1897 Sylvester Weaver*
1907 Guitar Slim Green*
1915 Gene Phillips*
1943 Jim McCarty*
1962 Robert Lucas*
1984 Big Mama Thornton+
1985 Willie Perryman (Piano Red)+
Happy Birthday
Gene Phillips *25.07.1915
Gene Phillips (eigentlich Eugene Floyd Phillips, * 25. Juli 1915 in St. Louis; † 10. Januar 1990 in Lakewood (Kalifornien)[1][2]) war ein US-amerikanischer Musiker des Jump Blues (Gitarre, Gesang).[3], der seine größte Popularität in der R&B-Szene von Los Angeles in den Jahren um 1950 hatte.
Leben und Wirken
Phillips spielte in St. Louis in den Bands von Dewey Jackson und Jimmy Powell. Später hatte er Unterricht bei Floyd Smith auf der Steelguitar.[3] Um 1945 spielte er im Trio von Lorenzo Flennoy; Mitte des Jahres wirkte er bei Aufnahmen von Wynonie Harris und Jack McVea für Apollo mit. Ende 1945 nahm er mit in einer Band unter Leitung von Bob Mosely auf, in der u. a. Lucky Thompson, Marshall Royal, Lee Young und Charles Mingus spielten; die Bandsängerin war Marion Abernathy.[4] Weitere Aufnahmen entstanden in dieser Zeit mit Duke Henderson, Wild Bill Moore, Joe Liggins, Amos Milburn, Lloyd Glenn, Johnny Otis, ab 1950 bei Percy Mayfield, Preston Love, Calvin Boze.
Unter eigenem Namen spielte er von 1947 bis 1950 für Modern Records mit seiner Band Gene Phillips and His Rhythm Aces eine Reihe von Titeln ein, u. a. Big Bill Broonzys „Just a Dream (On My Mind)“, „Big Fat Mama“, „Big Legs“, „Rock Bottom“ und „Stinkin' Drunk“.[5][6] Bei den Aufnahmen wirkten u. a. der Trompeter Jake Porter, Schlagzeuger Al „Cake“ Wichard, ferner Maxwell Davis,[7] Marshall Royal, Jack McVea, Bumps Myers, Willard McDaniel und Lloyd Glenn[8] mit. Seine Aufnahmen für Modern waren von T-Bone Walker beeinflusst. Nach Tom Lord war er zwischen 1945 und 1955 an 34 Aufnahmesessions beteiligt.
Gene Phillips (born Eugene Floyd Phillips, July 25, 1915, St. Louis, Missouri)[1] was an American jump blues guitarist and singer.[2]
He was influenced by, and a fan of, Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, Big Joe Turner and Jimmy Rushing.
He joined the St Louis bands of Dewey Jackson and Jimmy Powell and was later taught lap steel guitar by Floyd Smith.[2] He later went on to join Lorenzo Flennoy's Trio.
In late 1945 he recorded with Lucky Thompson in a band also featuring Marshall Royal and Charles Mingus.[3]
His Rhythm Aces, the band he used on his Modern recordings for the Bihari Brothers, included Jake Porter, trumpet; drummer Al "Cake" Wichard; Maxwell Davis, Marshall Royal, Jack McVea, Bumps Meyers, Willard McDaniel, Lloyd Glenn, Bill Street and Art Edwards.[4]
Some sources claim Phillips died in 1990.
Jim McCarty *25.07.1943
Jim McCarty (* 25. Juli 1943 in Walton, Liverpool; vollständiger Name James Stanley McCarty) ist ein britischer Musiker. Bekannt wurde er als Schlagzeuger bei The Yardbirds und Renaissance. Außerdem war er Mitglied bei den Bands Shoot, Illusion, Stairway, Box of Frogs und Pilgrim.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McCarty
James Stanley "Jim" McCarty (born 25 July 1943) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for The Yardbirds and Renaissance.[1][2] Following Chris Dreja's departure from The Yardbirds in 2013 McCarty became the only member of the band to appear in all of its incarnations.
Early life
He was born at Walton Hospital in Liverpool, England, but his family moved to London when he was two years old. He attended Hampton School in Hampton where Paul Samwell-Smith was a fellow pupil. When playing with the early Yardbirds, he worked as a stockbroker in London Stock Exchange.
Career
McCarty has performed and recorded with the Yardbirds, Together, Renaissance, Shoot, Illusion, the Yardbirds reunion band Box of Frogs, Stairway, The British Invasion All-Stars, and Pilgrim, as well as under his own name and as the Jim McCarty Band. Since 1992 he has been playing with the reformed Yardbirds.
The Yardbirds
(1963-1968, 1992 to date)
Together
(1968)
Together was the name of a duo formed by Keith Relf and Jim McCarty which released one UK single in November 1968 as Columbia Records DB 8491 -
Henry's Coming Home b/w Love Mum and Dad
produced by fellow ex-Yardbird Paul Samwell-Smith and arranged and conducted by ex-Shadow Tony Meehan. One further track from the Together sessions in June 1968 has appeared on Yardbirds compilations -
Together Now
Early life
He was born at Walton Hospital in Liverpool, England, but his family moved to London when he was two years old. He attended Hampton School in Hampton where Paul Samwell-Smith was a fellow pupil. When playing with the early Yardbirds, he worked as a stockbroker in London Stock Exchange.
Career
McCarty has performed and recorded with the Yardbirds, Together, Renaissance, Shoot, Illusion, the Yardbirds reunion band Box of Frogs, Stairway, The British Invasion All-Stars, and Pilgrim, as well as under his own name and as the Jim McCarty Band. Since 1992 he has been playing with the reformed Yardbirds.
The Yardbirds
(1963-1968, 1992 to date)
Together
(1968)
Together was the name of a duo formed by Keith Relf and Jim McCarty which released one UK single in November 1968 as Columbia Records DB 8491 -
Henry's Coming Home b/w Love Mum and Dad
produced by fellow ex-Yardbird Paul Samwell-Smith and arranged and conducted by ex-Shadow Tony Meehan. One further track from the Together sessions in June 1968 has appeared on Yardbirds compilations -
Together Now
(Yardbird/ Renaissance/ Illusion/ Stairway) Jim McCarty - The Outsider (720p HD)
Sylvester Weaver *25.07.1897
Sylvester Weaver (* 25. Juli 1897 in Louisville, Kentucky; † 4. April 1960 ebenda) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluesgitarrist und Pionier des Country Blues.
