan Kerth*
1976 John Henry Fortescue (Guitar Shorty)+
1987 Robert Wilkins+
Happy Birthday
Levon Helm *26.05.1940
Mark Lavon „Levon“ Helm (* 26. Mai 1940 in Marvell, Arkansas; † 19. April 2012 in New York City[1]) war ein US-amerikanischer Musiker. Er spielte ab 1958 bei dem Rockabilly-Sänger Ronnie Hawkins, später war er Gründungsmitglied von The Band. Levon Helms Hauptinstrument war das Schlagzeug, er spielte aber auch Gitarre und Mandoline. Sein Gesang verlieh vielen Klassikern von The Band eine unverwechselbare Stimme.
Levon Helm war ein Sohn des amerikanischen Südens; er wuchs auf einer Farm im Mississippi Delta auf und wurde ab seiner Kindheit mit der reichen Musiktradition dieser Region enkulturiert. Im Gegensatz zu vielen Rockmusikern seiner Zeit waren die Stilrichtungen Country, Blues, Gospel und Folk für ihn keine Sehnsuchtsmotive, sondern ein Teil seiner frühen Sozialisation.[2] Nachdem er Elvis Presley gesehen hatte, wollte Levon Helm selbst Rock ’n’ Roll spielen. Zu seinen Vorbildern gehörten auch Bo Diddley und Peck Curtis, Schlagzeuger bei Sonny Boy Williamson II. and The King Biscuit Boys. Nach seinem Umzug nach Memphis wurde der 17-jährige Levon Helm im Jahre 1957 von Ronnie Hawkins entdeckt und unter seine Fittiche genommen. Helm spielte bei den Aufnahmen der Hawkins-Hits Mary Lou und Forty Days Schlagzeug. Obwohl er die Schule noch nicht abgeschlossen hatte, folgte er Hawkins 1958 nach Toronto. 1963 verließ er gemeinsam mit seinen kanadischen Mitmusikern Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel und Robbie Robertson Ronnie Hawkins, um zuerst als Levon and the Hawks und später als The Band in die Geschichte der Rockmusik einzugehen.Bob Dylan heuerte Mitte des Jahres 1965 "The Hawks" als Begleitband an, nachdem er kurz zuvor den Gitarristen Robbie Robertson und Levon Helm kennengelernt hatte. Zermürbt von den Anfeindungen vieler Dylan-Fans - die dessen neue, elektrisch verstärkte Musik als Verrat an den Folkidealen betrachteten - verließ Levon Helm jedoch kurz darauf Bob Dylan.[3] Er kehrte nach Arkansas zurück und wollte das Musikbusiness endgültig hinter sich lassen. Mitte 1967 holten ihn jedoch Dylan und seine Band, die sich nun "The Band" nannte, wegen der Aufnahmen für die Basement Tapes zurück. Sie benötigten Helms Stimme und seine Perkussion. Nach den Basement Tapes trennte sich The Band von Dylan und nahm ihr erstes Studioalbum Music from Big Pink auf. Stücke wie The Weight und The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, bei denen Helm die Lead-Stimme sang, wurden zu den bekanntesten Titeln von The Band. Nach ihrem letzten Studioalbum Islands und ihrem Abschiedskonzert The Last Waltz im Jahre 1976 löste sich die Gruppe auf. Um Levon Helm blieb es nicht lange ruhig. Bereits 1977 nahm er sein erstes Solo-Album, Levon Helm and the RCO All Stars, auf, gefolgt von Levon Helm 1978. 1980 und 1982 folgten zwei weitere Solo-Alben und eine Reunion von The Band mit Jim Weider, der Robbie Robertson ersetzte. 1993 gründete er sein eigenes Plattenstudio in Woodstock und es erschien seine Autobiografie This Wheel’s On Fire.
Ende der 1990er Jahre wurde bei Levon Helm Kehlkopfkrebs diagnostiziert. Er unterzog sich einer langwierigen Radiotherapie. Wie durch ein Wunder kehrte seine verloren geglaubte Gesundheit und seine Tenor-Stimme soweit zurück, dass er mit der gesanglichen Unterstützung seiner Tochter Amy, des Multiinstrumentalisten und Produzenten Larry Campbell und dessen Frau Teresa Williams 2002 eine Konzertreihe starten konnte. Diese Konzerte fanden zunächst unter dem Namen „Midnight Ramble“ mit einer Reihe von illustren Gästen (u. a. Elvis Costello, Donald Fagen, Jon Herrington, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Kris Kristofferson) regelmäßig in seiner Scheune bei Woodstock (New York) statt. Mit den Einnahmen konnte Levon Helm seine hohen Behandlungskosten begleichen. Mit der Kernbesetzung der wöchentlichen "Midnight Rambles" veröffentlichte Levon Helm drei Alben: "Dirt Farmer" (2007), "Electric Dirt" (2009) und das Live-Album "Ramble at the Ryman" (2011). Alle drei Alben gewannen einen Grammy.[4]
Helm hatte 2005 in dem Film Three Burials – Die drei Begräbnisse des Melquiades Estrada eine Rolle als alter blinder Mann, der nur mexikanisches Radio hört. Später folgten weitere Rollen in größeren Hollywoodproduktionen, wie Shooter (2007) und In the Electric Mist (2008).
Bei den Grammy Awards 2008 erhielt Helm die Auszeichnung in der Kategorie das „Bestes traditionelles Folkalbum“ für Dirt Farmer. Im Februar 2009 wurde Levon Helm auf Platz 91 der „100 größten Sänger aller Zeiten“ des Rolling Stone gewählt, My-Morning-Jacket-Sänger Jim James schrieb in seiner Würdigung über Helm: „Nachdem Papa Garth Hudson ja nicht wirklich sang, empfand ich immer Levon als die gesangliche Vaterfigur in The Band. Er wirkt stark und selbstbewusst, eben wie ein Vater, der einen nach Hause ruft oder auch mal ausschimpft. … Levons Stimme, die ist wie ein robustes altes Bauernhaus.“[5] Der Song Levon auf dem Album Madman Across the Water (1971) von Elton John ist nach Levon Helm benannt.
Am 19. April 2012 verstarb Levon Helm im Alter von 71 Jahren infolge seiner Krebserkrankung.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levon_Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012)[1] was an American rock and Americana musician and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and regular lead vocalist for the Band. Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style highlighted on many of the Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".
Helm also had a successful career as a film actor: appearing as Loretta Lynn's father in the Coal Miner's Daughter, as Chuck Yeager's friend and colleague Captain Jack Ridley in The Right Stuff, and as an iconic, Tennessee firearms expert in Shooter.
In 1998, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer, which caused him to lose his singing voice. After treatment, his cancer eventually went into remission, and he gradually regained the use of his voice. His 2007 comeback album Dirt Farmer earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008, and in November of that year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No. 91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.[2] In 2010, Electric Dirt, his 2009 follow-up to Dirt Farmer, won the first Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, a category inaugurated in 2010.[3] In 2011, his live album Ramble at the Ryman won the Grammy in the same category.[4] On April 17, 2012, his wife and daughter announced on Helm's website that he was "in the final stages of his battle with cancer" and thanked fans while requesting prayers. Two days later, Helm died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.[1]
Biography
Early years
Born in Elaine, Arkansas,[5] Helm grew up in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, a hamlet west of Helena, Arkansas. His parents, Nell and Diamond Helm, cotton farmers and also great lovers of music, encouraged their children to play and sing. Young Lavon (as he was christened) began playing the guitar at the age of eight and also played drums during his formative years. He saw Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys at the age of six and decided then to become a musician.
Arkansas in the 1940s and 50s stood at the confluence of a variety of musical styles—blues, country and R&B—that later became known as rock and roll. Listening to all these styles on the Grand Ole Opry show on radio station WSM and R&B on radio station WLAC out of Nashville, Tennessee influenced Helm. He also saw traveling shows such as F.S. Walcott's Rabbit's Foot Minstrels that featured top African-American artists of the time.
Another early influence on Helm was the work of harmonica, guitarist and singer Sonny Boy Williamson II, who played blues and early rhythm and blues on the King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA in Helena and performed regularly in Marvell with blues guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr. In his 1993 autobiography, This Wheel's on Fire – Levon Helm and the Story of The Band, Helm describes watching Williamson's drummer, James "Peck" Curtis, intently during a live performance in the early 1950s and later imitating this R&B drumming style. Helm established his first band, The Jungle Bush Beaters, while in high school.
Helm also witnessed some of the earliest performances by Southern country music, blues and rockabilly artists such as Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, Bo Diddley and a fellow Arkansan, Ronnie Hawkins. At age 17, Helm began playing in clubs and bars around Helena.
The Hawks
After graduating from high school, Helm was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins's band, The Hawks, a popular Southern bar and club act which also had success in Canada, where rockabilly acts were very popular. Soon after, Helm joined The Hawks, and they moved to Toronto, Canada, where, in 1959, they signed with Roulette Records and released several singles, including a few hits.
Helm reports in his biography, This Wheel's on Fire, that fellow Hawks band members had difficulty pronouncing "Lavon" correctly, and started calling him "Levon" (/ˈliːvɒn/ LEE-von) because it was easier to pronounce.
In the early 1960s, Helm and Hawkins recruited an all-Canadian lineup of musicians: guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel, and organist Garth Hudson – although all the musicians were multi-instrumentalists. In 1963, the band parted ways with Hawkins and started touring under the name "Levon and The Hawks," and later as "The Canadian Squires," before finally changing back to "The Hawks." They recorded two singles, but remained mostly a popular touring bar band in Texas, Arkansas, Canada, and on the East Coast of the United States, where they found regular summer club gigs on the New Jersey shore.
By the mid-1960s, songwriter and musician Bob Dylan was interested in performing electric rock music and asked the Hawks to be his backing band. Disheartened by fans' negative response to Dylan's new sound, Helm returned to Arkansas for what turned out to be a two-year layoff, being replaced by drummer Mickey Jones. It is often reported that during this period Helm worked on off-shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico until he was asked to rejoin the band. This may be possible, but it is also a fact that in late fall of 1965 he left New York for Los Angeles, where he stayed until the fall of 1966, living with his girlfriend at the time, Bonnie Diamond. He spent some of his time there in a pick-up band that featured Leon Russell, Bobby Keyes and other notable musicians and which played gigs in Watts and other parts of the city. With the completion of Dylan's world tour, which included the other four members of the Hawks, Helm went back to Arkansas – to home, to the "woodshed", as he called it, to consider his options. The eventual result was a return to Woodstock to rejoin his group.
After the Hawks toured Europe with Dylan, they followed him back to the U.S. and settled near Woodstock, New York, remaining under salary to him. The Hawks recorded a large number of demo and practice tapes in Woodstock, playing almost daily with Dylan, who had completely withdrawn from public life the previous year. These recordings were widely bootlegged and were partially released officially in 1975 as The Basement Tapes. The songs and themes developed during this period played a crucial role in the group's future direction and style. The Hawks members also began writing their own songs. Rick Danko and Richard Manuel also shared writing credits with Dylan on a few songs.
The Band
Helm returned to the group, then referred to simply as "the band", as it was known around Woodstock. While contemplating a recording contract, Helm had dubbed the band as "The Crackers." However, when Robertson and their new manager Albert Grossman worked out the contracts, the group's name was cited as "The Band." Under these contracts, The Band was contracted to Grossman, who in turn contracted their services to Capitol Records. This arrangement allowed The Band to release recordings on other labels if the work was done in support of Dylan.[citation needed] This allowed The Band to play on Dylan's Planet Waves album and on The Last Waltz, both non-Capitol releases. The Band also recorded their own album Music from Big Pink (1968), which catapulted them into stardom.
On Music From Big Pink, Manuel was the most prominent vocalist and Helm sang backup and harmony, with the exception of "The Weight." However, as Manuel's health deteriorated and Robbie Robertson's songwriting increasingly looked to the South for influence and direction, subsequent albums relied more and more on Helm's vocals, alone or in harmony with Danko. Helm was primarily a drummer and vocalist, and increasingly sang lead, although, like all his bandmates, he was also a multi-instrumentalist. On occasion, Manuel switched to drums while Helm played mandolin, guitar, and bass guitar on some songs. This included the 12-string guitar backdrop to "Daniel and the Sacred Harp", bass (while Danko played fiddle).[6]
Helm remained with The Band until their farewell performance on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, The Last Waltz, which was recorded in a documentary film by director Martin Scorsese. The documentary is widely considered the greatest rock and roll film ever made.
Many music enthusiasts know Helm through his appearance in the concert film, a performance remarkable for the fact that Helm's vocal tracks appear substantially as he sang them during a grueling concert. However, Helm repudiated his involvement with The Last Waltz shortly after the completion of its final scenes. In his autobiography, Helm offers scathing criticisms of the film and of Robertson, who produced it.[7]
Solo, acting and the reformed Band
With the breakup of The Band in its original form, Helm began working on a solo album Levon Helm and the RCO All Stars, with Paul Butterfield and Emmaretta Marks, Howard Johnson, Steve Cropper, Donald Duck Dunn & Booker T, followed by Levon Helm. Helm recorded solo albums in 1980 and 1982 entitled American Son and (once again) Levon Helm. Helm also participated in musician Paul Kennerley's 1980 country music concept album, The Legend of Jesse James, singing the role of Jesse James alongside Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Albert Lee.
In addition to his work as musician, Helm also acted in several dramatic films after the breakup of The Band. His first acting role was the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter in which he portrayed Loretta Lynn's father, followed three years later when he appeared as U.S. Air Force test pilot and engineer, Captain Jack Ridley, in The Right Stuff. He played as a Kentucky backwoods preacher along with Steven Seagal in Fire Down Below. He played an eccentric old man in the 2005 film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, and appeared as Gen. John Bell Hood in the 2009 film In The Electric Mist. He also had a brief cameo as a weapons expert in the film Shooter with Mark Wahlberg.
In 1983, The Band reunited without Robbie Robertson, with Jim Weider on guitar. In 1986, while on tour, Manuel committed suicide. Helm, Danko and Hudson continued in The Band, releasing the album Jericho in 1993 and High on the Hog in 1996. The final album from The Band was the 30th anniversary album, Jubilation, released in 1998.
