1911 Sonny Terry*
1925 Willie Mabon*
1931 Tommy Bankhead*
1936 Bill Wyman*
1936 Jimmy Dawkins*
1943 Corky Siegel*
2000 Little Mack Simmons+
Tom Ball*
Bert Deivert*
Victor Puertas*
Happy Birthday
Sonny Terry *24.10.1911
Sonny Terry (* 24. Oktober 1911 in Greensboro, North Carolina; † 11. März 1986 in Mineola, New York), eigentlich Saunders Terrell, war ein US-amerikanischer Bluessänger und Mundharmonikaspieler.
In der Kindheit durch mehrere Unfälle erblindet, wuchs Sonny Terry bei musikalischen Eltern auf (sein Vater war neben seiner Haupttätigkeit als Farmer auch Folkmusiker) und entwickelte bald einen eigenen lautmalerischen Mundharmonikastil, der auch Geräusche von Zügen und Tierlaute imitierte und bei dem er oft Stimmlaute mit einbrachte. Ein wichtiger Einfluss war der Harmonikaspieler DeFord Bailey, der in der landesweit ausgestrahlten Radiosendung Grand Ole Opry auftrat. Ab 1929 arbeitete Terry als Wandermusiker und arbeitete in den 1930er-Jahren mit Blind Boy Fuller, mit dem er 1937–1940, bis zu dessen Tod, in New York Plattenaufnahmen machte.
Bekannt wurde er vor allem durch seine Duo-Tätigkeit mit dem Bluesgitarristen Brownie McGhee (* 1915, † 1996), mit dem er in den Jahren 1941–1982 tourte und Plattenaufnahmen einspielte. Er machte aber auch Aufnahmen mit Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Pete Seeger, Champion Jack Dupree, Blind Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Big Bill Broonzy und anderen Folk- und Bluesgrößen.
1947 spielte Sonny Terry am Broadway im Musical Finian's Rainbow, 1955–1957 zusammen mit Brownie McGhee in dem Stück Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955 gemeinsamer Auftritt auch im gleichnamigen Film Die Katze auf dem heißen Blechdach), in den 50er-Jahren nahm er sogar Werbespots (für Alka-Seltzer) auf.
1987 wurde er in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen.
Saunders
Terrell (24 October 1911 — 11 March 1986[2]), better known as Sonny
Terry, was a blind, American Piedmont blues musician.[1] He was widely
known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included
vocal whoops and hollers, and imitations of trains and fox hunts.
Career
Terry was born in Greensboro, Georgia.[3] His father, a farmer, taught him to play basic blues harp as a youth. He sustained injuries to his eyes and went blind by the time he was 16, which prevented him from doing farm work himself,[2] and in order to earn a living Terry was forced to play music. He began playing in Shelby, North Carolina. After his father died, he began playing in the trio of Piedmont blues-style guitarist Blind Boy Fuller. When Fuller died in 1941, he established a long-standing musical relationship with Brownie McGhee, and the pair recorded numerous songs together. The duo became well known among white audiences, as they joined the growing folk movement of the 1950s and 1960s. This included collaborations with Styve Homnick, Woody Guthrie and Moses Asch, producing Folkways Records (now Smithsonian/Folkways) classic recordings.
In 1938 Terry was invited to play at Carnegie Hall for the first From Spirituals to Swing concert,[2] and later that year he recorded for the Library of Congress. In 1940 Terry recorded his first commercial sides. Some of his most famous works include "Old Jabo" a song about a man bitten by a snake and "Lost John" in this he demonstrates his amazing breath control .
Despite their fame as "pure" folk artists, in the 1940s, Terry and McGhee fronted a jump blues combo with honking saxophone and rolling piano that was variously billed as Brownie McGhee and his Jook House Rockers or Sonny Terry and his Buckshot Five.
Terry was also in the 1947 original cast of the Broadway musical comedy, Finian's Rainbow.[4] He also appeared in The Colour Purple directed by Steven Spielberg. With Brownie McGhee, he appeared in the 1979 Steve Martin comedy The Jerk. Terry collaborated with Ry Cooder on "Walkin' Away Blues" as well as a cover of Robert Johnson's "Crossroad Blues" for the 1986 film Crossroads.
Terry died from natural causes at Mineola, New York, in March 1986, three days before Crossroads was released in theaters.[5] He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame that same year.[2]
In popular culture
Terry's rendition of the traditional song "Fox Chase", was used by the experimental filmmaker Len Lye as the soundtrack for his short film, Color Cry (1952). "Old Lost John" was used by Werner Herzog twice: at the conclusion of his 1977 feature film Stroszek and also during shooting scene in Bad Lieutenant. Port of Call: New Orleans (2009). More recently Terry's track "Whoopin' The Blues" was used for an EON Wind Farm brand commercial. It also appeared in the film 24 Hour Party People (Winterbottom, 2002).
Sonny Terry's harmonica is sampled in the song "Love is Eternal Sacred Light" on Paul Simon's album So Beautiful or So What.
Career
Terry was born in Greensboro, Georgia.[3] His father, a farmer, taught him to play basic blues harp as a youth. He sustained injuries to his eyes and went blind by the time he was 16, which prevented him from doing farm work himself,[2] and in order to earn a living Terry was forced to play music. He began playing in Shelby, North Carolina. After his father died, he began playing in the trio of Piedmont blues-style guitarist Blind Boy Fuller. When Fuller died in 1941, he established a long-standing musical relationship with Brownie McGhee, and the pair recorded numerous songs together. The duo became well known among white audiences, as they joined the growing folk movement of the 1950s and 1960s. This included collaborations with Styve Homnick, Woody Guthrie and Moses Asch, producing Folkways Records (now Smithsonian/Folkways) classic recordings.
In 1938 Terry was invited to play at Carnegie Hall for the first From Spirituals to Swing concert,[2] and later that year he recorded for the Library of Congress. In 1940 Terry recorded his first commercial sides. Some of his most famous works include "Old Jabo" a song about a man bitten by a snake and "Lost John" in this he demonstrates his amazing breath control .