Am 23. Oktober 1923 spielte er gemeinsam mit der Bluessängerin Sara Martin in New York die 78er „Longing for Daddy Blues“ / „I've Got to Go and Leave My Daddy Behind“ ein, zwei Wochen darauf als Solist die Platte „Guitar Blues“ / „Guitar Rag“; beide Aufnahmen wurden auf Okeh veröffentlicht. Diese Aufnahmen stellen die ersten Country Blues-Aufnahmen überhaupt dar. Insbesondere das (eigentlich auf einem Gitarrenbanjo eingespielte) Stück „Guitar Rag“ zählt bis heute zu den Klassikern des frühen Blues, eine Bearbeitung aus den 1930er Jahren von Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys wurde als „Steel Guitar Rag“ zu einem Country-Standard.
Bis 1927 nahm Weaver, teils mit Sara Martin, teils als Solist, rund 50 weitere Stücke auf, bei einigen Aufnahmen aus dem Jahr 1927 wurde er von einem weiteren Gitarristen, Walter Beasley, sowie der Sängerin Helen Humes begleitet. Weaver bediente sich häufig des Bottleneck-Stils, wobei er ein Taschenmesser verwendete. Seine Einspielungen waren auf dem Schallplattenmarkt erfolgreich, 1927 jedoch zog er sich aus dem Geschäft zurück nach Louisville, wo er bis zu seinem Tod 1960 lebte. Obgleich viele Interpreten des Country Blues ab den 1950er Jahren ein wieder zunehmendes Interesse an ihrer Musik erfuhren, starb Weaver in Vergessenheit.[1] Erst 1992 erschien sein Gesamtwerk auf 2 CDs, im selben Jahr erhielt sein (zuvor anonymes) Grab auf Betreiben der in Louisville ansässigen Kentucky Blues Society einen Grabstein. Die KBS verleiht des Weiteren seit 1989 jedes Jahr den Sylvester Weaver Award an Personen, die sich um den Blues verdient gemacht haben.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Weaver
Sylvester Weaver (July 25, 1897 – April 4, 1960[1]) was an American blues guitar player and pioneer of country blues.[2]
Biography
On October 23, 1923, he recorded in New York City with the blues singer Sara Martin "Longing for Daddy Blues" / "I've Got to Go and Leave My Daddy Behind" and two weeks later as a soloist "Guitar Blues" / "Guitar Rag". Both recordings were released on Okeh Records. These recordings are the very first country-blues recordings and the first known recorded songs using the slide guitar style. "Guitar Rag" (played on a Guitjo) became a blues classic and was covered in the 1930s by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys as "Steel Guitar Rag" and became a country music standard too.
Weaver recorded until 1927, sometimes accompanied by Sara Martin, about 50 additional songs. On some recordings from 1927 he was accompanied by Walter Beasley and the singer Helen Humes. Weaver often used the bottleneck-style method, playing his guitar with a knife. His recordings were quite successful but in 1927 he retired and went back to Louisville until his death in 1960. Though many country blues artists had a revival from the 1950s on, Weaver died almost forgotten.
In 1992 his complete works were released on two CDs, the same year his (up to then anonymous) grave got a headstone by engagement of the Louisville-based Kentuckiana Blues Society (KBS). Furthermore, the KBS has annually honored since 1989 persons who rendered outstanding services to the blues with their Sylvester Weaver Award.
Biography
On October 23, 1923, he recorded in New York City with the blues singer Sara Martin "Longing for Daddy Blues" / "I've Got to Go and Leave My Daddy Behind" and two weeks later as a soloist "Guitar Blues" / "Guitar Rag". Both recordings were released on Okeh Records. These recordings are the very first country-blues recordings and the first known recorded songs using the slide guitar style. "Guitar Rag" (played on a Guitjo) became a blues classic and was covered in the 1930s by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys as "Steel Guitar Rag" and became a country music standard too.
Weaver recorded until 1927, sometimes accompanied by Sara Martin, about 50 additional songs. On some recordings from 1927 he was accompanied by Walter Beasley and the singer Helen Humes. Weaver often used the bottleneck-style method, playing his guitar with a knife. His recordings were quite successful but in 1927 he retired and went back to Louisville until his death in 1960. Though many country blues artists had a revival from the 1950s on, Weaver died almost forgotten.
In 1992 his complete works were released on two CDs, the same year his (up to then anonymous) grave got a headstone by engagement of the Louisville-based Kentuckiana Blues Society (KBS). Furthermore, the KBS has annually honored since 1989 persons who rendered outstanding services to the blues with their Sylvester Weaver Award.
Sylvester Weaver - Guitar Blues (1923)
Robert Lucas *25.07.1962
Der Anlass Blues&Wine stand wieder ganz im Zeichen der Bluesmusik auf höchstem Niveau und der hier verwurzelten Weine. Am 27.Januar 2007 war es soweit und Andy Egert Blues Band brachte zusammen mit Robert Lucas unsere Mehrzweckhalle zum Kochen. Das zahlreich erscheinte Publikum wurde mit ein paar Stücken von Andy „unplugged“ begrüsst, bis dann nach und nach die ganze Band, zuletzt Robert Lucas auf die Bühne trat. Der unverwechselbare Groove dieser Musiker begeisterte das Publikum und manch einer bekam eine Gänsehaut, diese Musik ging wahrlich unter die Haut.
Wer kennt sie nicht, die legendäre Sixties-Band Canned Heat mit Hits wie "On the Road again, Going up the Country" (die Woodstock-Hymne schlechthin) oder natürlich "Lets Work Together"?
Robert Lucas war seit 1995 der aktuelle Frontman dieser Kult-Band Canned Heat. Lucas, der Sänger, Gitarrist und Mundharmonikaspieler aus Kalifornien war ein echtes Blues-Phänomen. Im Januar 2009 ist Robert Lucas leider und plötzlich in seiner Heimat verstorben.
Weinbauern FläschDer einheimische Sänger, Gitarrist und Mundharmonika-Spieler Andy Egert aus Mels ist aus der Bluesmusikszene der Schweiz nicht mehr wegzudenken. Immer mehr ist Egert auch im Ausland zu hören, wo er sich in den letzten Jahren ebenfalls eine feste Fangemeinde erspielt hat.
Bandbesetzung:
Robert Lucas – Gesang, Slide-Gitarre, Mundharmonika
West Coast vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Robert Lucas forged a path for himself in the blues world after the release of his much-hailed 1990 self-produced debut cassette, Across the River. Based in Long Beach, CA, as a solo artist Lucas recorded for the Audioquest label out of San Clemente. He was also a member of the legendary boogie blues band Canned Heat, singing and playing bottleneck guitar and harmonica with the group off and on starting in 1994.