In 1989, Helm and Danko toured with drummer Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band. Other musicians in the band included singer/guitarist Joe Walsh, singer/pianist Dr. John, guitarist Nils Lofgren, singer Billy Preston, saxophonist Clarence Clemons and drummer Jim Keltner. Garth Hudson was a guest on accordion on certain dates. Levon played drums and harmonica, and sang "The Weight" and "Up on Cripple Creek" each night.
Helm performed with Danko and Hudson as The Band in 1990 at Roger Waters' epic The Wall – Live in Berlin Concert in Germany to an estimated 300,000 to half a million people.
In 1993, Helm published an autobiography entitled This Wheel's on Fire – Levon Helm and the Story of The Band.
The Midnight Ramble
Helm's performance career in the 2000s revolved mainly around the Midnight Ramble at his home and studio, "The Barn," in Woodstock, New York. These concerts, featuring Helm and a variety of musical guests, allowed Helm to raise money for his medical bills and to resume performing after a nearly career-ending bout with cancer.
In the late 1990s, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer after suffering hoarseness. Advised to undergo a laryngectomy, Helm instead underwent an arduous regimen of radiation treatments at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Although the tumor was then successfully removed, Helm's vocal cords were damaged, and his clear, powerful tenor voice was replaced by a quiet rasp. Initially Helm only played drums and relied on guest vocalists at the Rambles, but Helm's singing voice grew stronger. On January 10, 2004, he sang again at his Ramble Sessions. In 2007, during production of Dirt Farmer, Helm estimated that his singing voice was 80% recovered.
The Levon Helm Band featured his daughter Amy Helm, along with Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Jim Weider (the Band's last guitarist), Jimmy Vivino, Mike Merritt, Brian Mitchell, Erik Lawrence, Steven Bernstein, Howard Johnson (tuba player in the horn section who played on The Band's Rock of Ages and The Last Waltz live albums), Jay Collins (Levon's son-in-law), Byron Isaacs, and blues harmonica player Little Sammy Davis. Helm hosted Midnight Rambles at his home in Woodstock that were open to the public.
The Midnight Ramble was an outgrowth of an idea Helm explained to Martin Scorsese in The Last Waltz. Earlier in the 20th century, Helm recounted, traveling medicine shows and music shows such as F.S. Walcott Rabbit's Foot Minstrels, featuring African-American blues singers and dancers, would put on titillating performances in rural areas. (This was also turned into a song by the Band, "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show," with the name altered so the lyric was easier to sing.)
"After the finale, they'd have the midnight ramble," Helm told Scorsese. With young children off the premises, the show resumed: "The songs would get a little bit juicier. The jokes would get a little funnier and the prettiest dancer would really get down and shake it a few times. A lot of the rock and roll Duck Walks and moves came from that."
Artists who performed at the Rambles include Helm's former bandmate Garth Hudson, as well as Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Mavis Staples, Chris Robinson, Allen Toussaint, Donald Fagen and Jon Herington of Steely Dan, Jimmy Vivino of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien's" The Max Weinberg 7, Sean Costello, The Muddy Waters Tribute Band, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Carolyn Wonderland, Kris Kristofferson, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Justin Townes Earle, Bow Thayer, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Kate Taylor, Ollabelle, The Holmes Brothers, Catherine Russell, Norah Jones, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Phil Lesh (along with his sons Grahame and Brian), Hot Tuna (although Jorma Kaukonen introduced the group as "The Secret Squirrels"), Michael Angelo D'Arrigo with various members of the Sistine Chapel, Johnny Johnson, Ithalia, David Bromberg and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.[8]
During this period, Helm switched to the matched grip and adopted a less busy, greatly simplified drumming style, as opposed to his years with The Band when he played with the traditional grip.[9]
Helm was busy touring every year during the 2000s, generally traveling by tour bus to venues in Eastern Canada and the Eastern United States. Since 2007, Helm had performed in large venues such the Beacon Theater in New York. Dr. John and Warren Haynes (The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule) and Garth Hudson played at the concerts as well along with several other guests. At a show in Vancouver, Canada, Elvis Costello joined to sing "Tears of Rage." The Alexis P. Suter Band was a frequent opening act. Helm was a favorite of radio personality Don Imus and was frequently featured on Imus in the Morning. In the Summer of 2009, it was reported that a reality television series centering around the Midnight Ramble was in development.
Dirt Farmer and comeback
The Fall of 2007 saw the release of Dirt Farmer, Helm's first studio solo album since 1982. Dedicated to Helm's parents and co-produced by his daughter Amy, the album combines traditional tunes Levon recalled from his youth with newer songs (by Steve Earle, Paul Kennerley and others) which flow from similar historical streams. The album was released to almost immediate critical acclaim, and earned him a Grammy Award in the Traditional Folk Album category for 2007.
Helm declined to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony, instead holding a "Midnight Gramble" and celebrating the birth of his grandson, named Lavon (Lee) Henry Collins.[10][11]
In 2008, Helm performed at Warren Haynes' Mountain Jam Music Festival in Hunter, New York. Helm played alongside Warren Haynes on the last day of the three-day festival. Levon also joined guitarist Bob Weir and his band RatDog on stage as they closed out the festival. Helm performed to great acclaim at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.[12][13]
Helm drummed on a couple of tracks for Jorma Kaukonen's February 2009 album River of Time, recorded at the Levon Helm studio.
Helm released the album Electric Dirt on his own label on June 30, 2009.[14] The album won a best album Grammy for the newly created Americana category in 2010. Helm performed on the CBS Television program the Late Show with David Letterman on July 9, 2009. He also toured that same year in a supporting role with the band Black Crowes.
In March 2010, a documentary on Helm's day-to-day life titled Ain't in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm was released. Directed by Jacob Hatley, it made its debut at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, and went on to screen at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2010.[15] The film had a limited release in select theaters throughout the United States in the spring of 2013, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray later that year.
On May 11, 2011, Helm released Ramble at the Ryman, a live album recorded during his performance of September 17, 2008 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. The album features Helm's band playing six songs by The Band and other cover material, including some songs from previous Helm solo releases.[16] The album won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album.[4]
Illness and death
In 2012, during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cleveland, Robbie Robertson sent "love and prayers" to Helm, fueling speculation on Helm's health. Helm had previously cancelled several performances, citing poor health or a "slipped disk" in his back.[17]
On April 17, 2012, Helm's wife Sandy and daughter Amy revealed that Helm had end-stage cancer. They posted the following message on Helm's website:
"Dear Friends,
Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to
him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.
Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and
celebration... he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay
down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage...
We appreciate all the love and support and concern.
From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy"[18]
On April 18, Robertson revealed on his Facebook page that he had a long visit with Helm at the hospital the previous Sunday.[19] On the same day, Garth Hudson posted on his personal website that he was "too sad for words". He then left a link for a video of himself and the Alexis P. Suter band performing Bob Dylan's song "Knocking on Heaven's Door".[20]
Surrounded by family and friends, Helm died on the afternoon of April 19, 2012, at 1:30 pm at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.[21][22][23]
Fans were invited to a public wake at Helm's Barn studio complex on April 26. Approximately 2,000 fans came to pay their respects to the rock icon. The following day, after a private funeral service and a procession through the streets of Woodstock, Helm was interred in the Woodstock Cemetery, within sight of the grave of his longtime bandmate and friend Rick Danko.
Legacy
George Harrison has said that while writing his 1970 song "All Things Must Pass", he imagined Levon Helm singing it.[24]
Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin named the song "Levon" after Helm, although the song is not actually about him.[25] Both John and Taupin cited that they were inspired by Levon Helm, Bernie saying so in various interviews on how they would "go down to their favourite record stores to buy The Band's records" along with Elton.[26]
In 1994, Helm was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band.
Marc Cohn wrote the song "Listening to Levon" in 2007.
"The Man Behind the Drums," written by Robert Earl Keen and Bill Whitbeck, appeared on Keen's 2009 album The Rose Hotel.
Tracy K. Smith's 2011 poem "Alternate Take", included in her Pulitzer Prize winning collection Life on Mars, is dedicated to Helm.
On the day of Levon's death, April 19, 2012, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were playing The 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, CO and paid tribute to Levon by dedicating and performing their song "The Best of Everything" to him.
At their concert of May 2, 2012 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed "The Weight" as a tribute to Helm.[27] Springsteen called Helm "one of the greatest, greatest voices in country, rockabilly and rock 'n' roll ... staggering ... while playing the drums. Both his voice and his drumming were so incredibly personal. He had a feel on the drums that comes out of certain place in the past and you can't replicate it." Springsteen also said it was one of the songs that he had drummer Max Weinberg audition with prior to joining the band.
On June 2, 2012 at Mountain Jam, Gov't Mule, along with the Levon Helm Band (with Lukas Nelson coming on stage for the closing song) played a tribute set, including "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "Up on Cripple Creek,""It Makes No Difference," and closing with "The Weight."[28]
A tribute concert called Love for Levon took place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on October 3, 2012. The concert featured many special guests who have collaborated with and were inspired by Helm and The Band including Roger Waters, Garth Hudson, Joe Walsh, Gregg Allman, Bruce Hornsby, Jorma Kaukonen, John Mayer, Mavis Staples, My Morning Jacket, Marc Cohn, John Hiatt, Allen Toussaint, Jakob Dylan, Mike Gordon and others.[29] Proceeds from the concert will "help support the lasting legacy of Levon Helm by helping his estate keep ownership of his home, barn and studio, and to continue the Midnight Ramble Sessions."[30]
At the 2013 Grammy Awards, the Zac Brown Band, Mumford & Sons, Elton John, Mavis Staples, T-Bone Burnett and Alabama Shakes singer Brittany Howard performed "The Weight" as a tribute to Levon and other recently deceased musicians. They also dedicated the song to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.[31]
In May 2013, the New York State Legislature approved a resolution to name State Route 375 – the road which connects State Route 28 with the town of Woodstock – "Levon Helm Memorial Boulevard". Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill on June 20, 2013.
Personal life
Helm met singer-songwriter Libby Titus in April 1969, while The Band was recording its second album.[32] They began a lengthy relationship, which produced daughter Amy Helm (born December 3, 1970).[33] Amy formed the band Ollabelle and performed with her father's band at the Midnight Rambles and other concerts.
Helm met his future wife, Sandra Dodd, in 1975 in California, while he was still involved with Titus. Helm and Dodd were married on September 7, 1981. They had no children together.
Helm also had a successful career as a film actor: appearing as Loretta Lynn's father in the Coal Miner's Daughter, as Chuck Yeager's friend and colleague Captain Jack Ridley in The Right Stuff, and as an iconic, Tennessee firearms expert in Shooter.
In 1998, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer, which caused him to lose his singing voice. After treatment, his cancer eventually went into remission, and he gradually regained the use of his voice. His 2007 comeback album Dirt Farmer earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008, and in November of that year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No. 91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.[2] In 2010, Electric Dirt, his 2009 follow-up to Dirt Farmer, won the first Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, a category inaugurated in 2010.[3] In 2011, his live album Ramble at the Ryman won the Grammy in the same category.[4] On April 17, 2012, his wife and daughter announced on Helm's website that he was "in the final stages of his battle with cancer" and thanked fans while requesting prayers. Two days later, Helm died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.[1]
Biography
Early years
Born in Elaine, Arkansas,[5] Helm grew up in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, a hamlet west of Helena, Arkansas. His parents, Nell and Diamond Helm, cotton farmers and also great lovers of music, encouraged their children to play and sing. Young Lavon (as he was christened) began playing the guitar at the age of eight and also played drums during his formative years. He saw Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys at the age of six and decided then to become a musician.
Arkansas in the 1940s and 50s stood at the confluence of a variety of musical styles—blues, country and R&B—that later became known as rock and roll. Listening to all these styles on the Grand Ole Opry show on radio station WSM and R&B on radio station WLAC out of Nashville, Tennessee influenced Helm. He also saw traveling shows such as F.S. Walcott's Rabbit's Foot Minstrels that featured top African-American artists of the time.
Another early influence on Helm was the work of harmonica, guitarist and singer Sonny Boy Williamson II, who played blues and early rhythm and blues on the King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA in Helena and performed regularly in Marvell with blues guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr. In his 1993 autobiography, This Wheel's on Fire – Levon Helm and the Story of The Band, Helm describes watching Williamson's drummer, James "Peck" Curtis, intently during a live performance in the early 1950s and later imitating this R&B drumming style. Helm established his first band, The Jungle Bush Beaters, while in high school.
Helm also witnessed some of the earliest performances by Southern country music, blues and rockabilly artists such as Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, Bo Diddley and a fellow Arkansan, Ronnie Hawkins. At age 17, Helm began playing in clubs and bars around Helena.
The Hawks
After graduating from high school, Helm was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins's band, The Hawks, a popular Southern bar and club act which also had success in Canada, where rockabilly acts were very popular. Soon after, Helm joined The Hawks, and they moved to Toronto, Canada, where, in 1959, they signed with Roulette Records and released several singles, including a few hits.
Helm reports in his biography, This Wheel's on Fire, that fellow Hawks band members had difficulty pronouncing "Lavon" correctly, and started calling him "Levon" (/ˈliːvɒn/ LEE-von) because it was easier to pronounce.
In the early 1960s, Helm and Hawkins recruited an all-Canadian lineup of musicians: guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel, and organist Garth Hudson – although all the musicians were multi-instrumentalists. In 1963, the band parted ways with Hawkins and started touring under the name "Levon and The Hawks," and later as "The Canadian Squires," before finally changing back to "The Hawks." They recorded two singles, but remained mostly a popular touring bar band in Texas, Arkansas, Canada, and on the East Coast of the United States, where they found regular summer club gigs on the New Jersey shore.
By the mid-1960s, songwriter and musician Bob Dylan was interested in performing electric rock music and asked the Hawks to be his backing band. Disheartened by fans' negative response to Dylan's new sound, Helm returned to Arkansas for what turned out to be a two-year layoff, being replaced by drummer Mickey Jones. It is often reported that during this period Helm worked on off-shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico until he was asked to rejoin the band. This may be possible, but it is also a fact that in late fall of 1965 he left New York for Los Angeles, where he stayed until the fall of 1966, living with his girlfriend at the time, Bonnie Diamond. He spent some of his time there in a pick-up band that featured Leon Russell, Bobby Keyes and other notable musicians and which played gigs in Watts and other parts of the city. With the completion of Dylan's world tour, which included the other four members of the Hawks, Helm went back to Arkansas – to home, to the "woodshed", as he called it, to consider his options. The eventual result was a return to Woodstock to rejoin his group.