Despite their fame as "pure" folk artists, in the 1940s, Terry and McGhee fronted a jump blues combo with honking saxophone and rolling piano that was variously billed as Brownie McGhee and his Jook House Rockers or Sonny Terry and his Buckshot Five.
Terry was also in the 1947 original cast of the Broadway musical comedy, Finian's Rainbow.[4] He also appeared in The Colour Purple directed by Steven Spielberg. With Brownie McGhee, he appeared in the 1979 Steve Martin comedy The Jerk. Terry collaborated with Ry Cooder on "Walkin' Away Blues" as well as a cover of Robert Johnson's "Crossroad Blues" for the 1986 film Crossroads.
Terry died from natural causes at Mineola, New York, in March 1986, three days before Crossroads was released in theaters.[5] He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame that same year.[2]
In popular culture
Terry's rendition of the traditional song "Fox Chase", was used by the experimental filmmaker Len Lye as the soundtrack for his short film, Color Cry (1952). "Old Lost John" was used by Werner Herzog twice: at the conclusion of his 1977 feature film Stroszek and also during shooting scene in Bad Lieutenant. Port of Call: New Orleans (2009). More recently Terry's track "Whoopin' The Blues" was used for an EON Wind Farm brand commercial. It also appeared in the film 24 Hour Party People (Winterbottom, 2002).
Sonny Terry's harmonica is sampled in the song "Love is Eternal Sacred Light" on Paul Simon's album So Beautiful or So What.
Bill Wyman *24.10.1936
Während seiner Militärzeit (1955–1958) bei der Royal Air Force auf dem niedersächsischen Fliegerhorst Oldenburg hörte Bill Wyman häufig Radiostationen, die speziell für die in Deutschland stationierten US-Soldaten Musik spielten. Seine Leidenschaft für Blues und Rock and Roll wurde dadurch entfacht. Zusammen mit Casey Jones gründete er im Herbst 1957 eine Skiffle-Band. Nach seiner Rückkehr nach England und ins bürgerliche Leben – mit Jobs in einer Metzgerei und im Elektrohandel – wurde er 1961 Mitglied der Cliftons, einer Rock-’n’-Roll- und Skiffle-Band. Im Dezember 1962 wurde er Bassist bei den Rolling Stones, deren Sound er maßgeblich mitprägte. Obwohl er auch Songs komponierte, blieben das von ihm auch gesungene In Another Land sowie Downtown Suzie seine einzigen Songs, die auf Rolling-Stones-Alben (Their Satanic Majesties Request und Metamorphosis) veröffentlicht wurden. In Another Land erschien in den USA auch als Single.
Wyman erlernte autodidaktisch mehrere Instrumente, beispielsweise Zither, Gitarre, Vibraphon, Glockenspiel, Piano, Synthesizer-Orgel, Perkussion und Cello. Auf den frühen Aufnahmen der Rolling Stones und im Studio sang er auch im Hintergrund. Auf der Bühne wurde vor allem sein dichtes rhythmisches Spiel mit dem Schlagzeuger Charlie Watts bewundert. Auf der US-Tournee 1975 spielte Bill Wyman im Stück Fingerprint File auf der Bühne Synthesizer, während der Gitarrist Ron Wood an den E-Bass wechselte. Eine Aufnahme dieses Stückes vom Konzert in Toronto ist auf dem Album Love You Live zu hören.
Zusammen mit Charlie Watts, Eric Clapton, Ian Stewart und Steve Winwood begleitete Wyman 1970 Howlin’ Wolf; zu hören auf der Langspielplatte The London Howlin’ Wolf Session. 1972 spielte er E-Bass für Stephen Stills auf dem Album Manassas.
1974 veröffentlichte Bill Wyman sein erstes Solo-Album Monkey Grip; 1976 folgte Stone Alone und 1982 Bill Wyman. Mit (Si, Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star gelang Bill Wyman 1982 der Sprung in die internationalen Hitparaden. Auf dem 1985 mit der Band Willy and the Poor Boys herausgebrachten gleichnamigem Album wurde Bill von zahlreichen Freunden wie Jimmy Page und Charlie Watts unterstützt.
1992 kündigte Wyman an, dass er die Rolling Stones verlassen würde. Aber diese Ankündigung wurde von seinen Kollegen nicht ernst genommen. Keith Richards äußerte sich in seiner typischen Art: „Die Stones verlässt man nur im Sarg – oder man wird rausgeworfen.“ Aber Wyman beeindruckte das nicht, und er verließ die Band 1993.
Erst 1997 zog es ihn wieder zur Rockmusik. Mit ein paar berühmten Kollegen wie Chris Rea, Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Albert Lee, Georgie Fame, Peter Frampton und Gary Brooker nahm er unter dem Bandnamen Bill Wyman & The Rhythm Kings Songs auf. Das vielfältige Material umfasste die Bereiche Jazz, Swing, Blues und Rock. Das erste Album, Struttin’ Our Stuff, erschien im Oktober 1997. Das Album war nicht sonderlich erfolgreich; die beiden folgenden Alben (Anyway the Wind Blows im Februar 1999 und Groovin’ im Mai 2000) fanden mehr Beachtung. Sehr gute Kritiken gab es für die Konzerte der Band; folgerichtig erschienen auch Live-Alben unter dem Titel Bootleg Kings. Im Mai 2001 folgte das vierte Album, die Doppel-CD Double Bill. Dieses Album platzierte sich in den englischen Charts. Just For A Thrill erschien im Mai 2004.
In einem Interview während der Tour 2002 teilte er mit, dass diese wohl seine letzte Tournee sein werde, da er sich künftig ganz seiner Familie widmen wolle. Sein Traum sei allerdings noch einmal ein Auftritt mit den Rolling Stones.