Lucas was born into a middle-class family in Long Beach and was 14 or 15 when he started getting seriously into blues-rock. He had started to play guitar then, inspired by Jimi Hendrix, but gave up on it, concluding his hands were too small. He started playing harmonica instead, listening to recordings by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers before going back to source material, including the recordings of Little Walter Jacobs, Sonny Boy Williamson, George "Harmonica" Smith, Snooky Pryor, and James Cotton. Lucas began playing the National Steel guitar at 17 when a co-worker at the Long Beach Arena sold him the instrument. Lucas hooked up with guitarist Bernie Pearl and began taking lessons from him. After joining Pearl's band as a harmonica player, he got to play behind the likes of Big Joe Turner, George Smith, Pee Wee Creighton, Lowell Fulson, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Percy Mayfield, and other West Coast bluesmen. He carefully honed his singing and playing, with Pearl's band and on his own, for several years before forming Luke & the Locomotives in 1986.
Lucas' career as a national touring act was launched when his Across the River tape got a rave review in a Los Angeles newspaper. As a result, one of the Audioquest warehouse workers came to see him at a Los Angeles sushi bar. The employee called the company president, who came to hear Lucas that same night. Lucas was a multi-talented harmonica player, guitarist, singer, and songwriter who could do it all: on one recording for Audioquest, Usin' Man Blues, he played solo, and on another, Luke and the Locomotives, he performed with his band. The sound on all of his albums is raw and gritty, with just a few originals on each album. Classic blues fare like Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" and John Lee Hooker's "Meet Me in the Bottom" were given new life with Lucas' talented hands and vocal chops.
Lucas paid homage to traditional blues but also carefully crafted his own singing and slide guitar style. These talents are on ample display on his Audioquest albums, including Luke and the Locomotives, Usin' Man Blues, Built for Comfort, Layaway, and Completely Blue, all released during the '90s, as well as latter-day Canned Heat albums on the Ruf and Fuel 2000 labels. Robert Lucas died of a drug overdose in Long Beach on November 23, 2008.
Canned Heat live w. Robert Lucas in Prague 2006
More than 35 years past Woodstock I could finally attend the concert of
the legendary Canned Heat (unfortunately with only one surviving member
left of the original band), in almost exclusive performance in Prague in
boiling heat of summer 2006, together with partly contemporary,
challenging, fascinating audience
Guitar Slim Green *25.07.1907
Norman G. Green was born in Bryant, Texas on July 25, 1920. His family moved to Oklahoma when he was in youth where he learned guitar and started playing at local functions. In 1947 he moved to Los Angeles. He made his first records in 1948 backing J.D. Nicholson. He made his debut recordings as R. Green & Turner for a label owned by J.R. Fulbright. Fulbright claimed to have found Green in Christian, Oklahoma "him and a crossed-eyed woman who played harp, came here together. I discovered him playing at an old country supper." Green recalled meeting Fullbright at his Los Angeles club, the Jungle Room. "Alla Blues" was a retread of "Tin Pan Alley" first recorded by Curtis Jones in 1941. Green said that he and Turner wrote it and that Robert Geddins stole it from him. Green & Turner's version would become some kind of West Coast national anthem:
I said fifth street alley, it's a dangerous place
They'll catch you down there, throw dirt all in your face
Fith street alley, blues just won't let me be
The song was soon revived under the original title by West Coast artists Jimmy Wilson and Rage Agee and by Johnny Fuller and James Reed as "Roughest Place In Town." The same year he waxed the excellent "Baby I Love You b/w Tricky Woman Blues" for Murray with the latter sung by drummer Junior Hampton. After his late 1940's recordings Green didn't record again for a nearly a decade waxing 45's for small labels such as Dig, Canton and in the 60's for Geenote, Solid Soul & Universal up until 1968. In the 50's he also backed Louis Jackson & Junior Hampton and Sidney Maiden. In 1970 he teamed up with Johnny Otis & his son son Shuggie to record a only full length album for Kent titled Stone Down Blues. The Kent recordings would be his last under his name. He died in Los Angeles on September 28, 1975.
I said fifth street alley, it's a dangerous place
They'll catch you down there, throw dirt all in your face
Fith street alley, blues just won't let me be
The song was soon revived under the original title by West Coast artists Jimmy Wilson and Rage Agee and by Johnny Fuller and James Reed as "Roughest Place In Town." The same year he waxed the excellent "Baby I Love You b/w Tricky Woman Blues" for Murray with the latter sung by drummer Junior Hampton. After his late 1940's recordings Green didn't record again for a nearly a decade waxing 45's for small labels such as Dig, Canton and in the 60's for Geenote, Solid Soul & Universal up until 1968. In the 50's he also backed Louis Jackson & Junior Hampton and Sidney Maiden. In 1970 he teamed up with Johnny Otis & his son son Shuggie to record a only full length album for Kent titled Stone Down Blues. The Kent recordings would be his last under his name. He died in Los Angeles on September 28, 1975.
Guitar Slim Green 5th Street Alley Blues (1970)
R.I.P.
Big Mama Thornton +25.07.1984
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton (* 11. Dezember 1926 in Montgomery, Alabama[1]; † 25. Juli 1984 in Los Angeles) war eine US-amerikanische Bluessängerin, Songwriterin und Mundharmonikaspielerin. Sie war die erste, die „Hound Dog“ von Jerry Leiber und Mike Stoller aufnahm, der Song wurde später ein Hit für Elvis Presley. Von ihr stammt auch die Originalaufnahme von „Ball ’n Chain“, einem späteren Hit für Janis Joplin.
In ihrer Kindheit machte sie, wie viele Bluessängerinnen, in der Kirche ihre ersten musikalischen Schritte. Mit vierzehn Jahren wurde sie von einer Roadshow mit dem Namen „Hot Harlem Review“ engagiert.
Mit ihrer kräftigen Stimme und ihrem eindrucksvollem Auftreten versuchte man aus ihr eine neue Bessie Smith zu machen. Aber erst 1952 konnte Big Mama in der Johnny Otis Show mit leidenschaftlichem Rhythm and Blues ihren ersten Erfolg aufnehmen: Hound Dog, das in der Version von Elvis Presley später ein Klassiker des Rock and Roll wurde.[2] „Hound Dog“ wurde in die Wireliste The Wire's "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (While No One Was Listening)" aufgenommen.
In den Jahren 1951-1954 nahm Big Mama einige Titel in Begleitung der Johnny Otis Band für das Label Peacock Records auf, wobei sie bei einigen Aufnahmen auch virtuos Mundharmonika spielte. Aber keine dieser Aufnahmen (zum Beispiel „I Smell a Rat“, „Stop Hoppin' on Me“, „The Fish“, „Just like a Dog“) erreichte wieder die Charts.[3]
Inzwischen an der Westküste der USA niedergelassen, machte sie 1957 eine schwierige Zeit ohne reguläre Band und Engagement durch. In dieser Zeit tingelte sie nur noch durch kleine Clubs.