After the Hawks toured Europe with Dylan, they followed him back to the U.S. and settled near Woodstock, New York, remaining under salary to him. The Hawks recorded a large number of demo and practice tapes in Woodstock, playing almost daily with Dylan, who had completely withdrawn from public life the previous year. These recordings were widely bootlegged and were partially released officially in 1975 as The Basement Tapes. The songs and themes developed during this period played a crucial role in the group's future direction and style. The Hawks members also began writing their own songs. Rick Danko and Richard Manuel also shared writing credits with Dylan on a few songs.
The Band
Helm returned to the group, then referred to simply as "the band", as it was known around Woodstock. While contemplating a recording contract, Helm had dubbed the band as "The Crackers." However, when Robertson and their new manager Albert Grossman worked out the contracts, the group's name was cited as "The Band." Under these contracts, The Band was contracted to Grossman, who in turn contracted their services to Capitol Records. This arrangement allowed The Band to release recordings on other labels if the work was done in support of Dylan.[citation needed] This allowed The Band to play on Dylan's Planet Waves album and on The Last Waltz, both non-Capitol releases. The Band also recorded their own album Music from Big Pink (1968), which catapulted them into stardom.
On Music From Big Pink, Manuel was the most prominent vocalist and Helm sang backup and harmony, with the exception of "The Weight." However, as Manuel's health deteriorated and Robbie Robertson's songwriting increasingly looked to the South for influence and direction, subsequent albums relied more and more on Helm's vocals, alone or in harmony with Danko. Helm was primarily a drummer and vocalist, and increasingly sang lead, although, like all his bandmates, he was also a multi-instrumentalist. On occasion, Manuel switched to drums while Helm played mandolin, guitar, and bass guitar on some songs. This included the 12-string guitar backdrop to "Daniel and the Sacred Harp", bass (while Danko played fiddle).[6]
Helm remained with The Band until their farewell performance on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, The Last Waltz, which was recorded in a documentary film by director Martin Scorsese. The documentary is widely considered the greatest rock and roll film ever made.
Many music enthusiasts know Helm through his appearance in the concert film, a performance remarkable for the fact that Helm's vocal tracks appear substantially as he sang them during a grueling concert. However, Helm repudiated his involvement with The Last Waltz shortly after the completion of its final scenes. In his autobiography, Helm offers scathing criticisms of the film and of Robertson, who produced it.[7]
Solo, acting and the reformed Band
With the breakup of The Band in its original form, Helm began working on a solo album Levon Helm and the RCO All Stars, with Paul Butterfield and Emmaretta Marks, Howard Johnson, Steve Cropper, Donald Duck Dunn & Booker T, followed by Levon Helm. Helm recorded solo albums in 1980 and 1982 entitled American Son and (once again) Levon Helm. Helm also participated in musician Paul Kennerley's 1980 country music concept album, The Legend of Jesse James, singing the role of Jesse James alongside Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Albert Lee.
In addition to his work as musician, Helm also acted in several dramatic films after the breakup of The Band. His first acting role was the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter in which he portrayed Loretta Lynn's father, followed three years later when he appeared as U.S. Air Force test pilot and engineer, Captain Jack Ridley, in The Right Stuff. He played as a Kentucky backwoods preacher along with Steven Seagal in Fire Down Below. He played an eccentric old man in the 2005 film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, and appeared as Gen. John Bell Hood in the 2009 film In The Electric Mist. He also had a brief cameo as a weapons expert in the film Shooter with Mark Wahlberg.
In 1983, The Band reunited without Robbie Robertson, with Jim Weider on guitar. In 1986, while on tour, Manuel committed suicide. Helm, Danko and Hudson continued in The Band, releasing the album Jericho in 1993 and High on the Hog in 1996. The final album from The Band was the 30th anniversary album, Jubilation, released in 1998.
In 1989, Helm and Danko toured with drummer Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band. Other musicians in the band included singer/guitarist Joe Walsh, singer/pianist Dr. John, guitarist Nils Lofgren, singer Billy Preston, saxophonist Clarence Clemons and drummer Jim Keltner. Garth Hudson was a guest on accordion on certain dates. Levon played drums and harmonica, and sang "The Weight" and "Up on Cripple Creek" each night.
Helm performed with Danko and Hudson as The Band in 1990 at Roger Waters' epic The Wall – Live in Berlin Concert in Germany to an estimated 300,000 to half a million people.
In 1993, Helm published an autobiography entitled This Wheel's on Fire – Levon Helm and the Story of The Band.
The Midnight Ramble
Helm's performance career in the 2000s revolved mainly around the Midnight Ramble at his home and studio, "The Barn," in Woodstock, New York. These concerts, featuring Helm and a variety of musical guests, allowed Helm to raise money for his medical bills and to resume performing after a nearly career-ending bout with cancer.
In the late 1990s, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer after suffering hoarseness. Advised to undergo a laryngectomy, Helm instead underwent an arduous regimen of radiation treatments at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Although the tumor was then successfully removed, Helm's vocal cords were damaged, and his clear, powerful tenor voice was replaced by a quiet rasp. Initially Helm only played drums and relied on guest vocalists at the Rambles, but Helm's singing voice grew stronger. On January 10, 2004, he sang again at his Ramble Sessions. In 2007, during production of Dirt Farmer, Helm estimated that his singing voice was 80% recovered.
The Levon Helm Band featured his daughter Amy Helm, along with Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Jim Weider (the Band's last guitarist), Jimmy Vivino, Mike Merritt, Brian Mitchell, Erik Lawrence, Steven Bernstein, Howard Johnson (tuba player in the horn section who played on The Band's Rock of Ages and The Last Waltz live albums), Jay Collins (Levon's son-in-law), Byron Isaacs, and blues harmonica player Little Sammy Davis. Helm hosted Midnight Rambles at his home in Woodstock that were open to the public.
The Midnight Ramble was an outgrowth of an idea Helm explained to Martin Scorsese in The Last Waltz. Earlier in the 20th century, Helm recounted, traveling medicine shows and music shows such as F.S. Walcott Rabbit's Foot Minstrels, featuring African-American blues singers and dancers, would put on titillating performances in rural areas. (This was also turned into a song by the Band, "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show," with the name altered so the lyric was easier to sing.)
"After the finale, they'd have the midnight ramble," Helm told Scorsese. With young children off the premises, the show resumed: "The songs would get a little bit juicier. The jokes would get a little funnier and the prettiest dancer would really get down and shake it a few times. A lot of the rock and roll Duck Walks and moves came from that."
Artists who performed at the Rambles include Helm's former bandmate Garth Hudson, as well as Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Mavis Staples, Chris Robinson, Allen Toussaint, Donald Fagen and Jon Herington of Steely Dan, Jimmy Vivino of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien's" The Max Weinberg 7, Sean Costello, The Muddy Waters Tribute Band, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Carolyn Wonderland, Kris Kristofferson, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Justin Townes Earle, Bow Thayer, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Kate Taylor, Ollabelle, The Holmes Brothers, Catherine Russell, Norah Jones, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Phil Lesh (along with his sons Grahame and Brian), Hot Tuna (although Jorma Kaukonen introduced the group as "The Secret Squirrels"), Michael Angelo D'Arrigo with various members of the Sistine Chapel, Johnny Johnson, Ithalia, David Bromberg and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.[8]
During this period, Helm switched to the matched grip and adopted a less busy, greatly simplified drumming style, as opposed to his years with The Band when he played with the traditional grip.[9]
Helm was busy touring every year during the 2000s, generally traveling by tour bus to venues in Eastern Canada and the Eastern United States. Since 2007, Helm had performed in large venues such the Beacon Theater in New York. Dr. John and Warren Haynes (The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule) and Garth Hudson played at the concerts as well along with several other guests. At a show in Vancouver, Canada, Elvis Costello joined to sing "Tears of Rage." The Alexis P. Suter Band was a frequent opening act. Helm was a favorite of radio personality Don Imus and was frequently featured on Imus in the Morning. In the Summer of 2009, it was reported that a reality television series centering around the Midnight Ramble was in development.
Dirt Farmer and comeback
The Fall of 2007 saw the release of Dirt Farmer, Helm's first studio solo album since 1982. Dedicated to Helm's parents and co-produced by his daughter Amy, the album combines traditional tunes Levon recalled from his youth with newer songs (by Steve Earle, Paul Kennerley and others) which flow from similar historical streams. The album was released to almost immediate critical acclaim, and earned him a Grammy Award in the Traditional Folk Album category for 2007.
Helm declined to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony, instead holding a "Midnight Gramble" and celebrating the birth of his grandson, named Lavon (Lee) Henry Collins.[10][11]
In 2008, Helm performed at Warren Haynes' Mountain Jam Music Festival in Hunter, New York. Helm played alongside Warren Haynes on the last day of the three-day festival. Levon also joined guitarist Bob Weir and his band RatDog on stage as they closed out the festival. Helm performed to great acclaim at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.[12][13]
Helm drummed on a couple of tracks for Jorma Kaukonen's February 2009 album River of Time, recorded at the Levon Helm studio.
Helm released the album Electric Dirt on his own label on June 30, 2009.[14] The album won a best album Grammy for the newly created Americana category in 2010. Helm performed on the CBS Television program the Late Show with David Letterman on July 9, 2009. He also toured that same year in a supporting role with the band Black Crowes.
In March 2010, a documentary on Helm's day-to-day life titled Ain't in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm was released. Directed by Jacob Hatley, it made its debut at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, and went on to screen at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2010.[15] The film had a limited release in select theaters throughout the United States in the spring of 2013, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray later that year.
On May 11, 2011, Helm released Ramble at the Ryman, a live album recorded during his performance of September 17, 2008 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. The album features Helm's band playing six songs by The Band and other cover material, including some songs from previous Helm solo releases.[16] The album won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album.[4]
Illness and death
In 2012, during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cleveland, Robbie Robertson sent "love and prayers" to Helm, fueling speculation on Helm's health. Helm had previously cancelled several performances, citing poor health or a "slipped disk" in his back.[17]
On April 17, 2012, Helm's wife Sandy and daughter Amy revealed that Helm had end-stage cancer. They posted the following message on Helm's website:
"Dear Friends,
Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to
him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.
Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and
celebration... he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay
down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage...
We appreciate all the love and support and concern.
From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy"[18]
On April 18, Robertson revealed on his Facebook page that he had a long visit with Helm at the hospital the previous Sunday.[19] On the same day, Garth Hudson posted on his personal website that he was "too sad for words". He then left a link for a video of himself and the Alexis P. Suter band performing Bob Dylan's song "Knocking on Heaven's Door".[20]
Surrounded by family and friends, Helm died on the afternoon of April 19, 2012, at 1:30 pm at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.[21][22][23]
Fans were invited to a public wake at Helm's Barn studio complex on April 26. Approximately 2,000 fans came to pay their respects to the rock icon. The following day, after a private funeral service and a procession through the streets of Woodstock, Helm was interred in the Woodstock Cemetery, within sight of the grave of his longtime bandmate and friend Rick Danko.
Legacy
George Harrison has said that while writing his 1970 song "All Things Must Pass", he imagined Levon Helm singing it.[24]
Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin named the song "Levon" after Helm, although the song is not actually about him.[25] Both John and Taupin cited that they were inspired by Levon Helm, Bernie saying so in various interviews on how they would "go down to their favourite record stores to buy The Band's records" along with Elton.[26]
In 1994, Helm was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band.
Marc Cohn wrote the song "Listening to Levon" in 2007.
"The Man Behind the Drums," written by Robert Earl Keen and Bill Whitbeck, appeared on Keen's 2009 album The Rose Hotel.
Tracy K. Smith's 2011 poem "Alternate Take", included in her Pulitzer Prize winning collection Life on Mars, is dedicated to Helm.
On the day of Levon's death, April 19, 2012, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were playing The 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, CO and paid tribute to Levon by dedicating and performing their song "The Best of Everything" to him.
At their concert of May 2, 2012 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed "The Weight" as a tribute to Helm.[27] Springsteen called Helm "one of the greatest, greatest voices in country, rockabilly and rock 'n' roll ... staggering ... while playing the drums. Both his voice and his drumming were so incredibly personal. He had a feel on the drums that comes out of certain place in the past and you can't replicate it." Springsteen also said it was one of the songs that he had drummer Max Weinberg audition with prior to joining the band.
On June 2, 2012 at Mountain Jam, Gov't Mule, along with the Levon Helm Band (with Lukas Nelson coming on stage for the closing song) played a tribute set, including "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "Up on Cripple Creek,""It Makes No Difference," and closing with "The Weight."[28]
A tribute concert called Love for Levon took place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on October 3, 2012. The concert featured many special guests who have collaborated with and were inspired by Helm and The Band including Roger Waters, Garth Hudson, Joe Walsh, Gregg Allman, Bruce Hornsby, Jorma Kaukonen, John Mayer, Mavis Staples, My Morning Jacket, Marc Cohn, John Hiatt, Allen Toussaint, Jakob Dylan, Mike Gordon and others.[29] Proceeds from the concert will "help support the lasting legacy of Levon Helm by helping his estate keep ownership of his home, barn and studio, and to continue the Midnight Ramble Sessions."[30]
At the 2013 Grammy Awards, the Zac Brown Band, Mumford & Sons, Elton John, Mavis Staples, T-Bone Burnett and Alabama Shakes singer Brittany Howard performed "The Weight" as a tribute to Levon and other recently deceased musicians. They also dedicated the song to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.[31]
In May 2013, the New York State Legislature approved a resolution to name State Route 375 – the road which connects State Route 28 with the town of Woodstock – "Levon Helm Memorial Boulevard". Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill on June 20, 2013.
Personal life
Helm met singer-songwriter Libby Titus in April 1969, while The Band was recording its second album.[32] They began a lengthy relationship, which produced daughter Amy Helm (born December 3, 1970).[33] Amy formed the band Ollabelle and performed with her father's band at the Midnight Rambles and other concerts.
Helm met his future wife, Sandra Dodd, in 1975 in California, while he was still involved with Titus. Helm and Dodd were married on September 7, 1981. They had no children together.