Neben seiner eigenen Musik beschäftigt Bill Wyman sich auch mit der traditionellen Bluesmusik. Hierzu veröffentlichte er Bill Wyman’s Blues Odyssee, eine Geschichte des Blues, die als Buch (2001), als CD und als DVD (2004) erschienen ist.
2011 nahm er seit fast 20 Jahren wieder Musik mit den Rolling Stones auf, als er mit diesen an einer Cover-Version des Bob-Dylan-Liedes Watching the river flow für Ben Waters’ Album Boogie 4 Stu mitwirkte. Wyman, Jagger, Richards, Watts und Wood waren für die Aufnahme allerdings nicht gemeinsam im Studio.
Bei den zwei Konzerten in der Londoner O2 Arena zum fünfzigjährigen Bandjubiläum im November 2012 trat Wyman ebenso wie Mick Taylor für einige Songs wieder mit den übrigen Rolling Stones auf. Wyman spielte Bass bei den Liedern Honky Tonk Women und It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll. Da er enttäuscht über das ihm zu kurze Gastspiel war, lehnte er im Gegensatz zu Mick Taylor die Teilnahme an weiteren Auftritten ab.
Privat
Bill Wyman heiratete am 24. Oktober 1959 seine damalige Freundin Diane. Der gemeinsame Sohn Stephen wurde am 29. März 1962 geboren. Nach der Scheidung von Diane war er von 1989 an zwei Jahre lang mit der britischen Sängerin Mandy Smith, einem Model, verheiratet. Die Beziehung erregte viel Aufsehen, weil das 33 Jahre jüngere Mädchen bereits als 14-Jährige mit ihm ausging. Bei der Hochzeit war sie 19 und sein erwachsener Sohn fungierte als Trauzeuge. Nach der Scheidung heiratete Wyman eine langjährige Freundin.
Sein Sohn Stephen Wyman heiratete dann 1993 Patsy Smith, die 46-jährige Mutter von Bills Exgattin Mandy Smith. Stephen war damals 30 Jahre alt. So wurde Bill nicht nur der Schwiegervater seiner Ex-Schwiegermutter, sondern auch der Stiefgroßvater seiner ehemaligen Gattin.
Neben seiner Arbeit als Musiker engagierte sich Bill Wyman auch bei einer Organisation, die es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht hatte, die Nervenkrankheit Multiple Sklerose zu bekämpfen. Vor diesem Hintergrund kamen 1983 drei Konzerte in der Londoner Royal Albert Hall zustande, bei denen unter anderem Steve Winwood, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton und Jimmy Page beteiligt waren. In veränderter Besetzung gab Bill Wyman neun weitere Konzerte in den USA.
Am 9. Mai 1989 eröffnete Bill Wyman in London das Sticky Fingers Café, ein Restaurant im Stile der Hard-Rock-Café-Kette. In England eröffnete er zwei weitere Sticky-Fingers-Restaurants und begann seine Autobiographie zu schreiben.
Bill Wyman als Buchautor
Er veröffentlichte ein Buch über die Werke seines Freundes Marc Chagall, den er während des Rolling-Stones-„Exils“ in Südfrankreich 1971 kennenlernte.
Da Bill Wyman von Anfang an ausführliche Tagebücher führte und auch viel anderes Material archivierte, konnte er für sein Erinnerungsbuch Stone Alone, in dem er die Geschichte der Rolling Stones bis zum Konzert im Londoner Hyde-Park im Juli 1969 erzählt, auf eine sehr umfangreiche Dokumentation zurückgreifen. Nur kurz wird darin auf die weitere Entwicklung der Band bis in die späten 1980er-Jahre eingegangen. Neben den detaillierten Schilderungen des Bandalltags in den 1960er-Jahren berichtet Wyman auch von seinem promiskuitiven Leben. Daneben hebt er seine kreativen Beiträge zu den Songs der Rolling Stones hervor, wobei er die Idee für die Riffs der Klassiker Paint It, Black und Jumpin’ Jack Flash für sich in Anspruch nimmt. Er bringt seine Verbitterung darüber zum Ausdruck, dass er für seine Beiträge nie finanziell beteiligt wurde.
2001 erschien in Zusammenarbeit mit Richard Havers das 400 Seiten starke Nachschlagewerk BLUES – Geschichte, Stile, Musiker, Songs & Aufnahmen, eine umfassende Darstellung der Geschichte des Blues mit über 700 Fotos, historischen Dokumenten, Plattencovers und -labels, zusammengetragen aus seinem penibel gepflegten Privatarchiv.
Im Oktober 2002 erschien sein opulenter Bildband Bill Wyman’s Rolling Stones Story mit über 3000 Bildern, Briefen, Abbildungen von alten Eintrittskarten, Plakaten und allerhand mehr, ebenfalls aus seinem Privatarchiv. Ein üppiges Konvolut, das die Geschichte der Rolling Stones von den ersten Gigs bis in die Gegenwart nachzeichnet.
William George Perks, Jr. (born 24 October 1936), known professionally as Bill Wyman, is an English musician, record producer, songwriter and singer best known as the bassist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. He has worked producing both records and film, and has scored music for film in movies and television.
Wyman has kept a journal since he was a child after World War II. It has been useful as an inspiration to him, as an author who has written seven books, which have sold two million copies. Wyman's love of art has additionally led to his proficiency in photography and his photographs have displayed in galleries around the world.[1] Wyman's lack of funds in his early years led him to create and build his own fretless bass guitar. He became an amateur archaeologist and enjoys relic hunting; The Times published a letter about his hobby. He designed and marketed a patented "Bill Wyman signature metal detector", which he has used to find relics in the English countryside dating back to the era of the Roman Empire. As a businessman he owns several establishments, including the famous Sticky Fingers Café, a rock and roll themed bistro serving American cuisine, first opened in 1989 in the Kensington area of London and, later, in two additional locations in Cambridge (now closed) and Manchester.