In den 1960er-Jahren verbesserte sie auch ihr Mundharmonikaspiel, das neben ihrer imposanten Stimme ihr Markenzeichen wurde. Erst mit dem aufblühenden Blues Revival verbesserte sich ihre Lage etwas. So nahm sie 1965 an der Europatournee des American Folk Blues Festivals teil. In London wurde bei dieser Gelegenheit das Album Big Mama Thornton in Europe aufgenommen. Durch ihre unbändige Dynamik riss sie Musiker und Zuschauer mit. Ihr Hit „Ball and Chain“ (u. a. von Janis Joplin gecovert) ließ sie die Gunst des großen Publikums gewinnen. Sie nahm in der Folge an vielen Tourneen und Festivals teil, darunter das Monterey Jazz Festival und das San Francisco Blues Festival, und spielte mehrere Alben ein. Zusammen mit T-Bone Walker nahm sie 1972 noch einmal am American Folk Blues Festival teil. Sie trat auch in den bedeutendsten Veranstaltungsorten, wie z. B. dem New Yorker Apollo Theater auf. Im Verlauf ihrer Karriere wurde sie sechs mal für die Blues Music Awards nominiert.
Big Mama litt zunehmend unter ihren Alkoholproblemen, die die Gesundheit zerstörten.
Sie wurde 1984 in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen. Auch ist sie die Namensgeberin für Willie Mae Rock Camp für Mädchen, einer Non-Profit-Organisation, die das Selbstbewusstsein von Mädchen und Frauen durch musikalische Ausbildung stärken soll.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mama_Thornton
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984) was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog" in 1952,[1] which became her biggest hit. It spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard R&B charts in 1953[2] and sold almost two million copies.[3] However, her success was overshadowed three years later, when Elvis Presley recorded his more popular rendition of "Hound Dog".[4] Similarly, Thornton's "Ball 'n' Chain" (written in 1961 but not released until 1968) had a bigger impact when performed and recorded by Janis Joplin in the late 1960s.
Style
Thornton's performances were characterized by her deep, powerful voice and strong sense of self. She was given her nickname, "Big Mama," by Frank Schiffman, manager of Harlem's Apollo Theater, due to her big voice, size, and personality. Thornton specialized in playing drums and harmonica as well as singing, and she taught herself how to play these instruments simply by watching other musicians perform. Her style was heavily influenced by the gospel music that she witnessed growing up in the home of a preacher, though her genre could be described as blues.[5]
Thornton was famous for her transgressive gender expression. She often dressed as a man in her performances, wearing items such as work shirts and slacks. This led to many rumors about her sexuality, though none confirmed. Her improvisation was a notable part of her performance. She often enters call-and-response exchanges with her band, inserting confident and notably subversive remarks. Her play with gender and sexuality set the stage for later rock 'n' roll artists' own plays with sexuality.[5]
Feminist scholars such as Maureen Mahon often praise Thornton for subverting traditional roles of African American women.[5] She added a female voice to a field that was dominated by white males, and her strong personality transgressed patriarchal and white supremacist stereotypes of what an African American woman should be. This transgression was an integral part of her performance and stage persona.[6]
Biography
Early life
Thornton's birth certificate states that she was born in Ariton, Alabama,[7] but in an interview with Chris Strachwitz she claims Montgomery, Alabama as her birthplace, probably because Montgomery was a better known place than Ariton.[8] Her introduction to music started in a Baptist church, where her father was a minister and her mother a church singer. She and her six siblings began to sing at very early ages.[9] Her mother died early and Thornton left school and got a job washing and cleaning spittoons in the local tavern. In 1940 Thornton left home and, with the help of Diamond Teeth Mary, joined Sammy Greens Hot Harlem Revue and was soon billed as the “New Bessie Smith”.[8] Although her introduction to music started within the church, Thornton's musical education came through pure observation of Rhythm and Blues artists Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie, whom she admired deeply.[10]
Career
With the change that Rhythm and Blues was experiencing in the late 1940s, Thornton’s career began to take off when she moved to Houston in 1948. "A new kind of popular blues was coming out of the clubs in Texas and Los Angeles, full of brass horns, jumpy rhythms, and wisecracking lyrics."[11] She signed a recording contract with Peacock Records in 1951 and performed at the Apollo Theater in 1952. Also in 1952, she recorded "Hound Dog" while working with another Peacock artist, Johnny Otis. Songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller[4] were present at the recording, with Leiber demonstrating the song in the vocal style they had envisioned.[12][13] The record was produced by Leiber and Stoller as Otis had to play drums after it was found that the original drummer couldn't play an adequate part. It was the first time Leiber and Stoller produced a recording, which went to number one on the R&B chart.[14] Although the record made her a star, she saw little of the profits.[15] On Christmas day 1954 in a Houston, Texas theatre she witnessed fellow performer Johnny Ace accidentally shoot himself to death while playing with a gun. Thornton continued to record for Peacock until 1957 and performed in R&B package tours with Junior Parker and Esther Phillips. Thornton originally recorded her song "Ball and Chain" for Bay-Tone Records in the early 1960s, "and though the label chose not to release the song…they did hold on to the copyright—which meant that Thornton missed out on the publishing royalties when Janis Joplin recorded the song later in the decade."[10]
As her career began to fade in the late 1950s and early 1960s,[1] she left Houston and relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, "playing clubs in San Francisco and L.A. and recording for a succession of labels",[10] notably Berkeley-based Arhoolie Records. In 1965, she toured with the American Folk Blues Festival package in Europe,[16] where her success was notable "because very few female blues singers at that time had ever enjoyed success across the Atlantic."[17] While in England that year, she recorded her first album for Arhoolie, titled Big Mama Thornton – In Europe. It featured backing by blues veterans Buddy Guy (guitar), Fred Below (drums), Eddie Boyd (keyboards), Jimmy Lee Robinson (bass), and Walter "Shakey" Horton (harmonica), except for three songs on which Fred McDowell provided acoustic slide guitar.