Mamie Smith *26.05.1883
Mamie Smith (* 26. Mai 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio als Mamie Robinson; † 30. Oktober 1946[1] in New York) war eine US-amerikanische Vaudeville-Sängerin, Tänzerin, Pianistin und Schauspielerin. Sie war die erste, die 1920 einen gesungenen Blues aufnahm.
Mamie Smith zog mit afroamerikanischen Vaudeville- und Minstrel-Shows umher, bis sie sich 1913 in New York niederließ, wo sie als Kabarett-Sängerin arbeitete. 1918 trat sie in Perry Bradfords Musical Made in Harlem auf.
1920 sprang Smith bei Okeh Records für die erkrankte Sophie Tucker ein und nahm die Stücke That Thing Called Love und You Can’t Keep A Good Man Down auf. Sie wurde zu einer zweiten Sitzung eingeladen, bei der mit ihren Jazz Hounds am 10. August 1920 die Titel Crazy Blues und It’s Right Here For You, If You Don’t Get It, ’Tain’t No Fault of Mine aufgenommen wurden. Die Jazz Hounds waren zu diesem Zeitpunkt Johnny Dunn auf dem Kornett, Dope Andrews auf der Posaune, Leroy Parker auf der Violine und Willie „The Lion“ Smith am Piano.[3] Den Jazz Hounds gehörten auch Buster Bailey, Coleman Hawkins, Cecil Carpenter, Elmer Snowden und Bubber Miley an.
Crazy Blues verkaufte sich zur Überraschung aller als erste Blues-Aufnahme eines schwarzen Künstlers mehr als eine Million Mal innerhalb eines Jahres. Viele Käufer waren Afroamerikaner, ein bisher eher unbeachteter Markt. Dieser unerwartete Erfolg veranlasste die Plattenfirmen, weitere Bluessängerinnen aufzunehmen und so die Ära des klassischen Frauenblues einzuläuten.
Es folgten weitere Blues-Aufnahmen und Tourneen in den Staaten und Europa mit Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds als Teil der Revue Mamie Smith’s Struttin’ Along Review. Mamie Smith erhielt den Beinamen „Königin des Blues“ (Queen of the Blues).
1929 spielte Smith eine Rolle in einem frühen Tonfilm, Jail House Blues. 1931 zog sie sich aus dem Musik- und Filmgeschäft zurück. Ab 1939 spielte sie wieder in mehreren Filmen mit.
Mamie Smith starb 1946 nach längerer Krankheit in New York.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamie_Smith
Mamie Smith (née Robinson; May 26, 1883 – September 16, 1946) was an American vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist and actress, who appeared in several films late in her career. As a vaudeville singer she performed a number of styles, including jazz and blues. She entered blues history by being the first African-American artist to make vocal blues recordings in 1920. Willie "The Lion" Smith (no relation) explained the background to that recording in his autobiography, Music on My Mind.
Early life
Mamie Robinson was born probably in Cincinnati, Ohio, although no records of her birth exist.[1][2] When she was ten years old, she found work touring with a white act called the Four Dancing Mitchells.[3] As a teenager, she danced in Salem Tutt Whitney's Smart Set.[1] In 1913, she left the Tutt Brothers to sing in clubs in Harlem and married a singer named William "Smitty" Smith.[3]
Musical career
On August 10, 1920, in New York City, Smith recorded a set of songs written by the African-American songwriter Perry Bradford, including "Crazy Blues" and "It's Right Here For You (If You Don't Get It, 'Tain't No Fault of Mine)", on Okeh Records.[4] It was the first recording of vocal blues by an African-American artist,[5][6] and the record became a best seller, selling a million copies in less than a year.[7]
Large numbers of the record were purchased by African Americans, and there was a sharp increase in the popularity of race records.[8] Because of the historical significance of "Crazy Blues", it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994,[9] and, in 2005, was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.
Although other African Americans had been recorded earlier, such as George W. Johnson in the 1890s, they were African-American artists performing music which had a substantial following with European-American audiences. The success of Smith's record prompted record companies to seek to record other female blues singers and started the era of what is now known as classic female blues.[6]
Smith continued to make a series of popular recordings for Okeh throughout the 1920s. In 1924 she made three releases for Ajax Records which, while heavily promoted, did not sell well.[10] She made some records for Victor. She toured the United States and Europe with her band "Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds" as part of "Mamie Smith's Struttin' Along Review".[11]
She was billed as "The Queen of the Blues". This billing was soon one-upped by Bessie Smith, who called herself "The Empress of the Blues." Mamie found that the new mass medium of radio provided a way to gain additional fans, especially in cities with predominantly white audiences. For example, she and several members of her band performed on KGW in Portland, Oregon in early May 1923, and garnered positive reviews.[12]
Various recording lineups of her Jazz Hounds included (from August 1920 to October 1921) Jake Green, Curtis Moseley, Garvin Bushell, Johnny Dunn, Dope Andrews, Ernest Elliot, Porter Grainger, Leroy Parker, Bob Fuller, and (June 1922-January 1923) Coleman Hawkins, Everett Robbins, Johnny Dunn, Herschel Brassfield, Herb Flemming, Buster Bailey Cutie Perkins, Joe Smith, Bubber Miley and Cecil Carpenter.[13] 15, While recording with her Jazz Hounds, she also recorded as "Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Band", comprising George Bell, Charles Matson, Nathan Glantz, Larry Briers, Jules Levy, Jr., Joe Samuels, together with musicians from the Jazz Hounds, including Coleman, Fuller and Carpenter.[14]
Film career and later years
Mamie Smith appeared in an early sound film, Jailhouse Blues, in 1929. She retired from recording and performing in 1931. She returned to performing in 1939 to appear in the motion picture Paradise in Harlem produced by her husband Jack Goldberg.
She appeared in other films, including Mystery in Swing, Sunday Sinners (1940), Stolen Paradise (1941), Murder on Lenox Avenue (1941), and Because I Love You (1943).[15]
Death
Mamie Robinson Smith died in 1946, aged 63, in Staten Island, New York.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamie_SmithEarly life
Mamie Robinson was born probably in Cincinnati, Ohio, although no records of her birth exist.[1][2] When she was ten years old, she found work touring with a white act called the Four Dancing Mitchells.[3] As a teenager, she danced in Salem Tutt Whitney's Smart Set.[1] In 1913, she left the Tutt Brothers to sing in clubs in Harlem and married a singer named William "Smitty" Smith.[3]
Musical career
On August 10, 1920, in New York City, Smith recorded a set of songs written by the African-American songwriter Perry Bradford, including "Crazy Blues" and "It's Right Here For You (If You Don't Get It, 'Tain't No Fault of Mine)", on Okeh Records.[4] It was the first recording of vocal blues by an African-American artist,[5][6] and the record became a best seller, selling a million copies in less than a year.[7]
Large numbers of the record were purchased by African Americans, and there was a sharp increase in the popularity of race records.[8] Because of the historical significance of "Crazy Blues", it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994,[9] and, in 2005, was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.
Although other African Americans had been recorded earlier, such as George W. Johnson in the 1890s, they were African-American artists performing music which had a substantial following with European-American audiences. The success of Smith's record prompted record companies to seek to record other female blues singers and started the era of what is now known as classic female blues.[6]
Smith continued to make a series of popular recordings for Okeh throughout the 1920s. In 1924 she made three releases for Ajax Records which, while heavily promoted, did not sell well.[10] She made some records for Victor. She toured the United States and Europe with her band "Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds" as part of "Mamie Smith's Struttin' Along Review".[11]
She was billed as "The Queen of the Blues". This billing was soon one-upped by Bessie Smith, who called herself "The Empress of the Blues." Mamie found that the new mass medium of radio provided a way to gain additional fans, especially in cities with predominantly white audiences. For example, she and several members of her band performed on KGW in Portland, Oregon in early May 1923, and garnered positive reviews.[12]
Various recording lineups of her Jazz Hounds included (from August 1920 to October 1921) Jake Green, Curtis Moseley, Garvin Bushell, Johnny Dunn, Dope Andrews, Ernest Elliot, Porter Grainger, Leroy Parker, Bob Fuller, and (June 1922-January 1923) Coleman Hawkins, Everett Robbins, Johnny Dunn, Herschel Brassfield, Herb Flemming, Buster Bailey Cutie Perkins, Joe Smith, Bubber Miley and Cecil Carpenter.[13] 15, While recording with her Jazz Hounds, she also recorded as "Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Band", comprising George Bell, Charles Matson, Nathan Glantz, Larry Briers, Jules Levy, Jr., Joe Samuels, together with musicians from the Jazz Hounds, including Coleman, Fuller and Carpenter.[14]
Film career and later years
Mamie Smith appeared in an early sound film, Jailhouse Blues, in 1929. She retired from recording and performing in 1931. She returned to performing in 1939 to appear in the motion picture Paradise in Harlem produced by her husband Jack Goldberg.
She appeared in other films, including Mystery in Swing, Sunday Sinners (1940), Stolen Paradise (1941), Murder on Lenox Avenue (1941), and Because I Love You (1943).[15]
Death
Mamie Robinson Smith died in 1946, aged 63, in Staten Island, New York.
Papa Charlie McCoy *26.05.1909
Charles McCoy wurde als „Papa Charlie“ bekannt. Mit seiner Band Mississippi Hot Footers trat er in seiner Heimatgegend auf. Er begleitete unter anderem Tommy Johnson und spielte bei den Mississippi Sheiks. McCoy zog nach Chicago, wo er zwei Bands hatte, Papa Charlie’s Boys und mit seinem Bruder Joe die Harlem Hamfats. Er spielte auch in der Band von Memphis Minnie. Im Zweiten Weltkrieg wurde McCoy zum Militär eingezogen. Danach war er gesundheitlich angegriffen und starb schließlich 1950, nur wenige Monate nach seinem Bruder.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papa_Charlie_McCoy
Charles "Papa Charlie" McCoy (May 26, 1909 – July 26, 1950)[1] was an African American delta blues musician and songwriter.
Career
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, McCoy was best known by the nickname 'Papa Charlie'. He became one of the major blues accompanists of his time.[2] A guitarist and mandolin player, he played in the Mississippi area with his band, The Mississippi Hot Footers.
McCoy recorded several sides with Bo Carter as the 'Mississippi Mud Steppers'. Among the tracks recorded with Carter were two variations of Cow Cow Davenport's "Cow Cow Blues" . The first, an instrumental, was released as "The Jackson Stomp". The second, with lyrics and vocals by McCoy, as "The Lonesome Train, That Took My Girl From Town". They also wrote and recorded "The Vicksburg Stomp" which was resurrected and recorded by Mike Compton, of O Brother, Where Art Thou? fame.
As a slide guitarist, McCoy recorded under the name of Tampa Kid, and released "Keep on Trying".
McCoy also joined and performed with his brother (Kansas Joe McCoy) for many years, and they released records under the title of "The McCoy Brothers".
He eventually migrated to Chicago where he organized two bands, "Papa Charlie's Boys" and with his older brother Kansas Joe McCoy, the Harlem Hamfats, that performed and recorded during the second half of the 1930s.[1] However, service with the United States Army during World War II cut short McCoy's career.
In poor health, McCoy never returned to music after the war, and he died in Chicago, Illinois in 1950 from paralytic brain disease,[3] only a few months after his brother had died. They are both buried in the Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
McCoy's composition "Too Long" was covered several times.
Career
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, McCoy was best known by the nickname 'Papa Charlie'. He became one of the major blues accompanists of his time.[2] A guitarist and mandolin player, he played in the Mississippi area with his band, The Mississippi Hot Footers.
McCoy recorded several sides with Bo Carter as the 'Mississippi Mud Steppers'. Among the tracks recorded with Carter were two variations of Cow Cow Davenport's "Cow Cow Blues" . The first, an instrumental, was released as "The Jackson Stomp". The second, with lyrics and vocals by McCoy, as "The Lonesome Train, That Took My Girl From Town". They also wrote and recorded "The Vicksburg Stomp" which was resurrected and recorded by Mike Compton, of O Brother, Where Art Thou? fame.
As a slide guitarist, McCoy recorded under the name of Tampa Kid, and released "Keep on Trying".
McCoy also joined and performed with his brother (Kansas Joe McCoy) for many years, and they released records under the title of "The McCoy Brothers".
He eventually migrated to Chicago where he organized two bands, "Papa Charlie's Boys" and with his older brother Kansas Joe McCoy, the Harlem Hamfats, that performed and recorded during the second half of the 1930s.[1] However, service with the United States Army during World War II cut short McCoy's career.
In poor health, McCoy never returned to music after the war, and he died in Chicago, Illinois in 1950 from paralytic brain disease,[3] only a few months after his brother had died. They are both buried in the Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
McCoy's composition "Too Long" was covered several times.
Stefan Kerth *26.05.1971
Die musikalische Entwicklung der Söhne ist kein Zufall, kamen sie dochfrühzeitig mit der Musik ihrer Väter in Berührung.
Ähnlich war das auch bei Stefan Kerth, der schon seit Mitte der1980er Jahre den Bass bei seinem Vater, dem Bluesmusiker Jürgen Kerth,spielt.
Ähnlich war das auch bei Stefan Kerth, der schon seit Mitte der1980er Jahre den Bass bei seinem Vater, dem Bluesmusiker Jürgen Kerth,spielt.
Jürgen & Stefan Kerth - Der Blues vom Blues - Fête de la musique - Erfurt 2013
Hank Williams, Jr. *26.05.1949
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Hank Williams, Jr. (* 26. Mai 1949 in Shreveport, Louisiana) ist ein US-amerikanischer Country-Musiker und Sohn des erfolgreichen Country-Musikers Hank Williams sowie Vater von Hank Williams III.
Biografie
Nach dem Tod seines Vaters 1953 wurde Williams Jr. von seiner Mutter Audrey allein großgezogen. Bereits mit acht Jahren trat er als Musiker auf. Er sollte in die Fußstapfen seines berühmten und jung verstorbenen Vaters treten, worunter er lange Jahre litt.