Early life
Bill Wyman was born in Lewisham Hospital in Lewisham, South London, the son of William Perks, a bricklayer, and his wife, Molly (née Jeffery). One of five children, Wyman spent most of his early life living in a terraced house in one of the roughest streets in Sydenham, southeast London. He describes his childhood as "scarred by poverty".[2]
He attended Beckenham and Penge County Grammar School from 1947 to Easter 1953, leaving before the GCE exams after his father found him a job working for a bookmaker and insisted that he take it.
Music career
Wyman took piano lessons from age 10 to 13. A year after his marriage on 24 October 1959 to Diane Cory, an 18-year-old bank clerk, he bought a Burns electric guitar for £52 on hire-purchase, but was not satisfied by his progress.[3] After hearing a bass guitar at a Barron Knights concert, he fell in love with the sound of it and decided this was his instrument. He created a fretless electric bass guitar[4] by removing the frets from a cheap Japanese bass guitar he was reworking and played this in a south London band, the Cliftons, in 1961. He used the stage name Lee (later Bill) Wyman, taking the surname of a friend with whom he had done national service in the Royal Air Force from 1955 to 1957.[5]
The Rolling Stones and 1980s side projects
When drummer Tony Chapman told him that a rhythm and blues band called the Rolling Stones needed a bass player, he auditioned and was hired on 7 December 1962 as a successor to Dick Taylor. The band was impressed by his instrument and amplifiers (one of which Wyman built himself), but because he was married, employed, and older, Wyman remained an outsider.[6] Wyman was the oldest member of the group.
In addition to playing bass, Wyman frequently provided backing vocals on early records and through 1967 in concert as well. He sang lead on the track "In Another Land", on the Their Satanic Majesties Request album and a single. The song is one of two Wyman compositions released by the Rolling Stones; the second is "Downtown Suzie" (sung by Mick Jagger), on Metamorphosis, a collection of Rolling Stones outtakes. The title "Downtown Suzie" was chosen by their erstwhile manager Allen Klein without consulting Wyman or the band. The original title was "Sweet Lisle Lucy", named after Lisle Street, a street in the red light district in Soho, London.
Wyman kept a journal throughout his life, beginning when he was a child, and used it in writing his 1990 autobiography Stone Alone and his 2002 book Rolling with the Stones. In Stone Alone, Wyman claims to have composed the riff of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" with Brian Jones and drummer Charlie Watts. Wyman mentions that "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" was released as a single only after a 3–2 vote within the band: Wyman, Watts and Jones voted for, Jagger and Richards against, feeling it not sufficiently commercial. By the 1970s, Wyman, tired of the monopolisation of songwriting and production by Jagger and Richards,[citation needed] began solo projects. In the 1970s and early 1980s he made three solo albums, none commercially very successful but all well received by critics.[citation needed] In July 1981 his "(Si, Si) Je suis un rock star" became a top-20 hit in many countries.[7]
Wyman also played on The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, released 1971, with Howlin' Wolf, Eric Clapton, Charlie Watts and Stevie Winwood, and on the album Jamming with Edward, released in 1972, with Ry Cooder, Nicky Hopkins, Jagger and Watts.
In 1981 Wyman composed the soundtrack album Green Ice for the Ryan O'Neal/Omar Sharif film of the same name.
In the mid-1980s he composed music for two films by Italian director Dario Argento: Phenomena (1985) and Terror at the Opera (1987).
In 1985, he was approached by producers working on a movie based on the Vietnam War, who asked him to provide the theme tune. He completed a demo cover version of the 1969 song Spirit in the Sky and sent it off to them for review. The producers' feedback was highly positive, but they soon ran out of money and had to scrap the project. The demo tape was apparently lost, but on an audio CD included with Bill Wyman's Scrapbook in 2013, he says that "somebody out there must have heard it because four months later – in the June of that year – Doctor and the Medics appeared with the release of their version of that song which eventually went to number one for three weeks. A coincidence perhaps? Still, such is life."[this quote needs a citation]
He made a cameo appearance in the 1987 film Eat the Rich. He produced and managed the group Tucky Buzzard.[citation needed]
Wyman was close to Brian Jones; he and Jones usually shared rooms together while they were on tour and often went to clubs together. He and Jones hung out together even when Jones was distancing himself from the band. Wyman was distraught when he heard the news of Jones' death, being one of two members besides Watts to attend Jones' funeral in July 1969. Wyman was also friends with guitarist Mick Taylor. Like the other Rolling Stones, he has worked with Taylor since Taylor's departure from the band in 1974.[citation needed]
After the Rolling Stones' 1989–90 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tours, Wyman left the group; his decision was announced in January 1993.[8] The Rolling Stones have continued to record and tour with Darryl Jones on bass.
On 24 October 2012, the Stones announced that Wyman and Mick Taylor were expected to join them on stage at the upcoming shows in London (25 and 29 November) and Newark (13 and 15 December). Richards went on to say that the pair would strictly be guests, and Darryl Jones would continue to supply the bass for the majority of the show. He said, "Darryl doesn't get enough recognition. He and Bill can talk about songs they want to step in and out of."[9] [10] At the first London show on 25 November, Wyman played on two back-to-back tracks: "It's Only Rock 'n Roll" and "Honky Tonk Women". He later stated that he was not interested in joining the band for further tour dates in 2013.[11]
Later activity
Wyman continues to tour with the Rhythm Kings, which has featured such musicians as Martin Taylor,[12] Albert Lee, Gary Brooker, Terry Taylor (formerly with Tucky Buzzard), Mike Sanchez and Georgie Fame. Following his 70th birthday in October 2006, Wyman undertook another British tour.
On 10 December 2007, Wyman and his band appeared alongside a reunited Led Zeppelin at the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at the O2 in London.
Wyman was a judge for the 5th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.[13]
In 2009, ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor was invited as a guest performer with Wyman's Rhythm Kings.
On 25 October 2009, Wyman performed a reunion show with Faces, filling in for the late Ronnie Lane as he had previously done in 1986 and 1993.[14][15]
On 19 April 2011, pianist Ben Waters released an Ian Stewart tribute album titled Boogie 4 Stu. Wyman played on two tracks: "Rooming House Boogie" and "Watchin' the River Flow", the latter recorded with the Rolling Stones.