In 1966, Thornton recorded her second album for Arhoolie titled Big Mama Thornton with the Muddy Waters Blues Band – 1966, with Muddy Waters (guitar), Sammy Lawhorn (guitar), James Cotton (harmonica), Otis Spann (piano), Luther Johnson (bass guitar), and Francis Clay (drums). She performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966 and 1968. Her last album for Arhoolie, Ball n' Chain, was released in 1968. It was made up of tracks from her two previous albums, plus her composition "Ball and Chain" and the standard "Wade in the Water". A small combo including her frequent guitarist Edward "Bee" Houston provided backup for the two songs. Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company's performance of "Ball 'n' Chain" at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and release of the song on their number one album Cheap Thrills renewed interest in Thornton's career.[5]
By 1969, she signed with Mercury Records. Mercury released her most successful album, Stronger Than Dirt, which reached number 198 in the Billboard Top 200 record chart. Thornton had now signed a contract with Pentagram Records and could finally fulfill one of her biggest dreams. A blues woman and the daughter of a preacher, Thornton loved the blues and what she called the “good singing” of gospel artists like the Dixie Hummingbirds and Mahalia Jackson. That’s why she always wanted to record a gospel record. And of course Thornton really had the power to sing those gospel songs, and with the album called Saved (PE 10005), she achieved her longtime goal. You can hear the gospel classics “Oh, Happy Day,” “Down By The Riverside,” “Glory, Glory Hallelujah,” “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands,” “Lord Save Me,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “One More River” and “Go Down Moses” on this LP.[8]
By now the American blues revival had come to an end. While the original blues acts like Big Mama Thornton mostly played smaller venues, younger people played their versions of blues in massive arenas for big money. Since the blues had seeped into other genres of music, the blues musician no longer needed impoverishment or geography for substantiation; the style was enough. While at home the offers became fewer and smaller, things changed for good in 1972. Again, like seven years before, the reason was a call from Europe. Thornton was asked to rejoin the American Folk Blues Festival tour and, since she always thought of Europe as a very good place for her and given the lack of engagements in the U.S. she agreed happily. Thus, on March 2, the tour brought Big Mama Thornton to Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Finland ending on March 27 in Stockholm. With her on the bill were Eddie Boyd, Big Joe Williams, Robert Pete Williams, T- Bone Walker, Paul Lenart, Hartley Severns, Edward Taylor and Vinton Johnson. As in 1965 they garnered recognition and respect from other great musicians who wanted to see them.[8] In the 1970s, years of heavy drinking began to hurt Thornton's health. She was in a serious auto accident, but recovered to perform at the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival with Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, a recording of which is called The Blues—A Real Summit Meeting released by Buddha Records. Thornton's last albums were Jail and Sassy Mama for Vanguard Records in 1975. Other songs from the recording session were released in the 2000 under the name Big Mama Swings. Jail captured her performances during mid-1970s concerts at two Northwestern U.S. prisons.[8] She was backed by a blues ensemble that featured sustained jams from George "Harmonica" Smith, as well as guitarists Doug Macleod, Bee Houston and Steve Wachsman, drummer Todd Nelson, saxophonist Bill Potter, bassist Bruce Sieverson, and pianist J. D. Nicholson. She toured intensive through the US and Canada, played at the Juneteenth Blues Fest in Houston and shared the bill with John Lee Hooker.[8] In 1979, she performed at the San Francisco Blues Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival in 1980. In the early 1970s, Thornton's sexual proclivities became a question among blues fans.[11] Big Mama also performed in the Blues Is A Woman concert that year, alongside classic blues legend Sippie Wallace, sporting a man's 3-piece suit, straw hat, and gold watch. She sat at stage center and played the pieces she wanted to play that were not on the program.[18] Big Mama Thornton took part in the Tribal Stomp at Monterey Fairgrounds, Third Annual Sacramento Blues Festival, the Los Angeles Bicentennial Blues with BB King and Muddy Waters, was guest at an ABC-TV Special hosted by actor Hal Holbrook joined by Aretha Franklin and toured through the clubscene. She was also part of the award-winning PBS television special Three Generations of the Blues with Sippie Wallace and Jeannie Cheatham.[8] Thornton died at age 57 in Los Angeles July 25, 1984 of heart and liver complications due to her long-standing alcohol abuse. Her weight dropped from 350 to 95 pounds within a short period of time; that is a total of 255 pounds that she lost because of her critical condition.[10]
Recognition
During her career, Thornton was nominated for the Blues Music Awards six times.[5] In 1984, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. In addition to "Ball 'n' Chain" and "They Call Me Big Mama," Thornton wrote twenty other blues songs.[19] Her "Ball 'n' Chain" is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".[20]
In 2004, the non-profit Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls—named for Thornton—was founded to offer a musical education to girls from ages eight to eighteen.[5]
The first full-length biography of Thornton "Big Mama Thornton: The Life and Music" written by Michael Spörke has been published in 2014.
Style
Thornton's performances were characterized by her deep, powerful voice and strong sense of self. She was given her nickname, "Big Mama," by Frank Schiffman, manager of Harlem's Apollo Theater, due to her big voice, size, and personality. Thornton specialized in playing drums and harmonica as well as singing, and she taught herself how to play these instruments simply by watching other musicians perform. Her style was heavily influenced by the gospel music that she witnessed growing up in the home of a preacher, though her genre could be described as blues.[5]
Thornton was famous for her transgressive gender expression. She often dressed as a man in her performances, wearing items such as work shirts and slacks. This led to many rumors about her sexuality, though none confirmed. Her improvisation was a notable part of her performance. She often enters call-and-response exchanges with her band, inserting confident and notably subversive remarks. Her play with gender and sexuality set the stage for later rock 'n' roll artists' own plays with sexuality.[5]
Feminist scholars such as Maureen Mahon often praise Thornton for subverting traditional roles of African American women.[5] She added a female voice to a field that was dominated by white males, and her strong personality transgressed patriarchal and white supremacist stereotypes of what an African American woman should be. This transgression was an integral part of her performance and stage persona.[6]
Biography
Early life
Thornton's birth certificate states that she was born in Ariton, Alabama,[7] but in an interview with Chris Strachwitz she claims Montgomery, Alabama as her birthplace, probably because Montgomery was a better known place than Ariton.[8] Her introduction to music started in a Baptist church, where her father was a minister and her mother a church singer. She and her six siblings began to sing at very early ages.[9] Her mother died early and Thornton left school and got a job washing and cleaning spittoons in the local tavern. In 1940 Thornton left home and, with the help of Diamond Teeth Mary, joined Sammy Greens Hot Harlem Revue and was soon billed as the “New Bessie Smith”.[8] Although her introduction to music started within the church, Thornton's musical education came through pure observation of Rhythm and Blues artists Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie, whom she admired deeply.[10]
Career
With the change that Rhythm and Blues was experiencing in the late 1940s, Thornton’s career began to take off when she moved to Houston in 1948. "A new kind of popular blues was coming out of the clubs in Texas and Los Angeles, full of brass horns, jumpy rhythms, and wisecracking lyrics."[11] She signed a recording contract with Peacock Records in 1951 and performed at the Apollo Theater in 1952. Also in 1952, she recorded "Hound Dog" while working with another Peacock artist, Johnny Otis. Songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller[4] were present at the recording, with Leiber demonstrating the song in the vocal style they had envisioned.[12][13] The record was produced by Leiber and Stoller as Otis had to play drums after it was found that the original drummer couldn't play an adequate part. It was the first time Leiber and Stoller produced a recording, which went to number one on the R&B chart.[14] Although the record made her a star, she saw little of the profits.[15] On Christmas day 1954 in a Houston, Texas theatre she witnessed fellow performer Johnny Ace accidentally shoot himself to death while playing with a gun. Thornton continued to record for Peacock until 1957 and performed in R&B package tours with Junior Parker and Esther Phillips. Thornton originally recorded her song "Ball and Chain" for Bay-Tone Records in the early 1960s, "and though the label chose not to release the song…they did hold on to the copyright—which meant that Thornton missed out on the publishing royalties when Janis Joplin recorded the song later in the decade."[10]
As her career began to fade in the late 1950s and early 1960s,[1] she left Houston and relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, "playing clubs in San Francisco and L.A. and recording for a succession of labels",[10] notably Berkeley-based Arhoolie Records. In 1965, she toured with the American Folk Blues Festival package in Europe,[16] where her success was notable "because very few female blues singers at that time had ever enjoyed success across the Atlantic."[17] While in England that year, she recorded her first album for Arhoolie, titled Big Mama Thornton – In Europe. It featured backing by blues veterans Buddy Guy (guitar), Fred Below (drums), Eddie Boyd (keyboards), Jimmy Lee Robinson (bass), and Walter "Shakey" Horton (harmonica), except for three songs on which Fred McDowell provided acoustic slide guitar.