1963 veröffentlichte er sein Debütalbum Lone Gone Lonesome Blue mit Songs seines Vaters. Nachdem er den Soundtrack zu einer Film-Biografie über Hank Williams, Sr., Your Cheatin’ Heart, aufgenommen hatte, wurde erstmals eine Eigenkomposition, Standing in the Shadows, zu einem Charterfolg. Der Song signalisierte, dass er sich aus dem Schatten seines Vaters heraus mehr in Richtung Rock und anderer musikalischer Einflüsse bewegte.
Williams wurde in den frühen 1970er Jahren trotz des anhaltenden Erfolgs schwer alkohol- und drogenabhängig. 1972 wurde sein Sohn Hank Williams III geboren, der später selber ein Countrymusiker werden sollte. 1974 kam es zu einem Selbstmordversuch. Danach zog er nach Alabama und begann, mit Southern-Rock-Musikern wie Toy Caldwell, der Marshall Tucker Band und Charlie Daniels zu arbeiten.
1975 traf ihn ein weiterer Schicksalsschlag: Bei einem Bergunfall wurde er schwer verletzt. Die Genesung dauerte zwei Jahre, und er behielt Entstellungen im Gesicht, die er seitdem durch einen Vollbart verdeckt. Er arbeitete mit Waylon Jennings an seinem Album The New South (1977), kam aber erst Ende der 1970er Jahre mit seiner Coverversion von Sonny Curtis’ I Fought the Law wieder in die Charts. Der Erfolg hielt mit den 1979er Alben Family Tradition und Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound an.
In den 1980er Jahren wurde Williams zum Superstar, der für seine mitreißenden Hymnen und seinen harten, rock-beeinflussten Country bekannt wurde. Zum Ende der Dekade wurden die Hits jedoch wieder rarer. Sein letzter Erfolg war There’s a Tear in My Beer, eine Komposition seines verstorbenen Vaters, die er mittels elektronischer Mischtechnik mit diesem im Duett sang. Das Video dazu wurde von Country Music Association und der Academy of Country Music zum „Video of the Year“ gewählt, und 1990 erhielt Williams einen Grammy für „Best Country Vocal Collaboration“.
In den USA ist er heute auch bekannt als Interpret der Titelmelodie der Monday Football Night, die auf seinem Song All My Rowdy Friends basiert. Hierfür wurde Williams viermal mit dem Emmy ausgezeichnet.
Am 3. Oktober 2011 löste Williams bei einem Auftritt bei Fox News eine Kontroverse aus. Williams sagte, der Golfausflug von Barack Obama und John Boehner, dem republikanischen Sprecher des Repräsentantenhauses, sei „wie wenn Hitler mit Netanjahu Golf spielen würde“. Auch tätigte er die Aussage, Obama und Vizepräsident Joe Biden seien „der Feind“. Aufgrund dieser drastischen Äußerungen gab es auch Kritik von republikanischer Seite. Als eine der Folgen wurde Williams’ Titelsong zur Sendung Monday Football Night beim amerikanischen Sportsender ESPN nicht mehr verwendet. Ob das Lied wieder ins Programm genommen wird, ließ der Sender offen.[1] In einer Erklärung vom 6. Oktober 2011 beendeten Hank Williams Jr. und ESPN ihre Zusammenarbeit nach 20 Jahren.[2] Im August 2012 sagte Williams über Präsident Obama: „Wir haben einen muslimischen Präsidenten, der die Landwirtschaft hasst, der das Militär hasst und der die US-Amerikaner genauso hasst, wie wir ihn hassen!“.[3]
In den USA ist Hank Williams Jr. auch unter dem Spitznamen „Bocephus“ bekannt.
Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr., is an American singer, songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country. He is the son of legendary country music singer Hank Williams and the father of Hank Williams III, Holly Williams, Hilary Williams, Samuel Williams, and Katie Williams.
Williams began his career by following in his famed father's footsteps, singing his father's songs and imitating his father's style. Williams's own style slowly evolved as he struggled to find his own voice and place within the country music industry. This trend was interrupted by a near-fatal fall off the side of Ajax Peak in Montana on August 8, 1975.[2][3] After an extended recovery, he challenged the country music establishment with a blend of country, rock, and blues. Williams enjoyed much success in the 1980s, from which he earned considerable recognition and popularity both inside and outside the country music industry.
As a multi-instrumentalist, Williams's repertoire of skills include guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, dobro, piano, keyboards, harmonica, fiddle, and drums.[1]
From 1989 until October 2011,[4] a version of his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" was used as the opening for broadcasts of Monday Night Football.[5]
Biography
Early life and career
Williams was born on May 26, 1949 in Shreveport, Louisiana. His father nicknamed him Bocephus (after Grand Ole Opry comedian Rod Brasfield's ventriloquist dummy). After his father's untimely death in 1953, he was raised by his mother, Audrey Williams. While he was a child, a number of contemporary musicians visited his family, who influenced and taught him various music instruments and styles. Among these figures of influence were Johnny Cash, Fats Domino, Earl Scruggs, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Williams first stepped on the stage and sang his father's songs when he was eight years old. In 1964, he made his recording debut with "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", one of his father's many classic songs.
Williams provided the singing voice of his father[6] in the 1964 film Your Cheatin' Heart.[7] He also recorded an album of duets with recordings of his father.[6]
A change in appearance and musical direction
Although Williams's recordings earned him numerous country hits throughout the 1960s and early 1970s with his role as a "Hank Williams impersonator", he became disillusioned and severed ties with his mother.
By the mid-1970s Williams began to pursue a musical direction that would eventually make him a superstar.[citation needed] While recording a series of moderately successful songs, Williams began a heavy pattern of both drug and alcohol abuse. Upon moving to Alabama, in an attempt to refocus both his creative energy and his troubled personal life, Williams began playing music with Southern rock musicians including Waylon Jennings, Toy Caldwell, and Charlie Daniels. Hank Williams, Jr. and Friends (1975), often considered his watershed album was the product of these then-groundbreaking collaborations. In 1977 Williams recorded and released One Night Stands and The New South, and worked closely with his old friend Waylon Jennings on the album Once and For All.
On August 8, 1975 Williams was nearly killed in a mountain-climbing accident. While he was climbing Ajax Peak in Montana, the snow beneath him collapsed and he fell almost 500 feet onto rock. He suffered multiple skull and facial fractures.[8] The incident was chronicled in the semi-autobiographical, made-for-television film Living Proof: The Hank Williams, Jr. Story. To hide the scars and the disfigurement from the accident, Williams grew a beard and began wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat. The beard, hat, and sunglasses have since become his signature look, and he is rarely seen without them.
Acceptance into the country music establishment
Williams's career began to hit its peak after the Nashville establishment gradually—and somewhat reluctantly—accepted his new sound. His popularity had risen to levels where he could no longer be overlooked for major industry awards. He was prolific throughout the 1980s, sometimes recording and releasing two albums a year. "Family Tradition", "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound", Habits Old and New, Rowdy, The Pressure Is On, High Notes, Strong Stuff, Man of Steel, Major Moves, Five-O, Montana Cafe, and many others resulted in a long string of hits. Between 1979 and 1992, Williams released 21 albums, 18 studio & 3 compilation, that were all, at least, certified gold by the RIAA. Between 1979 and 1990, Williams enjoyed a string of 30 Top Ten singles on the Billboard Country charts, including eight No. 1 singles, for a total of 44 Top Ten singles, including a total of 10 No. 1 singles, during his career. In 1982, he had nine albums simultaneously on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, none of which was greatest hits or live. In 1987 and 1988, Williams was named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association. In 1987, 1988, and 1989, he won the same award from the Academy of Country Music. The pinnacle album of his acceptance and popularity was Born to Boogie. During the 1980s, Williams became a country music superstar known for catchy anthems and hard-edged, rock-influenced country. During the late 1970s and into the mid-1980s, Williams's songs constantly flew into the number one or number two spots, with songs such as "Family Tradition", "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound", "Old Habits", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "Born to Boogie", and "My Name Is Bocephus".[clarification needed] The 1987 hit single Wild Streak was cowritten by Houston native Terri Sharp, for which Williams and Sharp both earned gold records.
In 1988 he released a Southern pride song, "If the South Woulda Won". The reference is to a Southern victory in the Civil War. The song proposes a southern holiday honoring Elvis Presley. Williams would run for president of the South. He would place the capital in Montgomery, Alabama, honoring his father, Hank Williams, Sr., with his image on the $100 bill. He also implies that in the current United States killers frequently get off too easily and calls for swift executions instead.
His 1989 hit "There's a Tear in My Beer" was a duet with his father created using electronic merging technology. The song was written by his father, and had been previously recorded with Hank Williams playing the guitar as the sole instrument. The music video for the song combined existing television footage of Hank Williams performing, onto which electronic merging technology impressed the recordings of Williams, which then made it appear as if he were actually playing with his father. The video was both a critical and commercial success. It was named Video of the Year by both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. Williams would go on to win a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration.
He is well known for his hit "A Country Boy Can Survive" and as the performer of the theme song for Monday Night Football, based on his 1984 hit "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight". In 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, Williams's opening themes for Monday Night Football (Written by ghost writer Milliea Taylor McKinney known for selling her song rights to artist} the tune earned him four Emmy Awards. In 2001, Hank co-wrote his classic hit "A Country Boy Can Survive" after 9/11, renaming it "America Can Survive". In 2004, Williams was featured prominently on CMT Outlaws. In 2006, he starred at the Summerfest concert.
He has also made a cameo appearance along with Larry the Cable Guy, Kid Rock, and Charlie Daniels in Gretchen Wilson's music video for the song "All Jacked Up". He and Kid Rock also appeared in Wilson's "Redneck Woman" video. Hank also had a small part of Kid Rock's video "Only God Knows Why", and "Redneck Paradise". He is also referenced in numerous songs by modern-day country singers, including Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Gretchen Wilson, Alan Jackson, Justin Moore, Trace Adkins, and Aaron Lewis.
In April 2009, Williams released a new single, "Red, White & Pink-Slip Blues", which peaked at number 43 on the country charts. The song was the lead-off single to Williams's album 127 Rose Avenue. The album debuted and peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Also in July 2009, 127 Rose Avenue was announced as his last album for Curb Records.[9]
Notable events
Williams opened for Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006, on ABC and was in the stands as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
On April 10, 2006, CMT honored Williams with the Johnny Cash Visionary Award, presenting it to him at the 2006 CMT Music Awards.
On November 11, 2008, Williams was honored as a BMI Icon at the 56th annual BMI Country Awards. The artists and songwriters named BMI Icons have had "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers."[10]
In 2011, Williams was named one of "Five Living Legends" of his native Shreveport, Louisiana, by Danny Fox (1954–2014) of KWKH radio.[11] Others named were Bob Griffin of KSLA and KTBS-TV and James Burton. Two other cited, Claude King and Frank Page, both died in 2013.[12]
Politics
Williams has been politically involved with the Republican Party. For the 2000 election, he redid his song "We Are Young Country" to "This is Bush–Cheney Country". On October 15, 2008, at a rally in Virginia Beach for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, he performed "McCain–Palin Tradition", a song in support of McCain and his vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.[13] He has made many contributions to federal election campaigns, mostly to Republicans, including Michele Bachmann's 2012 presidential campaign.[14]
In November 2008, Williams explored a run for the 2012 Republican nomination as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee for the seat held by Bob Corker, though his publicist said Williams "has talked about it, but no announcement has been made".[15] Williams did not run, and Corker was easily reelected to a second term.
2011 Fox and Friends appearance
In an October 3, 2011, interview with Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends, Williams referred to a June golf game in which President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner had teamed against Vice President Joe Biden and Ohio Governor John Kasich, saying that match was "one of the biggest political mistakes ever".
Asked about why that golf game disturbed him, Williams said, "Come on. That'd be like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu ... in the shape this country is in?" He also stated the President and Vice President are "the enemy" and compared them to "the Three Stooges". When anchor Gretchen Carlson later said to him, "You used the name of one of the most hated people in all of the world to describe, I think, the president." Williams replied, "Well, that is true. But I'm telling you like it is." As a result of his statements, ESPN dropped Williams' opening musical number from its Monday Night Football broadcast of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Indianapolis Colts and replaced it with the national anthem.
Later, Williams stated his analogy was "extreme – but it was to make a point", and "Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood ... I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me – how ludicrous that pairing was. They're polar opposites, and it made no sense. They don't see eye-to-eye and never will."
Williams went on to claim he has "always respected the office of the president ... Working-class people are hurting – and it doesn't seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job – it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change." ESPN later announced they were "extremely disappointed" in Williams' comments, and pulled his opening from that night's broadcast.[16]
Three days later, ESPN released a statement announcing Williams and his song would not return to Monday Night Football, ending the use of the song that had been part of the broadcast on both ABC and ESPN since 1989.[17] Williams has further expressed defiance and indifference on his website, and said he was the one who made the decision. "After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision," he wrote. "By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It's been a great run."[18] Williams' son, Hank Williams III, stayed neutral in the debate, telling TMZ.com that most musicians, including his dad, are "not worthy" of a political discussion.[19]
After his song was pulled from Monday Night Football broadcasts permanently, Williams recorded a song criticizing President Obama, ESPN and Fox & Friends titled "Keep the Change". He released the track on iTunes and via free download at his website.[20] The song garnered over 180,000 downloads in two days.[21]
Williams continues to make his contempt for President Obama known; during a performance at the Iowa State Fair in August 2012 he called Obama a Muslim and told the crowd, "We've got a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the U.S. and we hate him!"
Williams began his career by following in his famed father's footsteps, singing his father's songs and imitating his father's style. Williams's own style slowly evolved as he struggled to find his own voice and place within the country music industry. This trend was interrupted by a near-fatal fall off the side of Ajax Peak in Montana on August 8, 1975.[2][3] After an extended recovery, he challenged the country music establishment with a blend of country, rock, and blues. Williams enjoyed much success in the 1980s, from which he earned considerable recognition and popularity both inside and outside the country music industry.
As a multi-instrumentalist, Williams's repertoire of skills include guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, dobro, piano, keyboards, harmonica, fiddle, and drums.[1]
From 1989 until October 2011,[4] a version of his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" was used as the opening for broadcasts of Monday Night Football.[5]
Biography
Early life and career
Williams was born on May 26, 1949 in Shreveport, Louisiana. His father nicknamed him Bocephus (after Grand Ole Opry comedian Rod Brasfield's ventriloquist dummy). After his father's untimely death in 1953, he was raised by his mother, Audrey Williams. While he was a child, a number of contemporary musicians visited his family, who influenced and taught him various music instruments and styles. Among these figures of influence were Johnny Cash, Fats Domino, Earl Scruggs, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Williams first stepped on the stage and sang his father's songs when he was eight years old. In 1964, he made his recording debut with "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", one of his father's many classic songs.