Musical instruments
Wyman's bass sound came not only from his home-made fretless bass, but the "walking bass" style he adopted, inspired by Willie Dixon and Ricky Fenson.[citation needed] Wyman has played a number of basses, including a Framus Star bass and a number of other Framus basses,[16][17] a Vox Teardrop bass (issued as a Bill Wyman signature model), a Fender Mustang Bass, two Ampeg Dan Armstrong basses, a Gibson EB-3, and a Travis Bean bass. The bass he has been playing mostly since the late 80s is a Steinberger bass. Wyman's amplifiers over the years have included a Vox T-60, a piggyback Fender Bassman, a Hiwatt bass stack, and an Ampeg SVT. Wyman, especially in the early Stones' years, had a distinctive way of holding his bass – almost vertically. He stated that the reason he held a bass in that position was simply because his hands were small.
Personal life
Wyman, although moderate in his use of alcohol and drugs, has stated that he became "girl mad" as a psychological crutch.[18] Maxim magazine ranked Wyman at number 10 on its "Living Sex Legends" list, as he is reputed to have had sex with over 1,000 women.[19]
Wyman married his first wife Diane in 1959 and their son Stephen Paul Wyman was born on 29 March 1962. They separated in 1967 and divorced in 1969.[20]
On 2 June 1989, aged 52, Wyman married 18-year-old Mandy Smith whom he had been dating since she was 13 and he was 47 years old. According to Smith, their relationship was sexually consummated when she was 14 years old.[21] Their relationship was the subject of considerable media attention. The marriage ended in spring 1991, although the divorce was not finalised until 1993.[22] In 1993, while Wyman was still married to Smith, Stephen, his son from his first marriage, married Smith's mother.[21]
In April 1993 he married Suzanne Accosta. The couple have three daughters.[23]
Wyman lives in a country house in Suffolk and in St. Paul de Vence in the South of France; in St. Paul de Vence his friends include numerous artists. He is a cricket supporter and played in a celebrity match at the Oval against a former England XI taking a hat-trick.[24][25]
Wyman started selling metal detectors in 2007.[26] Treasure detecting adventures in the British Isles are detailed in his 2005 illustrated book Treasure Islands co-written with Richard Havers.[27][28]
Wyman is a keen photographer. He has taken photographs throughout his career and in June 2010 launched a retrospective of his work in an exhibition in St. Paul de Vence. The exhibition included images of his music acquaintances as well as famous artists from the South of France including Marc Chagall.[29]
Politically, Wyman has supported Britain's Conservative Party.[30]
In 2009, he quit smoking after 55 years.[31]
He is a lifelong Crystal Palace FC fan,[32] and has also stated that he plays cricket.
In popular culture
Wyman is namechecked in the 1986 Smithereens song "Behind the Wall of Sleep".
Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings - In Concert "Ohne Filter".
TV Studio "Ohne Filter", Baden-Baden, Germany (26.04.2000).
"Ohne
Filter" was a 45-minute live television program by German Public TV
Station SWF featuring international pop and rock groups.
On stage:
Bill Wyman - bass guitar
Gary Brooker - electric piano/vocals
Albert Lee - guitar/vocals
Georgie Fame (Clive Powell) - hammond organ/vocals
Terry Taylor - guitar/vocals
Graham Broad - drums
Beverley Skeete - back vocals
Janice Hoyte - back vocals
Frank Mead - sax, harmonica
Nick Payn - sax
Jimmy Dawkins *24.10.1936
Jimmy Dawkins (* 24. Oktober 1936 in Tchula, Mississippi; † 10. April 2013 in Chicago, Illinois[1]) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Gitarrist.
1955 zog er nach Chicago, um dort in einer Fabrik zu arbeiten. 1957 kaufte er sich seine erste Gitarre. Zuerst spielte er auf der West Side mit Musikern wie Lester Hinton, Left Hand Frank Craig und Eddie King. Es folgten erste kleinere Engagements, u. a. mit Jimmy Rogers, Magic Sam und Earl Hooker. Willie Dixon buchte ihn für Studioaufnahmen mit Walter Horton, Johnny Young und Wild Child Butler.
Sein Durchbruch kam 1969, als Dawkins für Delmark Records das Debütalbum Fast Fingers (DS-623) einspielte. Es wurde im Musikmagazin Down Beat mit vier Sternen bewertet und erhielt 1971 den Grand Prix du Disque des Hot Club of France. Es folgten zahlreiche Festivalauftritte, Konzertreisen und weitere Plattenaufnahmen. Er spielte 1971 zusammen mit Clarence Gatemouth Brown auf dem Album Bad luck blues (Black & blue) von Cousin Joe.
Zu Dawkins' Markenzeichen gehörte sein versiertes Gitarrenspiel, das sich zwar an gängigen Mustern des West Side Chicago Blues orientierte, sich aber als sehr eigenständig darstellte. Dazu trug auch seine ungewöhnliche Spielweise dar, die im Kontrast zu seinem emotionalen Gesangsstil steht. Jimmy Dawkins wird zwar als einer der Innovatoren des West Side Chicago Blues angesehen, doch konnte er nie den großen Erfolg wie seine berühmten Kollegen, (z. B. Magic Sam, Luther Allison) erzielen.
Neben seiner eigenen Karriere als Musiker ist Jimmy Dawkins mit seinem Plattenlabel Leric Music hervorgetreten, auf dem Singles u. a. von Tail Dragger, Queen Sylvia Embry, Little Johnny Christian und Nora Jean Wallace erschienen sind. Zudem war Dawkins als Musikverleger aktiv.
James Henry "Jimmy" Dawkins (October 24, 1936 – April 10, 2013) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer.[1] He was generally considered a part of the "West Side Sound" of Chicago blues.[2] He was born in Tchula, Mississippi in 1936.[3]
Career
He moved to Chicago in 1955.[4] He worked in a box factory, and started to play local blues clubs, gaining a reputation as a session musician.