In 1966, Thornton recorded her second album for Arhoolie titled Big Mama Thornton with the Muddy Waters Blues Band – 1966, with Muddy Waters (guitar), Sammy Lawhorn (guitar), James Cotton (harmonica), Otis Spann (piano), Luther Johnson (bass guitar), and Francis Clay (drums). She performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966 and 1968. Her last album for Arhoolie, Ball n' Chain, was released in 1968. It was made up of tracks from her two previous albums, plus her composition "Ball and Chain" and the standard "Wade in the Water". A small combo including her frequent guitarist Edward "Bee" Houston provided backup for the two songs. Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company's performance of "Ball 'n' Chain" at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and release of the song on their number one album Cheap Thrills renewed interest in Thornton's career.[5]
By 1969, she signed with Mercury Records. Mercury released her most successful album, Stronger Than Dirt, which reached number 198 in the Billboard Top 200 record chart. Thornton had now signed a contract with Pentagram Records and could finally fulfill one of her biggest dreams. A blues woman and the daughter of a preacher, Thornton loved the blues and what she called the “good singing” of gospel artists like the Dixie Hummingbirds and Mahalia Jackson. That’s why she always wanted to record a gospel record. And of course Thornton really had the power to sing those gospel songs, and with the album called Saved (PE 10005), she achieved her longtime goal. You can hear the gospel classics “Oh, Happy Day,” “Down By The Riverside,” “Glory, Glory Hallelujah,” “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands,” “Lord Save Me,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “One More River” and “Go Down Moses” on this LP.[8]
By now the American blues revival had come to an end. While the original blues acts like Big Mama Thornton mostly played smaller venues, younger people played their versions of blues in massive arenas for big money. Since the blues had seeped into other genres of music, the blues musician no longer needed impoverishment or geography for substantiation; the style was enough. While at home the offers became fewer and smaller, things changed for good in 1972. Again, like seven years before, the reason was a call from Europe. Thornton was asked to rejoin the American Folk Blues Festival tour and, since she always thought of Europe as a very good place for her and given the lack of engagements in the U.S. she agreed happily. Thus, on March 2, the tour brought Big Mama Thornton to Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Finland ending on March 27 in Stockholm. With her on the bill were Eddie Boyd, Big Joe Williams, Robert Pete Williams, T- Bone Walker, Paul Lenart, Hartley Severns, Edward Taylor and Vinton Johnson. As in 1965 they garnered recognition and respect from other great musicians who wanted to see them.[8] In the 1970s, years of heavy drinking began to hurt Thornton's health. She was in a serious auto accident, but recovered to perform at the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival with Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, a recording of which is called The Blues—A Real Summit Meeting released by Buddha Records. Thornton's last albums were Jail and Sassy Mama for Vanguard Records in 1975. Other songs from the recording session were released in the 2000 under the name Big Mama Swings. Jail captured her performances during mid-1970s concerts at two Northwestern U.S. prisons.[8] She was backed by a blues ensemble that featured sustained jams from George "Harmonica" Smith, as well as guitarists Doug Macleod, Bee Houston and Steve Wachsman, drummer Todd Nelson, saxophonist Bill Potter, bassist Bruce Sieverson, and pianist J. D. Nicholson. She toured intensive through the US and Canada, played at the Juneteenth Blues Fest in Houston and shared the bill with John Lee Hooker.[8] In 1979, she performed at the San Francisco Blues Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival in 1980. In the early 1970s, Thornton's sexual proclivities became a question among blues fans.[11] Big Mama also performed in the Blues Is A Woman concert that year, alongside classic blues legend Sippie Wallace, sporting a man's 3-piece suit, straw hat, and gold watch. She sat at stage center and played the pieces she wanted to play that were not on the program.[18] Big Mama Thornton took part in the Tribal Stomp at Monterey Fairgrounds, Third Annual Sacramento Blues Festival, the Los Angeles Bicentennial Blues with BB King and Muddy Waters, was guest at an ABC-TV Special hosted by actor Hal Holbrook joined by Aretha Franklin and toured through the clubscene. She was also part of the award-winning PBS television special Three Generations of the Blues with Sippie Wallace and Jeannie Cheatham.[8] Thornton died at age 57 in Los Angeles July 25, 1984 of heart and liver complications due to her long-standing alcohol abuse. Her weight dropped from 350 to 95 pounds within a short period of time; that is a total of 255 pounds that she lost because of her critical condition.[10]
Recognition
During her career, Thornton was nominated for the Blues Music Awards six times.[5] In 1984, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. In addition to "Ball 'n' Chain" and "They Call Me Big Mama," Thornton wrote twenty other blues songs.[19] Her "Ball 'n' Chain" is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".[20]
In 2004, the non-profit Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls—named for Thornton—was founded to offer a musical education to girls from ages eight to eighteen.[5]
The first full-length biography of Thornton "Big Mama Thornton: The Life and Music" written by Michael Spörke has been published in 2014.
Willie Perryman (Piano Red) +25.07.1985
Willie Perryman (* 19. Oktober 1911 in Hampton, Georgia; † 25. Juli 1985 in Atlanta, Georgia) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Pianist und Sänger, der auch als Piano Red und Dr. Feelgood bekannt wurde.Wie sein Bruder Rufus, der als Speckled Red auftrat und Alben aufnahm, war Willie Perryman Albino. Bereits in jungen Jahren spielte er in Honky Tonks und Juke Joints in Georgia, Alabama und Tennessee.