Williams provided the singing voice of his father[6] in the 1964 film Your Cheatin' Heart.[7] He also recorded an album of duets with recordings of his father.[6]
A change in appearance and musical direction
Although Williams's recordings earned him numerous country hits throughout the 1960s and early 1970s with his role as a "Hank Williams impersonator", he became disillusioned and severed ties with his mother.
By the mid-1970s Williams began to pursue a musical direction that would eventually make him a superstar.[citation needed] While recording a series of moderately successful songs, Williams began a heavy pattern of both drug and alcohol abuse. Upon moving to Alabama, in an attempt to refocus both his creative energy and his troubled personal life, Williams began playing music with Southern rock musicians including Waylon Jennings, Toy Caldwell, and Charlie Daniels. Hank Williams, Jr. and Friends (1975), often considered his watershed album was the product of these then-groundbreaking collaborations. In 1977 Williams recorded and released One Night Stands and The New South, and worked closely with his old friend Waylon Jennings on the album Once and For All.
On August 8, 1975 Williams was nearly killed in a mountain-climbing accident. While he was climbing Ajax Peak in Montana, the snow beneath him collapsed and he fell almost 500 feet onto rock. He suffered multiple skull and facial fractures.[8] The incident was chronicled in the semi-autobiographical, made-for-television film Living Proof: The Hank Williams, Jr. Story. To hide the scars and the disfigurement from the accident, Williams grew a beard and began wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat. The beard, hat, and sunglasses have since become his signature look, and he is rarely seen without them.
Acceptance into the country music establishment
Williams's career began to hit its peak after the Nashville establishment gradually—and somewhat reluctantly—accepted his new sound. His popularity had risen to levels where he could no longer be overlooked for major industry awards. He was prolific throughout the 1980s, sometimes recording and releasing two albums a year. "Family Tradition", "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound", Habits Old and New, Rowdy, The Pressure Is On, High Notes, Strong Stuff, Man of Steel, Major Moves, Five-O, Montana Cafe, and many others resulted in a long string of hits. Between 1979 and 1992, Williams released 21 albums, 18 studio & 3 compilation, that were all, at least, certified gold by the RIAA. Between 1979 and 1990, Williams enjoyed a string of 30 Top Ten singles on the Billboard Country charts, including eight No. 1 singles, for a total of 44 Top Ten singles, including a total of 10 No. 1 singles, during his career. In 1982, he had nine albums simultaneously on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, none of which was greatest hits or live. In 1987 and 1988, Williams was named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association. In 1987, 1988, and 1989, he won the same award from the Academy of Country Music. The pinnacle album of his acceptance and popularity was Born to Boogie. During the 1980s, Williams became a country music superstar known for catchy anthems and hard-edged, rock-influenced country. During the late 1970s and into the mid-1980s, Williams's songs constantly flew into the number one or number two spots, with songs such as "Family Tradition", "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound", "Old Habits", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "Born to Boogie", and "My Name Is Bocephus".[clarification needed] The 1987 hit single Wild Streak was cowritten by Houston native Terri Sharp, for which Williams and Sharp both earned gold records.
In 1988 he released a Southern pride song, "If the South Woulda Won". The reference is to a Southern victory in the Civil War. The song proposes a southern holiday honoring Elvis Presley. Williams would run for president of the South. He would place the capital in Montgomery, Alabama, honoring his father, Hank Williams, Sr., with his image on the $100 bill. He also implies that in the current United States killers frequently get off too easily and calls for swift executions instead.
His 1989 hit "There's a Tear in My Beer" was a duet with his father created using electronic merging technology. The song was written by his father, and had been previously recorded with Hank Williams playing the guitar as the sole instrument. The music video for the song combined existing television footage of Hank Williams performing, onto which electronic merging technology impressed the recordings of Williams, which then made it appear as if he were actually playing with his father. The video was both a critical and commercial success. It was named Video of the Year by both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. Williams would go on to win a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration.
He is well known for his hit "A Country Boy Can Survive" and as the performer of the theme song for Monday Night Football, based on his 1984 hit "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight". In 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, Williams's opening themes for Monday Night Football (Written by ghost writer Milliea Taylor McKinney known for selling her song rights to artist} the tune earned him four Emmy Awards. In 2001, Hank co-wrote his classic hit "A Country Boy Can Survive" after 9/11, renaming it "America Can Survive". In 2004, Williams was featured prominently on CMT Outlaws. In 2006, he starred at the Summerfest concert.
He has also made a cameo appearance along with Larry the Cable Guy, Kid Rock, and Charlie Daniels in Gretchen Wilson's music video for the song "All Jacked Up". He and Kid Rock also appeared in Wilson's "Redneck Woman" video. Hank also had a small part of Kid Rock's video "Only God Knows Why", and "Redneck Paradise". He is also referenced in numerous songs by modern-day country singers, including Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Gretchen Wilson, Alan Jackson, Justin Moore, Trace Adkins, and Aaron Lewis.
In April 2009, Williams released a new single, "Red, White & Pink-Slip Blues", which peaked at number 43 on the country charts. The song was the lead-off single to Williams's album 127 Rose Avenue. The album debuted and peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Also in July 2009, 127 Rose Avenue was announced as his last album for Curb Records.[9]
Notable events
Williams opened for Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006, on ABC and was in the stands as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
On April 10, 2006, CMT honored Williams with the Johnny Cash Visionary Award, presenting it to him at the 2006 CMT Music Awards.
On November 11, 2008, Williams was honored as a BMI Icon at the 56th annual BMI Country Awards. The artists and songwriters named BMI Icons have had "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers."[10]
In 2011, Williams was named one of "Five Living Legends" of his native Shreveport, Louisiana, by Danny Fox (1954–2014) of KWKH radio.[11] Others named were Bob Griffin of KSLA and KTBS-TV and James Burton. Two other cited, Claude King and Frank Page, both died in 2013.[12]
Politics
Williams has been politically involved with the Republican Party. For the 2000 election, he redid his song "We Are Young Country" to "This is Bush–Cheney Country". On October 15, 2008, at a rally in Virginia Beach for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, he performed "McCain–Palin Tradition", a song in support of McCain and his vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.[13] He has made many contributions to federal election campaigns, mostly to Republicans, including Michele Bachmann's 2012 presidential campaign.[14]
In November 2008, Williams explored a run for the 2012 Republican nomination as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee for the seat held by Bob Corker, though his publicist said Williams "has talked about it, but no announcement has been made".[15] Williams did not run, and Corker was easily reelected to a second term.
2011 Fox and Friends appearance
In an October 3, 2011, interview with Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends, Williams referred to a June golf game in which President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner had teamed against Vice President Joe Biden and Ohio Governor John Kasich, saying that match was "one of the biggest political mistakes ever".
Asked about why that golf game disturbed him, Williams said, "Come on. That'd be like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu ... in the shape this country is in?" He also stated the President and Vice President are "the enemy" and compared them to "the Three Stooges". When anchor Gretchen Carlson later said to him, "You used the name of one of the most hated people in all of the world to describe, I think, the president." Williams replied, "Well, that is true. But I'm telling you like it is." As a result of his statements, ESPN dropped Williams' opening musical number from its Monday Night Football broadcast of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Indianapolis Colts and replaced it with the national anthem.
Later, Williams stated his analogy was "extreme – but it was to make a point", and "Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood ... I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me – how ludicrous that pairing was. They're polar opposites, and it made no sense. They don't see eye-to-eye and never will."
Williams went on to claim he has "always respected the office of the president ... Working-class people are hurting – and it doesn't seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job – it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change." ESPN later announced they were "extremely disappointed" in Williams' comments, and pulled his opening from that night's broadcast.[16]
Three days later, ESPN released a statement announcing Williams and his song would not return to Monday Night Football, ending the use of the song that had been part of the broadcast on both ABC and ESPN since 1989.[17] Williams has further expressed defiance and indifference on his website, and said he was the one who made the decision. "After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision," he wrote. "By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It's been a great run."[18] Williams' son, Hank Williams III, stayed neutral in the debate, telling TMZ.com that most musicians, including his dad, are "not worthy" of a political discussion.[19]
After his song was pulled from Monday Night Football broadcasts permanently, Williams recorded a song criticizing President Obama, ESPN and Fox & Friends titled "Keep the Change". He released the track on iTunes and via free download at his website.[20] The song garnered over 180,000 downloads in two days.[21]
Williams continues to make his contempt for President Obama known; during a performance at the Iowa State Fair in August 2012 he called Obama a Muslim and told the crowd, "We've got a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the U.S. and we hate him!"
The Blues Medley - Hank Williams, Jr
The Blues Medley: "My Starter Won't Start This Morning" ,"Hold Up Your
Head" , "One Kind Favor" , "Trouble In Mind" Hank Williams, Jr. , ~ By
Request......
R.I.P.
John Henry Fortescue (Guitar Shorty) +26.05.1976
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Earlier this afternoon the Juke played "Like A Damn Fool (The Bear Blues)" by Guitar Shorty (John Henry Fortescue) from the Trix album Alone In His Field. I was reminded of just what a unique talent Shorty was, and thought he merited a mention.
A bit of background: Shorty was born at "an unknown time" (according to the liner notes) in North Carolina; at the time he recorded for Trix in 1972 and 1973 he was "possibly in his early forties". Shorty was a farm-worker and laborer by trade. He died in 1975. Besides his Trix recordings, Shorty recorded at least two sides for Savoy in 1952, as "Hootin' Owl".
In the original liner notes to Trix LP 3306, William Bentley claims that Shorty always tuned his guitar to EAEGBE, and always played with a slide on his little finger, though he didn't always use it in a given song.
So much for background. On to the music. In a world where the word "unique" is used way too often, hearing Shorty's Trix LP is truly a unique experience. While Shorty does some songs that are straight 12 bar blues, most of his work is far from that. He seems to have started with a more or less set backing on the guitar and a lyric idea, and went on from there with unpredictable results, which included humming, whistling (he was a great whistler), scat singing, falsetto passages, a vocal imitation of a harmonica solo, and spoken asides in which he often does several different voices playing different parts. The songs that really set Shorty apart are the ones where he gets into a guitar groove and performs a playlet, for want of a better word. "Like A Damn Fool (The Bear Blues)" is a one chord "song" that revolves loosely around bears and foolish things Shorty has done, and ends with Shorty meeting the ugliest bear he's ever seen, which he eventually realizes is a mirror. In "Pull Your Dress Down", Shorty plays himself, a young girl in his house, and an FBI agent. (Rapping on guitar - "Who is that?" "FBI." "FBI? You got your clothes on" "Of course I've got my clothes on, why'd you ask?" "Well, we don't want anyone comin' in here naked.") Both songs are delivered with a frantic torrent of words - one wishes the CD came with subtitles. Guitar Shorty is solidly within the country blues tradition, but he's certainly an eccentric branch of that tradition, and worth a close listen.
This is one of those times when I wish the Fancourt/McGrath discography went past 1970. Did Guitar Shorty record anything else in the 1970s that saw the light of day? All of the Trix artists from the southeast leave me wishing more of their work was available. For most of them, like Henry Johnson, Peg Leg Sam, and Pernell Charity, this is because you get the feeling that these artists had more songs in a well-developed repertoire than have seen the light of day. But with Guitar Shorty, I wish there was more just because I get the feeling that he could have been endlessly surprising. If shorty hadn't been born into a life of prejudice and grinding poverty, I get the feeling that he could have ended up being a musical Robin Williams or Flip Wilson.
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=5455.0
Guitar Shorty (born David William Kearney, September 8, 1934 in Houston, Texas, United States) is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is well known for his explosive guitar style and wild stage antics. Billboard magazine said, “his galvanizing guitar work defines modern, top-of-the-line blues-rock. His vocals remain as forceful as ever. Righteous shuffles...blistering, sinuous guitar solos.”[1]
History
Shorty was born in Houston but grew up mainly in Kissimmee, Florida where he began playing the guitar at an early age and began leading a band not long after. During his time in Tampa Bay, Florida, at age 16 he received his nickname, Guitar Shorty, when it mysteriously showed up on the marquee of the club he was playing as 'The Walter Johnson Band featuring Guitar Shorty.'[2] He steadily began to garner accloades from his peers and, soon after, he joined the Ray Charles Band for a year.[2] He recorded his first single in 1957, "You Don't Treat Me Right", for the Cobra label under the direction of Willie Dixon after Dixon saw him playing with the Walter Johnson Orchestra.[3] Eventually, he joined Guitar Slim's band and move to New Orleans, Louisiana. Slim inspired Shorty to incorporate more showmanship into his live performance style. Before long, Shorty was doing somersaults and flips on stage.
While in New Orleans, Shorty also fronted his own band which played regularly at the Dew Drop Inn where he was joined by special guests such as T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner and Little Richard.[2] Not one to stay in one place long, Shorty next moved to the West Coast at 19 in order to play with Sam Cooke. He played up and down the west coast and Canada until he met his future wife, Marcia, in Seattle, Washington. Marcia was the half-sister of Jimi Hendrix. Jimi was so enthralled with Shorty’s playing, he went AWOL several times from his Army base to see him perform.[2][3][4] Jimi Hendrix often referenced him as being one of his main influences, saying that Guitar Shorty was the first person he saw using a wah pedal. Guitar Shorty let Hendrix borrow one of his wah pedals until he could afford his own, and the resulting sound became world-famous as a part of Hendrix's groundbreaking signature guitar tone. Guitar Shorty recalls during an interview, "He told me the reason he started setting his guitar on fire was because he couldn’t do the back flips like I did.” As Shorty’s popularity grew, he recorded three singles for the Los Angeles-based Pull Records label in 1959.