In 1969, thanks to the efforts of his friend Magic Sam, he released his first album Fast Fingers on Delmark Records, winning the "Grand Prix du Disque" from the Hot Club de France.[4][5] In 1971, Delmark released his second album All For Business with singer, Andrew Odom, and the guitarist, Otis Rush.[1] Dawkins also toured in the late 1970s backed up by James Solberg (of Luther Allison and The Nighthawks fame) on guitar and Jon Preizler (The Lamont Cranston Band, The Drifters), a Seattle based Hammond B-3 player known for his soulful jazz influenced style. Other musicians that toured with Jimmy Dawkins in the late 1970s were Jimi Schutte (drummer), Sylvester Boines (bass), Rich Kirch and Billy Flynn (guitars). With this combination of musicians Dawkins also toured Europe.
Dawkins began to tour in Europe and Japan and recorded more albums in the United States and Europe.[4] Dawkins also contributed a column to the blues magazine Living Blues. In the 1980s he released few recordings, but began his own record label, Leric Records, and was more interested in promoting other artists,[4] including Taildragger, Queen Sylvia Embry, Little Johnny Christian and Nora Jean Wallace.
Dawkins died of undisclosed causes on April 10, 2013, aged 76.
Jimmy Dawkins - Me, My Gitar and the Blues
Willie Mabon *24.10.1925
Willie Mabon (* 24. Oktober 1925 in Hollywood, Tennessee; † 19. April 1985 in Paris, Frankreich) war ein US-amerikanischer R&B-Sänger, Songwriter und Pianist.
Aufgewachsen in Memphis, Tennessee, kam Mabon 1942 als bereits versierter Blueser nach Chicago. Er gründete die Band "The Blues Rockers" und machte ab 1949 Aufnahmen für verschiedene Plattenlabel. Nach seinem Riesenhit I Don't Know folgten 1953 I'm Mad und 1954 Poison Ivy. Danach ließ der Erfolg nach.
1972 zog Mabel nach Paris. Er tourte recht erfolgreich in Europa und machte weiterhin Aufnahmen bis zu seinem Tod 1985.
Der größte Erfolg für Willie Mabon war das Stück I Don't Know, das 1952 für acht Wochen die Spitzenposition der R&B-Charts belegte und später von Tennessee Ernie Ford neu eingespielt wurde.
Willie Mabon (October 24, 1925 – April 19, 1985)[1] was an American R&B singer, songwriter and pianist.
Career
Born Willie James Mabon,[2] and brought up in Hollywood, Memphis, Tennessee, he had become known as a singer and pianist by the time he moved to Chicago in 1942. He formed a group, the Blues Rockers, and in 1949 began recording for the Aristocrat label, and then Chess.
His biggest success came in 1952 when his debut solo release, "I Don't Know", originally written by Cripple Clarence Lofton, who received no royalties,[3] topped the Billboard R&B chart for eight weeks.[3] It was one of the most popular releases of its era, becoming Chess's biggest hit in the period before Chuck Berry's and Bo Diddley's success. It also became one of the first R&B hit records to be covered by a leading white artist, Tennessee Ernie Ford. Mabon's original was played on Alan Freed's early radio shows and also sold well to white audiences, crossing over markets at the start of the rock and roll era.
Mabon returned to the top R&B slot in 1953 with "I'm Mad", and had another hit in 1954 with the Mel London song "Poison Ivy". However, his career failed to maintain its momentum, and record releases in the late 1950s on a variety of record labels were largely unsuccessful. Releases in the 1960s included "I'm The Fixer" and "Got To Have Some".[3]
After a 1972 move to Paris, Mabon toured and recorded in Europe as part of promoter Jim Simpson's American Blues Legends tour, recording The Comeback for Simpson's Big Bear Records label, and his 1977 album on Ornament Records.[4] He also performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival.[1] In April 1985, after a long illness, Mabon died in Paris.
Corky Siegel *24.10.1943
Corky Siegel (* 24. Oktober 1943 in Chicago, Illinois, als Mark Paul Siegel) ist ein US-amerikanischer Musiker (Mundharmonika, Piano), Sänger und Komponist. Er ist Mitglied der Siegel-Schwall Band und Gründer der Chamber Blues Group.
1964 gründeten die beiden Musikstudenten Corky Siegel und Jim Schwall die Bluesrock-Gruppe Siegel-Schwall Band. Zunächst traten die beiden als Duo auf, bevor sie mit Bassist und Schlagzeuger zum Quartett wurden.
Die Siegel-Schwall Band trat 1968 als erste Bluesband mit einem Symphonieorchester auf. William Russos Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra wurde 1973 von der Deutschen Grammophon veröffentlicht.
Ohne die Siegel-Schwall Band nahm Corky Siegel 1975 mit dem San Francisco Symphony Orchestra Street Music: A Blues Concerto auf, ebenfalls von William Russo komponiert; auch der Dirigent Seiji Ozawa war der gleiche wie bei den Three Pieces. Street Music erschien 1979 erstmals auf Schallplatte.
1988 gründete Siegel die Chamber Blues Group, die Klassik mit Blues und Jazz kombiniert. Die Gruppe bestand aus einem Streicherquartett, einem Perkussionisten und Siegel an der Mundharmonika, bisweilen auch am Piano.
Neben zahlreichen weiteren musikalischen Projekten war Siegel 2004 Mitglied der Band Chicago Blues Reunion, die das Album Buried Alive in the Blues veröffentlichte.
Zusammen mit Peter Krammer schrieb Corky Siegel ein Buch für Musiker und Musikstudenten. Let Your Music Soar: The Emotional Connection erschien 2007.