In den 1930ern trat Perryman mit Blind Willie McTell als „The Dixie Jazz Hounds“ auf. 1936 machten sie gemeinsam Aufnahmen, die jedoch nicht veröffentlicht wurden. Aus dieser Zeit stammt sein Spitzname „Piano Red“.
1950 hatte er mit Rockin’ with Red einen Riesenhit, der vielfach als eine frühe Rock-’n’-Roll-Aufnahme angesehen wird und später von einer Reihe bekannter Interpreten neu eingespielt wurde, darunter Little Richard, Little Jimmy Dickens und Jerry Lee Lewis. Weitere Hits von „Piano Red“ waren Red’s Boogie, The Wrong Yo Yo, Laying the Boogie und Just Right Bounce.
Anfang der 1960er machte Willie Perryman Aufnahmen unter dem Namen „Dr. Feelgood & the Interns“. Das Stück Doctor Feel-Good schaffte es 1962 in die Pop-Musik-Charts.
In den 1970ern und Anfang der 1980er ging Perryman mehrmals in Europa auf Tournee. Er spielte auch beim Amtsantritt von Bundeskanzler Helmut Schmidt und unterstützte den Wahlkampf von US-Präsident Jimmy Carter.
1984 wurde bei Willie Perryman Krebs diagnostiziert, an dem er im folgenden Jahr starb.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Red
William "Willie" Lee Perryman (October 19, 1911 – July 25, 1985),[1] usually known professionally as Piano Red and later in life as Dr. Feelgood, was an American blues musician, the first to hit the pop music charts. He was a self-taught pianist who played in the barrelhouse blues style (a loud percussive type of blues piano suitable for noisy bars or taverns). His performing and recording careers emerged during the period of transition from completely segregated "race music", to "rhythm and blues", which was marketed to white audiences. Some music historians credit Perryman's 1950 recording "Rocking With Red" for the popularization of the term rock and roll in Atlanta.[2] His simple, hard-pounding left hand and his percussive right hand, coupled with his cheerful shout, brought him considerable success over three decades.
Life
Perryman was born on a farm near Hampton, Georgia, where his parents Ada and Henry Perryman sharecropped. He was part of a large family, though sources differ on exactly how many brothers and sisters he had. Perryman was an albino African American, as was his older brother Rufus, who also had a blues piano career as "Speckled Red".[2]
When Perryman was six years old, his father gave up farming and moved the family to Atlanta to work in a factory. Not much is known about Perryman's education or early life, but he recalled that his mother bought a piano for her two albino sons. Both brothers had very poor vision, an effect of their albinism, so neither took formal music lessons, but they developed their barrelhouse style through playing by ear. Perryman sometimes recalled imitating Rufus's style after watching him play, but it is doubtful that his brother was a major influence. Rufus, nineteen years older than Perryman, left Georgia in 1925 and did not return until a 1960 visit. Another influence that Perryman cited in interviews was Fats Waller, whose records his mother brought home. Other influences were likely the local blues pianists playing at "house" or "rent" parties, which were common community fund-raisers of that era.[2]
By the early 1930s, Perryman was playing at house parties, juke joints, and barrelhouses in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. He developed his percussive playing style and harsh singing style to compensate for the lack of sound systems and to overcome the noise of people talking in venues. He worked these circuits with other Georgia bluesmen, including Barbecue Bob, Charlie Hicks, Curley Weaver, and "Blind Willie" McTell.[2]
Perryman married in the early 1930s, and he and his wife Flora had two daughters. He obtained seasonal employment performing in Brevard, North Carolina, a mountain resort town, and commuted back and forth between there and Atlanta. The Brevard job brought him before white audiences; by 1934 he had also begun to play at white clubs in Atlanta. In Atlanta he would play at a white club until midnight and then head over to an African American club, where he would play until 4 am. Perryman developed a repertoire of pop standards, which were more popular among the white audiences, while continuing his blues sets in the African American clubs.[2]
Around 1936 he began to be billed as 'Piano Red', and made his first recordings with McTell in Augusta for Vocalion Records, although these were never released. He also began working as an upholsterer, a trade which he occasionally maintained through later years.[2]
In 1950, after spending the previous 14 years upholstering and playing music on weekends, Perryman recorded "Rockin' with Red" and "Red's Boogie" at the WGST radio studios in Atlanta for RCA Victor. Both songs became national hits, reaching numbers five and three respectively on the Billboard R&B chart, and "Rockin' with Red" has since been covered many times under many titles. This success, along with further hits "The Wrong Yo Yo" (allegedly written by Speckled Red), "Laying The Boogie" and "Just Right Bounce", allowed him to resume an active performing schedule. He also recorded sessions in New York City and Nashville during the early 1950s.
Red played for white teenagers' high school parties in peoples homes in Atlanta. You would arrange for him to be picked up at his home and returned and providing a "bottle" of booze for him as well as a very nominal fee.
During the mid-1950s Perryman also worked as a disc jockey on radio stations WGST and WAOK in Atlanta, broadcasting 'The Piano Red Show' (later 'The Dr. Feelgood Show') directly from a small shack in his back yard. A young James Brown made an appearance on his show in the late 1950s. Perryman's involvement had him appearing on a flatbed truck in many parades, which led to his song "Peachtree Parade". From the mid-1950s until the late 1960s, he recorded for several record labels, including Columbia, for whom he made several records, Checker, for whom he recorded eight sides with Willie Dixon on bass, and Groove Records, a subsidiary of RCA Victor, producing the first hit for that label.[3]
Signed to Okeh Records in 1961, Perryman began using the name Dr. Feelgood and the Interns, releasing several hits, including the much-covered "Doctor Feelgood". The persona was one he had initially adopted on his radio shows. The new career was short-lived, though, and Piano Red was never able to regain his former stature. In 1963, The Merseybeats recorded a cover of the b-side of "Doctor Feelgood," titled "Mr. Moonlight" (written by Roy Lee Johnson) as the B-side of their UK top 5 hit I Think of You. It was also recorded by the Beatles and appeared on the album Beatles for Sale in the United Kingdom and on the Beatles '65 album in the United States. In 1966, The Lovin' Spoonful recorded his song "Bald Headed Lena" on their second album, Daydream.
Perryman continued to be a popular performer in Underground Atlanta, and had several European tours late in his career, including appearances at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Berlin Jazz Festival, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's inauguration, and on BBC Radio. During this time, he was befriended by Bill Wyman, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney, and Pete Ham of Badfinger wrote a song in his honor.