Shorty gigged steadily through the late 1950s and 1960s. During the 1970s he worked as a mechanic, playing music at nights and on weekends. He again became a full-time musician in 1975, struggling at times to make ends meet. In 1976 he made an appearance on Chuck Barris' Gong Show, winning first prize for performing the song "They Call Me Guitar Shorty" while balanced on his head.[4]
In 1985, he released his first album On the Rampage on Olive Branch Records. He went on his first tour to the UK in 1991, and there he recorded “My Way or the Highway” with Otis Grand which came out on JSP Records that year. This won him a W.C. Handy Award and garnering him interest from labels in the United States.[3] Shorty soon got a record deal with New Orleans based Black Top Records.
Topsy Turvy, his first on Black Top, came out in 1993. The album featured some fresh new songs as well as remakes of three classic numbers from his Pull days back in 1959. He released two more albums on Black Top in the 1990s. When Black Top folded in 1999, Shorty moved to Evidence Music, and released I Go Wild! in 2001.
In 2002, he was featured on the Bo Diddley tribute album Hey Bo Diddley - A Tribute!, performing the song "Don't Let It Go (Hold On To What You Got)". He joined Alligator Records in 2004. His album that year, Watch Your Back and his 2006 album We the People both charted on the Billboard Top Blues Albums at numbers eleven and twelve, respectively. Billboard said of We The People, "it’s difficult to imagine that he ever tracks a better album than this one."[1]
A new Alligator Records CD, Bare Knuckle, was released in March 2010. He was then based out of Harlingen, Texas. In 2012, Shorty moved back to Los Angeles, where he presently lives when he is not on tour.
Guitar Shorty's guitar is named Red. He is currently touring more than 75% of the year in the United States and around the world, including 2015 dates in Europe and Brazil. His current band members include Danny Gerass on drums, Crazy Tomes on bass, Malcolm Lukens on keyboards, and Mark Burgess on second guitar. Krystal Khali, the first and only female to ever be in one of his bands, was added in 2014 for select dates on second guitar.
Another blues musician, John Henry Fortescue (1923–1976) on Trix Records was also named Guitar Shorty.
History
Shorty was born in Houston but grew up mainly in Kissimmee, Florida where he began playing the guitar at an early age and began leading a band not long after. During his time in Tampa Bay, Florida, at age 16 he received his nickname, Guitar Shorty, when it mysteriously showed up on the marquee of the club he was playing as 'The Walter Johnson Band featuring Guitar Shorty.'[2] He steadily began to garner accloades from his peers and, soon after, he joined the Ray Charles Band for a year.[2] He recorded his first single in 1957, "You Don't Treat Me Right", for the Cobra label under the direction of Willie Dixon after Dixon saw him playing with the Walter Johnson Orchestra.[3] Eventually, he joined Guitar Slim's band and move to New Orleans, Louisiana. Slim inspired Shorty to incorporate more showmanship into his live performance style. Before long, Shorty was doing somersaults and flips on stage.
While in New Orleans, Shorty also fronted his own band which played regularly at the Dew Drop Inn where he was joined by special guests such as T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner and Little Richard.[2] Not one to stay in one place long, Shorty next moved to the West Coast at 19 in order to play with Sam Cooke. He played up and down the west coast and Canada until he met his future wife, Marcia, in Seattle, Washington. Marcia was the half-sister of Jimi Hendrix. Jimi was so enthralled with Shorty’s playing, he went AWOL several times from his Army base to see him perform.[2][3][4] Jimi Hendrix often referenced him as being one of his main influences, saying that Guitar Shorty was the first person he saw using a wah pedal. Guitar Shorty let Hendrix borrow one of his wah pedals until he could afford his own, and the resulting sound became world-famous as a part of Hendrix's groundbreaking signature guitar tone. Guitar Shorty recalls during an interview, "He told me the reason he started setting his guitar on fire was because he couldn’t do the back flips like I did.” As Shorty’s popularity grew, he recorded three singles for the Los Angeles-based Pull Records label in 1959.
Shorty gigged steadily through the late 1950s and 1960s. During the 1970s he worked as a mechanic, playing music at nights and on weekends. He again became a full-time musician in 1975, struggling at times to make ends meet. In 1976 he made an appearance on Chuck Barris' Gong Show, winning first prize for performing the song "They Call Me Guitar Shorty" while balanced on his head.[4]
In 1985, he released his first album On the Rampage on Olive Branch Records. He went on his first tour to the UK in 1991, and there he recorded “My Way or the Highway” with Otis Grand which came out on JSP Records that year. This won him a W.C. Handy Award and garnering him interest from labels in the United States.[3] Shorty soon got a record deal with New Orleans based Black Top Records.
Topsy Turvy, his first on Black Top, came out in 1993. The album featured some fresh new songs as well as remakes of three classic numbers from his Pull days back in 1959. He released two more albums on Black Top in the 1990s. When Black Top folded in 1999, Shorty moved to Evidence Music, and released I Go Wild! in 2001.
In 2002, he was featured on the Bo Diddley tribute album Hey Bo Diddley - A Tribute!, performing the song "Don't Let It Go (Hold On To What You Got)". He joined Alligator Records in 2004. His album that year, Watch Your Back and his 2006 album We the People both charted on the Billboard Top Blues Albums at numbers eleven and twelve, respectively. Billboard said of We The People, "it’s difficult to imagine that he ever tracks a better album than this one."[1]
A new Alligator Records CD, Bare Knuckle, was released in March 2010. He was then based out of Harlingen, Texas. In 2012, Shorty moved back to Los Angeles, where he presently lives when he is not on tour.
Guitar Shorty's guitar is named Red. He is currently touring more than 75% of the year in the United States and around the world, including 2015 dates in Europe and Brazil. His current band members include Danny Gerass on drums, Crazy Tomes on bass, Malcolm Lukens on keyboards, and Mark Burgess on second guitar. Krystal Khali, the first and only female to ever be in one of his bands, was added in 2014 for select dates on second guitar.
Another blues musician, John Henry Fortescue (1923–1976) on Trix Records was also named Guitar Shorty.
Guitar Shorty John Henry Fortescue, I love that woman
Little Willie John +26.05.1968
Little Willie John (eigentlich William Edgar John; * 15. November 1937 in Cullendale, Arkansas; † 26. Mai 1968 in Walla Walla, Washington), war ein Rhythm & Blues-Sänger, der vor allem in den 1950er Jahren populär war und das Original vom vielgecoverten Klassiker Fever herausbrachte.
Little Willie John ging mit dem Paul Williams Orchestra ab 1954 auf Tournee, hat jedoch bei Plattenaufnahmen nicht mitgewirkt[1]. Im Juni 1955 wurde er durch den Produzenten Henry Glover für King Records entdeckt, erhielt dort sofort einen Plattenvertrag und war bereits am 27. Juni 1955 im Tonstudio. Mit der hastig zusammengerufenen Studioband der Plattenfirma, die aus "Champion" Jack Dupree, Calvin Shields, Ivan Rolle, Mickey Baker und Willis Jackson bestand, begannen ab 20.00 Uhr die Studioaufnahmen zur Titus Turner-Komposition All around the World / Don't Leave Me Dear. Die Single mit dem erst 18-jährigen Little Willie John erklomm die # 5 der R& B-Charts. Wie sich herausstellte, war es kein One-Hit-Wonder, denn seine zweite Single mit dem oft gecoverten, mit seinem Bruder Mertis John gemeinsam komponierten Klassiker Need Your Love So Bad (wiederum mit dem berühmten Sessiongitarristen Mikey Baker) schaffte ebenfalls den fünften Platz. Selbst die B-Seite Home At last wurde eigenständig auf #6 notiert.
Fever
Am 1. März 1956 war dann eine für Little Willie John und sein Label King Records denkwürdige Aufnahmesession angesetzt. Mit Fever entstand ein 12-taktiger Blues in Moll, instrumentiert mit den Tenorsaxophonen von Ray Felder und Rufus "Nose" Gore sowie der jazzigen Gitarre von Bill Jennings und Fingerschnippen, das nur marginal die bluesige Stimmung auflockerte[2]. Die Aufnahme brauchte fast 6 Stunden bis zur Perfektion. Der Komponist Otis Blackwell bemerkte hierzu, dass Little Willie John das Stück zunächst nicht aufnehmen wollte, da ihm das Fingerschnippen nicht gefiel. Der Song besaß jedoch ein solides, gospelähnlich wirkendes Arrangement[3], das nach seiner Veröffentlichung im April 1956 mit der einzigen # 1 R&B für den Interpreten Little Willie John belohnt wurde und als Crossover noch die #24 Pop erreichte. Später schaffte das Original auch Millionsellerstatus[4]. Fever avancierte nach der jazzigen Version von Peggy Lee zum meistgecoverten R&B-Song aller Zeiten.
Weitere Singles und Abstieg
Es folgten 40 weitere Singles bis 1964 für King Records, von denen 13 in die R&B-Charts kamen. Fast alle wurden produziert von Henry Glover. Zunehmender Alkoholismus des Sängers und abnehmende Plattenumsätze veranlassten das Plattenlabel, Little Willie John im September 1963 zu feuern. Ungeachtet dessen wurden noch Singles von ihm aus den Archiven veröffentlicht.
Kurz darauf berichtete die Presse im August 1964 über Little Willie Johns Inhaftierung, weil er einen Mann im Black & Tan Club in Seattle mit einer zerbrochenen Flasche angegriffen hatte.[5] Kaum freigelassen, attackierte er am 17. Oktober 1964 betrunken einen Mann mit einem Messer. Als das Verfahren im Januar 1965 begann, wurde der Strafvorwurf des Mordes auf Totschlag reduziert. Von der Jury für schuldig gesprochen, wurde er am 6. Juli 1966 nach Ablauf der Berufung ins berüchtigte Walla Walla-Staatsgefängnis von Washington State eingeliefert, wo er eine 20-jährige Haftstrafe antreten musste. Dort verstarb er bereits am 26. Mai 1968 an einem Herzanfall, ausgelöst durch eine Lungenentzündung.
Seine Schwester Mable John hatte im Juli 1966 einen kleinen Hit mit Your Good Thing (Is About To End) (# 6 R&B/# 95 Pop). Am 19. Dezember 1968 veröffentlicht Label-Kollege James Brown das Erinnerungsalbum Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things.
Statistik
Little Willie John hat dem BMI zufolge 12 Songs komponiert[6], von denen Need Your Love So Bad am besten in den R&B-Charts platziert war. Dieser Song wurde nach Fever mit 16 Versionen am meisten gecovert, wobei die Version von der britischen R&B-orientierten Fleetwood Mac am authentischsten ist und posthum erschien (Juli 1968). Zwar nahmen die Beatles am 14. August 1964 sein “Leave My Kitten Alone” in London auf, doch die geplante Veröffentlichung auf der LP Beatles For Sale unterblieb. Erst auf Anthology 1 wurde im Jahre 1995 die Veröffentlichung nachgeholt.
Am 17. Januar 1996 wurde Little Willie John in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen.
William Edward John (November 15, 1937 - May 26, 1968),[1] better known by his stage name Little Willie John (sometimes abbreviated LWJ), was an American Rock and Roll, and R&B singer who performed in the 1950s and early 1960s. He is best known for his popular music chart successes with songs such as, "All Around the World" (1955), "Need Your Love So Bad" (1956) and "Fever" the same year, the latter covered in 1958 by Peggy Lee.[2] An important figure in early R&B music, Little Willie John was a 1996 Inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Biography
He was born in Cullendale, Arkansas, one of ten children; many sources erroneously give his middle name as Edgar.[3] His family moved to Detroit, Michigan when he was four, so that his father could pursue factory work. In the late 1940s, the eldest children, including Willie, formed a gospel singing group, and Willie also performed in talent shows, which brought him to the notice of Johnny Otis and, later, musician and producer Henry Glover. After seeing him sing with the Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams orchestra, Glover signed him to a recording contract with King Records in 1955. He was nicknamed "Little Willie" John for his short stature.[4]
His first recording, a version of Titus Turner's "All Around the World", was a hit, reaching # 5 on the Billboard R&B chart. He followed up with a string of R&B hits, including the original version of "Need Your Love So Bad", written by his elder brother Mertis John Jr. One of his biggest hits, "Fever" (1956) (Pop #24), was more famously covered by Peggy Lee in 1958. However, John's version alone sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[5] Another song, "Talk to Me, Talk to Me" recorded in 1958, reached #5 in the R&B chart and #20 in the Pop chart, and also sold over one million.[6][7] A few years later it was a hit once again by Sunny & the Sunglows. He also recorded "I'm Shakin'" by Rudy Toombs,[8] "Suffering With The Blues", and "Sleep" (1960) (Pop #13).[6] In all, John made the Billboard Hot 100 a total of fourteen times. A cover version of "Need Your Love So Bad" by Fleetwood Mac was also a hit in Europe. Another of his songs to be covered was "Leave My Kitten Alone", (1959). The Beatles recorded a version in 1964, intended for their Beatles for Sale album, but it went unreleased until 1995.
Willie John was known for his short temper and propensity to abuse alcohol, and was dropped by his record company in 1963.[4] In 1966, he was convicted of manslaughter and sent to Washington State Penitentiary for a fatal knifing incident following a show in Seattle. He appealed his conviction and was released while the case was reconsidered, during which time he recorded what was intended to be his comeback album, but owing to contractual wrangling and the decline of his appeal, it was not released until 2008 (as Nineteen Sixty Six).[9] Little Willie John died in 1968 at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington. Despite counter claims (Rolling Stone had reported that the death occurred after John checked into the prison hospital with pneumonia[10]), the official cause of death was listed in his death certificate as a heart attack.[3]
His interment was in Warren, Michigan's Detroit Memorial Park East.
Little Willie John was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
He was the brother of singer Mable John, who recorded for Motown and Stax, as well as being a member of Ray Charles' Raeletts. His son Keith John is a backing vocalist for Stevie Wonder.[8]
James Brown, who early in his career had opened shows for John, recorded a tribute album, Thinking about Little Willie John... and a Few Nice Things.
Robbie Robertson, former lead guitarist for The Band, referenced John in a song on his 1987 self-titled album titled "Somewhere Down the Crazy River." He was also referenced in Tom Russell's "Blue Wing."
A biography, Fever: Little Willie John; A Fast Life, Mysterious Death and the Birth of Soul, written by Susan Whitall with Kevin John (another son of Little Willie John) was released in 2011 by Titan Books.