Mark Paul "Corky" Siegel (born October 24, 1943) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. He plays harmonica and piano. He plays and writes blues and blues-rock music, and has also worked extensively on combining blues and classical music. He is best known as the co-leader of the Siegel-Schwall Band, and as the leader of the Chamber Blues group.[1][2][3]
Musical career
Corky Siegel's professional music career began in 1964, when he met guitarist Jim Schwall. Both were studying music at Roosevelt University in Chicago. The two became a duo, performing blues music. They landed a regular gig at Pepper's Lounge, where well known, established blues musicians such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Willie Dixon would often sit in.[4] After a while the duo became a quartet, the Siegel-Schwall Band.
The Siegel-Schwall Band enjoyed increasing popularity, and by 1967 were touring nationally, playing at large rock venues like the Fillmore West and sharing the bill with famous rock bands.[5][6] Between 1966 and 1974, they released ten albums. After 1974, they stopped playing concerts, but the band re-formed in 1987. They still play occasional live dates and have released two albums of new material.[7] The band currently features drummer Sam Lay and bassist Rollo Radford; Lay played with Siegel in the Happy Year Band of 1973 which also featured Chicago blues guitarist Albert Joseph.
The idea of combining blues and classical music was first suggested by classical conductor Seiji Ozawa. Ozawa brought together the Siegel-Schwall Band and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. They first performed "Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra", by William Russo in 1968. In 1973, the band and Ozawa released a recording of this work performed with the San Francisco Symphony. In 1975, Siegel and Ozawa, with the San Francisco Symphony, first performed another William Russo work, "Street Music: A Blues Concerto". A recording of this piece was released in 1979.[8]
Inspired by his collaboration with Ozawa, Corky Siegel formed Chamber Blues in 1988. The group's music combines elements of classical, blues, and jazz. The band consists of a string quartet – two violins, a viola, and a cello – along with a percussionist Frank Donaldson, Siegel on harmonica, and sometimes doubling on piano. Chamber Blues is still together. The group has toured nationally and has released three albums.[9][10][11]
Siegel has also worked on numerous other musical projects. In 2004, he was a member of a band called the Chicago Blues Reunion, which released the album Buried Alive in the Blues.[12]
Book
With Peter Krammer, Corky Siegel wrote a book for musicians and music students, called Let Your Music Soar: The Emotional Connection. It was published by Nova Vista Publishing in 2007.
Musical career
Corky Siegel's professional music career began in 1964, when he met guitarist Jim Schwall. Both were studying music at Roosevelt University in Chicago. The two became a duo, performing blues music. They landed a regular gig at Pepper's Lounge, where well known, established blues musicians such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Willie Dixon would often sit in.[4] After a while the duo became a quartet, the Siegel-Schwall Band.
The Siegel-Schwall Band enjoyed increasing popularity, and by 1967 were touring nationally, playing at large rock venues like the Fillmore West and sharing the bill with famous rock bands.[5][6] Between 1966 and 1974, they released ten albums. After 1974, they stopped playing concerts, but the band re-formed in 1987. They still play occasional live dates and have released two albums of new material.[7] The band currently features drummer Sam Lay and bassist Rollo Radford; Lay played with Siegel in the Happy Year Band of 1973 which also featured Chicago blues guitarist Albert Joseph.
The idea of combining blues and classical music was first suggested by classical conductor Seiji Ozawa. Ozawa brought together the Siegel-Schwall Band and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. They first performed "Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra", by William Russo in 1968. In 1973, the band and Ozawa released a recording of this work performed with the San Francisco Symphony. In 1975, Siegel and Ozawa, with the San Francisco Symphony, first performed another William Russo work, "Street Music: A Blues Concerto". A recording of this piece was released in 1979.[8]
Inspired by his collaboration with Ozawa, Corky Siegel formed Chamber Blues in 1988. The group's music combines elements of classical, blues, and jazz. The band consists of a string quartet – two violins, a viola, and a cello – along with a percussionist Frank Donaldson, Siegel on harmonica, and sometimes doubling on piano. Chamber Blues is still together. The group has toured nationally and has released three albums.[9][10][11]
Siegel has also worked on numerous other musical projects. In 2004, he was a member of a band called the Chicago Blues Reunion, which released the album Buried Alive in the Blues.[12]
Book
With Peter Krammer, Corky Siegel wrote a book for musicians and music students, called Let Your Music Soar: The Emotional Connection. It was published by Nova Vista Publishing in 2007.
Corky Seigel, blues harp
Tom Ball *24.10.
Born in Los Angeles on Sonny Terry's birthday (October 24,) Tom began playing guitar at the age of eleven and took up harmonica two years later. A teenage member of the Yerba Buena Blues Band in the mid-1960's, he played Love-Ins and Sunset Strip nightclubs before leaving the country for most of the '70s. In 1978 he came back to the U.S. and teamed up with guitarist Kenny Sultan - a partnership that still flourishes today and has resulted in eight duo CDs (most with Flying Fish/Rounder,) and literally thousands of concerts and festivals all over the world.
In addition to working with Kenny, Tom has played on 235 CDs, performed and sung on countless film soundtracks, TV shows and commercials, recorded four solo guitar CDs, written five instructional books and authored a couple of novels.
Some of Tom's recent studio projects include playing harmonica with Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band on the soundtrack to the film "Hoot," and with Kenny Loggins on his latest three CDs, "All Join In," "How About Now" and "Blue Sky Riders - Finally Home." It's not hard to see why Tom has been on the cover of both American Harmonica Newsmagazine and Harmonica World, why Blues Revue called his playing "stupendous," and why Sound Choice magazine wrote, "The best acoustic blues act going, bar none!" Meanwhile he has carved out a secondary career as a solo guitarist and "kills time" writing both music books and fiction. Fretboard Journal recently wrote, "Not fair. Tom Ball is not only one of the world's best harmonica players, he's also an incredible guitarist."
Victor Puertas *24.10.
Victor Puertas was born on Sonny Terry's birthday (October 24th), is a powerful harmonica player from Barcelona (Spain), who also plays piano, Hammond organ and guitar. Nevertheless, harmonicas are his love at the first feel, and he plays them with deep emotion and sensibility. He is one of the top five favourites in Jerry Portnoy's list.