Muhlenbrink's Saloon closed in 1979 and Perryman found himself without a regular job. That lasted until 1981, when he was hired to perform five nights a week at The Excelsior Mill in Atlanta. In 1984, he asked co-owner Michael Reeves to arrange a live recording and Reeves arranged for a mobile recording in October of that year.
In 1985, Red charted the song "Yo Yo", a duet with Danny Shirley, who would later become lead singer of Confederate Railroad.
Perryman was diagnosed with cancer that same year and died in July 1985 at Dekalb General Hospital in Decatur, Georgia. Among those who attended his funeral were the Governor of Georgia and the Mayor of Atlanta.[4]
The tapes from the Excelsior Mill remained in Reeves's possession for twenty-five years. In April 2010, he formed a partnership with author and producer David Fulmer to release a CD of the recording under the title The Lost Atlanta Tapes. The CD was released by Landslide Records on August 17, 2010.
Legacy
Piano Red's song "Dr Feelgood" was covered by several UK beat groups including Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, who used it as the b-side to their 1964 single, "Always and Ever".
Life
Perryman was born on a farm near Hampton, Georgia, where his parents Ada and Henry Perryman sharecropped. He was part of a large family, though sources differ on exactly how many brothers and sisters he had. Perryman was an albino African American, as was his older brother Rufus, who also had a blues piano career as "Speckled Red".[2]
When Perryman was six years old, his father gave up farming and moved the family to Atlanta to work in a factory. Not much is known about Perryman's education or early life, but he recalled that his mother bought a piano for her two albino sons. Both brothers had very poor vision, an effect of their albinism, so neither took formal music lessons, but they developed their barrelhouse style through playing by ear. Perryman sometimes recalled imitating Rufus's style after watching him play, but it is doubtful that his brother was a major influence. Rufus, nineteen years older than Perryman, left Georgia in 1925 and did not return until a 1960 visit. Another influence that Perryman cited in interviews was Fats Waller, whose records his mother brought home. Other influences were likely the local blues pianists playing at "house" or "rent" parties, which were common community fund-raisers of that era.[2]
By the early 1930s, Perryman was playing at house parties, juke joints, and barrelhouses in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. He developed his percussive playing style and harsh singing style to compensate for the lack of sound systems and to overcome the noise of people talking in venues. He worked these circuits with other Georgia bluesmen, including Barbecue Bob, Charlie Hicks, Curley Weaver, and "Blind Willie" McTell.[2]
Perryman married in the early 1930s, and he and his wife Flora had two daughters. He obtained seasonal employment performing in Brevard, North Carolina, a mountain resort town, and commuted back and forth between there and Atlanta. The Brevard job brought him before white audiences; by 1934 he had also begun to play at white clubs in Atlanta. In Atlanta he would play at a white club until midnight and then head over to an African American club, where he would play until 4 am. Perryman developed a repertoire of pop standards, which were more popular among the white audiences, while continuing his blues sets in the African American clubs.[2]
Around 1936 he began to be billed as 'Piano Red', and made his first recordings with McTell in Augusta for Vocalion Records, although these were never released. He also began working as an upholsterer, a trade which he occasionally maintained through later years.[2]
In 1950, after spending the previous 14 years upholstering and playing music on weekends, Perryman recorded "Rockin' with Red" and "Red's Boogie" at the WGST radio studios in Atlanta for RCA Victor. Both songs became national hits, reaching numbers five and three respectively on the Billboard R&B chart, and "Rockin' with Red" has since been covered many times under many titles. This success, along with further hits "The Wrong Yo Yo" (allegedly written by Speckled Red), "Laying The Boogie" and "Just Right Bounce", allowed him to resume an active performing schedule. He also recorded sessions in New York City and Nashville during the early 1950s.
Red played for white teenagers' high school parties in peoples homes in Atlanta. You would arrange for him to be picked up at his home and returned and providing a "bottle" of booze for him as well as a very nominal fee.
During the mid-1950s Perryman also worked as a disc jockey on radio stations WGST and WAOK in Atlanta, broadcasting 'The Piano Red Show' (later 'The Dr. Feelgood Show') directly from a small shack in his back yard. A young James Brown made an appearance on his show in the late 1950s. Perryman's involvement had him appearing on a flatbed truck in many parades, which led to his song "Peachtree Parade". From the mid-1950s until the late 1960s, he recorded for several record labels, including Columbia, for whom he made several records, Checker, for whom he recorded eight sides with Willie Dixon on bass, and Groove Records, a subsidiary of RCA Victor, producing the first hit for that label.[3]
Signed to Okeh Records in 1961, Perryman began using the name Dr. Feelgood and the Interns, releasing several hits, including the much-covered "Doctor Feelgood". The persona was one he had initially adopted on his radio shows. The new career was short-lived, though, and Piano Red was never able to regain his former stature. In 1963, The Merseybeats recorded a cover of the b-side of "Doctor Feelgood," titled "Mr. Moonlight" (written by Roy Lee Johnson) as the B-side of their UK top 5 hit I Think of You. It was also recorded by the Beatles and appeared on the album Beatles for Sale in the United Kingdom and on the Beatles '65 album in the United States. In 1966, The Lovin' Spoonful recorded his song "Bald Headed Lena" on their second album, Daydream.
Perryman continued to be a popular performer in Underground Atlanta, and had several European tours late in his career, including appearances at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Berlin Jazz Festival, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's inauguration, and on BBC Radio. During this time, he was befriended by Bill Wyman, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney, and Pete Ham of Badfinger wrote a song in his honor.
Muhlenbrink's Saloon closed in 1979 and Perryman found himself without a regular job. That lasted until 1981, when he was hired to perform five nights a week at The Excelsior Mill in Atlanta. In 1984, he asked co-owner Michael Reeves to arrange a live recording and Reeves arranged for a mobile recording in October of that year.
In 1985, Red charted the song "Yo Yo", a duet with Danny Shirley, who would later become lead singer of Confederate Railroad.
Perryman was diagnosed with cancer that same year and died in July 1985 at Dekalb General Hospital in Decatur, Georgia. Among those who attended his funeral were the Governor of Georgia and the Mayor of Atlanta.[4]
The tapes from the Excelsior Mill remained in Reeves's possession for twenty-five years. In April 2010, he formed a partnership with author and producer David Fulmer to release a CD of the recording under the title The Lost Atlanta Tapes. The CD was released by Landslide Records on August 17, 2010.
Legacy
Piano Red's song "Dr Feelgood" was covered by several UK beat groups including Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, who used it as the b-side to their 1964 single, "Always and Ever".
Piano Red Red's Boogie (RCA VICTOR 22-0099) (1950)
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