Robert Wilkins +26.05.1987
-
Robert (Timothy) Wilkins (* 16. Januar 1896 in Hernando, Mississippi ; † 26. Mai 1987 in Memphis, Tennessee), seit seiner Ordination in den 1930er Jahren auch Reverend Robert Wilkins genannt, war ein Blues- beziehungsweise später Gospel-Gitarrist und -Sänger halb afroamerikanischer, halb Cherokee-Abstammung.
Wilkins trat – ebenso wie Furry Lewis, Memphis Minnie und Son House – während der 1920er Jahre in Memphis auf. Er gründete damals unter anderem auch eine Jug-Band, um von dem seinerzeit modischen „jug band craze“ zu profitieren. Obwohl er nie vergleichbaren Erfolg hatte wie beispielsweise die Memphis Jug Band, konnte er doch 1927 seine örtliche Popularität durch einen Auftritt in einer dortigen Radiostation steigern. Wie Sleepy John Estes (und anders als Gus Cannon von den Cannon’s Jug Stompers) machte er Plattenaufnahmen jedoch überwiegend allein oder mit höchstens einem Begleitmusiker. Er trat auch als „Tim Wilkins“ und als „Tim Oliver“ (der Nachname seines Stiefvaters) auf.
Seine bekanntesten Songs sind „That’s No Way To Get Along“ (dessen „weltlichen“ Text er nach seiner Ordination gegen das biblische Thema vom „Verlorenen Sohn“ austauschte und es fortan „The Prodigal Son“ nannte, und das unter diesem Titel 1968 von den Rolling Stones auf ihrem Album Beggars Banquet gecovert wurde), „Rolling Stone“ (nicht identisch mit „Rollin' Stone“ von Muddy Waters aus dem Jahr 1950, dem Lied, das den Rolling Stones zu ihrem Namen verhalf), und „Old Jim Canan’s“.
In den 1930er Jahren wurde Wilkins als Ältester der „Church of God in Christ“ ordiniert und begann, Gospelmusik – allerdings weiterhin mit dem von ihm bekannten „Blues-Feeling“ – zu spielen.
„Reverend“ Robert Wilkins wurde während des Folk- und Blues-Revival der 1960er Jahre von den Blues-Enthusiasten Louisa und Dick Spottswood „wiederentdeckt“, trat seitdem regelmäßig vor neuem, weißem Publikum auf Folk-Festivals auf und spielte eine Vielzahl neuer Schallplatten ein. Seine Besonderheit bestand in seiner Vielseitigkeit; er konnte sowohl Ragtime als auch Blues, Minstrelsongs wie Gospel mit gleicher Virtuosität vortragen.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wilkins
Robert Timothy Wilkins (January 16, 1896 – May 26, 1987)[2] was an American country blues guitarist and vocalist,[1] of African American and Cherokee descent.[3]
His distinction was his versatility; he could play ragtime, blues, minstrel songs, and gospel with equal facility.[3]
Career
Wilkins was born in Hernando, Mississippi,[2] 21 miles from Memphis. He performed in Memphis and north Mississippi during the 1920s and early 1930s, the same time as Furry Lewis, Memphis Minnie (whom he claimed to have tutored), and Son House. He also organized a jug band to capitalize on the "jug band craze" then in vogue. Though never attaining success comparable to the Memphis Jug Band, Wilkins reinforced his local popularity with a 1927 appearance on a Memphis radio station. From 1928 to 1936 he recordedfor Victor and Brunswick Records, alone or with a single accompanist, like Sleepy John Estes, and unlike Gus Cannon of Cannon's Jug Stompers. He sometimes performed as Tom Wilkins or as Tim Oliver (his stepfather's name).
In 1936 he quit the blues after witnessing a murder where he played, and joined the church. In 1950 he was ordained.[4] In 1964 Wilkins was "rediscovered" by blues revival enthusiasts Dick and Louisa Spottswood, making appearances at folk festivals and recording his gospel blues for a new audience.[3] These include the 1964 Newport Folk Festival; his performance of "Prodigal Son" there was included on the Vanguard Records album Blues at Newport, Volume 2. In 1964 he also recorded his first full album, Piedmont Records' Rev. Robert Wilkins: Memphis Gospel Singer. Another full session was recorded live at the 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival, and released in 1993 as "...Remember Me".
Wilkins died on May 26, 1987 in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 91.[2] His son, Reverend John Wilkins, continues his father's gospel blues legacy.[5]
His best known songs are "That's No Way To Get Along" and his reworked gospel version, "The Prodigal Son", which was covered under that title by The Rolling Stones, as well as "Rolling Stone", and "Old Jim Canan's". The Stones were forced to credit "The Prodigal Son" to Wilkins after lawyers had approached the band and asked the credit to be changed. Original pressings of Beggars Banquet had credited only Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as sole composers, not Wilkins.
His distinction was his versatility; he could play ragtime, blues, minstrel songs, and gospel with equal facility.[3]
Career
Wilkins was born in Hernando, Mississippi,[2] 21 miles from Memphis. He performed in Memphis and north Mississippi during the 1920s and early 1930s, the same time as Furry Lewis, Memphis Minnie (whom he claimed to have tutored), and Son House. He also organized a jug band to capitalize on the "jug band craze" then in vogue. Though never attaining success comparable to the Memphis Jug Band, Wilkins reinforced his local popularity with a 1927 appearance on a Memphis radio station. From 1928 to 1936 he recordedfor Victor and Brunswick Records, alone or with a single accompanist, like Sleepy John Estes, and unlike Gus Cannon of Cannon's Jug Stompers. He sometimes performed as Tom Wilkins or as Tim Oliver (his stepfather's name).
In 1936 he quit the blues after witnessing a murder where he played, and joined the church. In 1950 he was ordained.[4] In 1964 Wilkins was "rediscovered" by blues revival enthusiasts Dick and Louisa Spottswood, making appearances at folk festivals and recording his gospel blues for a new audience.[3] These include the 1964 Newport Folk Festival; his performance of "Prodigal Son" there was included on the Vanguard Records album Blues at Newport, Volume 2. In 1964 he also recorded his first full album, Piedmont Records' Rev. Robert Wilkins: Memphis Gospel Singer. Another full session was recorded live at the 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival, and released in 1993 as "...Remember Me".
Wilkins died on May 26, 1987 in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 91.[2] His son, Reverend John Wilkins, continues his father's gospel blues legacy.[5]
His best known songs are "That's No Way To Get Along" and his reworked gospel version, "The Prodigal Son", which was covered under that title by The Rolling Stones, as well as "Rolling Stone", and "Old Jim Canan's". The Stones were forced to credit "The Prodigal Son" to Wilkins after lawyers had approached the band and asked the credit to be changed. Original pressings of Beggars Banquet had credited only Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as sole composers, not Wilkins.
„Baby Face“ Leroy Foster +26.05.1958
„Baby Face“ Leroy Foster (* 12. Februar 1923 in Algoma, Mississippi; † 26. Mai 1958 in Chicago) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Gitarrist, Sänger und Schlagzeuger.
Leroy Foster gehörte zu den Pionieren des Chicagoer Nachkriegsblues, der ab 1945 in der Stadt entstand. Foster wirkte auch an den Sessions für das kurzlebige Label Tempo-Tone mit, bei denen er mit Muddy Waters, Sunnyland Slim und Jimmy Rogers spielte. Er spielte auch mit John Lee „Sonny Boy“ Williamson. Seine ersten Aufnahmen entstanden um 1945/46 mit dem Pianisten Lee Brown und James Clark (für Columbia). Erste Aufnahmen unter eigenem Namen spielte er 1948 für Aristocrat Records ein; zwei Stücke mit Muddy Waters. Leroy Foster, der neben der Gitarre gleichzeitig auch Bass Drum und Hi-Hat mit seinen Füßen spielte, war auch als Sänger aktiv. Anfang 1950 entstanden die letzten Aufnahmen mit Waters für Parkway Records (Rollin' and Tumblin'.) Seine zwei für Tempo-Tone entstandenen Nummern nahm er erneut auf, Red Headed Woman und Boll Weevil. Foster wirkte auch als Schlagzeuger bei Aufnahmen von Memphis Minnie mit. Nachdem er die Muddy Waters-Band verlassen hatte, arbeitete er 1950, 1951 und 1952 mit eigenen Formationen bei drei Sessions für J.O.B. Records und wirkte bei Aufnahmen von Mildred Richards und Snooky Pryor 1950 bei JOB mit. 1950 spielte er auch bei der Debüt-Session von J. B. Lenoir, die später bei Chess Records erschien und begleitete Sunnyland Slim bei Aufnahmen für dessen Label Sunny. 1952 nahm Foster erneut unter eigenem Namen auf; die Stück blieben jedoch zunächst unveröffentlicht. Alkoholismus schränkte seine Arbeitsmöglichkeiten ein; er starb am 26. Mai 1958 in Chicago.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leroy_Foster
"Baby Face" Leroy Foster (February 1, 1923 – May 26, 1958) was an American blues singer, drummer and guitarist, active in Chicago from the mid-1940s until the late 1950s. He was a significant figure in the development of the post-war electric Chicago blues sound, most notably as a member of the Muddy Waters band during its formative years.[1]
Early life
Foster was born in Algoma, Mississippi, United States. He moved to Chicago in the mid-1940s, and by 1946 was working with pianist Sunnyland Slim and harmonica player John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson.[2] He was introduced to singer and guitarist Muddy Waters by an acquaintance Waters met at a recording session in 1946, and was soon playing guitar and drums in Waters’ band, along with guitar and harmonica player Jimmy Rogers,[3] with the band later joined by Little Walter on harmonica. Calling themselves the Headhunters, the trio were known for going from club to club and “cutting” (i.e. engaging in musical duels with) other bands.[1]
First recordings
Foster’s first recordings were made with pianist Lee Brown in 1945 for J. Mayo Williams' Chicago label. In 1946, he appeared on another session with Lee Brown and recorded with James "Beale Street" Clark for Columbia. He also accompanied Sunnyland Slim on a 1947 or 1948 session for the Opera label.[2] Further recordings followed, both under his own name and backing Sunnyland Slim, Muddy Waters, Little Walter and pianist Johnny Jones, before his most notable session, for the Parkway label in 1950.
The Parkway session
This session featured the personnel of Muddy Waters' band of the time: Foster, Waters, Little Walter and (on two tracks only, since he was late for the session), Jimmy Rogers.[4] Four singles were released from the session, two by Foster and two by Little Walter. One of the singles, the two-part "Rollin' and Tumblin'" was notable enough to be reviewed, unusually for a down home blues release, in the Chicago Defender by Edward Myers, who described it as having "the sound and beat of African chant".[2] The track featured only Foster’s drumming and singing, Walter’s harmonica and Waters’ slide guitar, with hummed ensemble vocals on one side. Unfortunately, Waters’ guitar playing and backup singing were distinctive enough for it to come to the attention of Leonard Chess of Chess Records, who had Waters under an exclusive recording contract. As a result, Waters was made to record his own version of the song for the larger Chess label in order to "kill" the Parkway recording.[5]
Later career and death
After the Parkway session, Foster left Waters’ band, possibly in the hope of a solo career resulting from the releases on Parkway, but unfortunately the label soon folded. Afterwards, Foster recorded a further three sessions under his own name for the JOB label between 1950 and 1953, but died from a heart attack, possibly as a result of alcoholism, at the age of 35 in 1958.[2][6]
Foster was buried at Fern Oak Cemetery in Griffith, Indiana.[7] In 2012 the Killer Blues Headstone Project, a nonprofit organization, placed a headstone on Foster's unmarked grave.[8]
Influences and performing style
Foster sang in a style influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson and Dr. Clayton,[9] and while he played guitar and drums competently, the talents for which he was popular have been described as “drinking, singing and clowning”.
Early life
Foster was born in Algoma, Mississippi, United States. He moved to Chicago in the mid-1940s, and by 1946 was working with pianist Sunnyland Slim and harmonica player John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson.[2] He was introduced to singer and guitarist Muddy Waters by an acquaintance Waters met at a recording session in 1946, and was soon playing guitar and drums in Waters’ band, along with guitar and harmonica player Jimmy Rogers,[3] with the band later joined by Little Walter on harmonica. Calling themselves the Headhunters, the trio were known for going from club to club and “cutting” (i.e. engaging in musical duels with) other bands.[1]
First recordings
Foster’s first recordings were made with pianist Lee Brown in 1945 for J. Mayo Williams' Chicago label. In 1946, he appeared on another session with Lee Brown and recorded with James "Beale Street" Clark for Columbia. He also accompanied Sunnyland Slim on a 1947 or 1948 session for the Opera label.[2] Further recordings followed, both under his own name and backing Sunnyland Slim, Muddy Waters, Little Walter and pianist Johnny Jones, before his most notable session, for the Parkway label in 1950.
The Parkway session
This session featured the personnel of Muddy Waters' band of the time: Foster, Waters, Little Walter and (on two tracks only, since he was late for the session), Jimmy Rogers.[4] Four singles were released from the session, two by Foster and two by Little Walter. One of the singles, the two-part "Rollin' and Tumblin'" was notable enough to be reviewed, unusually for a down home blues release, in the Chicago Defender by Edward Myers, who described it as having "the sound and beat of African chant".[2] The track featured only Foster’s drumming and singing, Walter’s harmonica and Waters’ slide guitar, with hummed ensemble vocals on one side. Unfortunately, Waters’ guitar playing and backup singing were distinctive enough for it to come to the attention of Leonard Chess of Chess Records, who had Waters under an exclusive recording contract. As a result, Waters was made to record his own version of the song for the larger Chess label in order to "kill" the Parkway recording.[5]
Later career and death
After the Parkway session, Foster left Waters’ band, possibly in the hope of a solo career resulting from the releases on Parkway, but unfortunately the label soon folded. Afterwards, Foster recorded a further three sessions under his own name for the JOB label between 1950 and 1953, but died from a heart attack, possibly as a result of alcoholism, at the age of 35 in 1958.[2][6]
Foster was buried at Fern Oak Cemetery in Griffith, Indiana.[7] In 2012 the Killer Blues Headstone Project, a nonprofit organization, placed a headstone on Foster's unmarked grave.[8]
Influences and performing style
Foster sang in a style influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson and Dr. Clayton,[9] and while he played guitar and drums competently, the talents for which he was popular have been described as “drinking, singing and clowning”.
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