Victor has shared moments with great blues players such as Gary Primich, Mark Hummel, Jerry Portnoy, Joe Filisko, Eric Noden, Nathan James, Paul Rishell, Annie Raines, Steve James, Fred Kaplan, among others. He has worked as a session musician on several soundtracks, as a special guest in dozens of albums and played hundreds of shows. In addition, he teaches in his hometown, Barcelona.
He’s currently sharing the stage with Big Mama Montse, Big Dani Perez or Chino and the Big Bet but his main project is called The Suitcase Brothers with his brother Pere Puertas. They are a pure and vigorous acoustic blues duo with several records and countless national and international performances. They represented Spain at the 1st European Blues Challenge held in Berlin 2011.
THE SUITCASE BROTHERS Pere Puertas voz, guitarra Victor Puertas armonica
Bert Deivert *24.10.
https://www.facebook.com/BudDeivert/about
Bert Deivert - blues mandolinist
is an American blues artist now living in Sweden. He has been playing professionally for 41 years and has performed all over the world in various constellations within the folk music and blues genres. He has released 4 solo albums, 7 duo albums, and performed on many other artists' recordings.
Bert Deivert was born 1950, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
In 1966 Bert saw Son House on public television and was so amazed by what he saw that he immediately broke a wine bottle to make his own bottleneck. He has been hooked on the blues and Son House ever since.
Like many American families, his family moved around every three years or so till he was 14 years old. He lived in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Utah, California, and finally in Derry, New Hampshire on the East Coast of the United States. While supporting himself as a musician playing solo on the streets of San Francisco and with other street friends like Peter Case, he learned to play for an audience. He moved to Sweden in 1974 where he has worked ever since as a singer and musician. He has had several songs covered by other artists, and has done widespread radio, tv, and theatre work. Bert has played together with such diverse musicians as singer/songwriter Peter Case, blues artist Eric Bibb, New York bluesman Michael Powers, rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson, old timey legend Tom Paley, and Irish piper and singer Christy O'Leary. Bert has been visiting Mississippi the last couple of years and playing and jamming with the likes of bluesmen Bill Abel, Sam Carr, Cadillac John Nolden, Terry "Harmonica" Bean, Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, and T-Model Ford.
Bert's repertoire consists of blues classics by the likes of Son House, Yank Rachell, Sam Chatmon, Skip James, Carl Martin, Howard Armstrong, Sleepy John Estes, the Mississippi Sheiks, and some original tunes that fit right into the style of Delta and country blues. Bert's specialties are blues mandolin and slide guitar, as well as his distinctive and powerful voice.
is an American blues artist now living in Sweden. He has been playing professionally for 41 years and has performed all over the world in various constellations within the folk music and blues genres. He has released 4 solo albums, 7 duo albums, and performed on many other artists' recordings.
Bert Deivert was born 1950, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
In 1966 Bert saw Son House on public television and was so amazed by what he saw that he immediately broke a wine bottle to make his own bottleneck. He has been hooked on the blues and Son House ever since.
Like many American families, his family moved around every three years or so till he was 14 years old. He lived in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Utah, California, and finally in Derry, New Hampshire on the East Coast of the United States. While supporting himself as a musician playing solo on the streets of San Francisco and with other street friends like Peter Case, he learned to play for an audience. He moved to Sweden in 1974 where he has worked ever since as a singer and musician. He has had several songs covered by other artists, and has done widespread radio, tv, and theatre work. Bert has played together with such diverse musicians as singer/songwriter Peter Case, blues artist Eric Bibb, New York bluesman Michael Powers, rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson, old timey legend Tom Paley, and Irish piper and singer Christy O'Leary. Bert has been visiting Mississippi the last couple of years and playing and jamming with the likes of bluesmen Bill Abel, Sam Carr, Cadillac John Nolden, Terry "Harmonica" Bean, Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, and T-Model Ford.
Bert's repertoire consists of blues classics by the likes of Son House, Yank Rachell, Sam Chatmon, Skip James, Carl Martin, Howard Armstrong, Sleepy John Estes, the Mississippi Sheiks, and some original tunes that fit right into the style of Delta and country blues. Bert's specialties are blues mandolin and slide guitar, as well as his distinctive and powerful voice.
Bert Deivert & Copperhead Run: Going down south
Going Down South - Bert Deivert Roots Blues band
Tommy Bankhead *24.10.1931
Tommy Bankhead (October 24, 1931 – December 16, 2000) was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer, who backed musicians such as Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Elmore James (his cousin),[1] Joe Willie Wilkins, Robert Nighthawk, and Joe Hill Louis.[2]
Born in Lake Cormorant, Mississippi, United States,[1] Bankhead later moved to St. Louis, Missouri and made it his home. He also performed sometimes on bass guitar and harmonica, and released a few albums under his own name.[3] In his later years he toured as Tommy Bankhead and the Blues Eldoradoes. He was a fixture in St. Louis blues for over fifty years. He died in St. Louis in December 2000, from respiratory failure due to emphysema.
R.I.P.
Little Mack Simmons +24.10.2000
Little
Mack Simmons, eigentlich Malcolm Simmons, (* 25. Januar 1933 in Twist,
Arkansas; † 24. Oktober 2000) war ein US-amerikanischer
Mundharmonikaspieler, Sänger und Songwriter.
Biographie
Little
Mack Simmons wuchs in seinem Geburtsort Twist, Arkansas, auf. Dort war
er mit James Cotton befreundet, mit dem gemeinsam er das
Mundharmonikaspiel erlernte. Mit 18 zog er nach St. Louis, Missouri, wo
er bei der Eisenbahn arbeitete. Dort gab er mit Robert Nighthawk auch
sein Bühnendebüt. Danach zog er nach Chicago, wo er in den späten
1950er- und frühen 60er-Jahren für verschiedene Labels, darunter auch
Chess, Platten aufnahm. Von Mitte bis Ende der 60er betrieb er die
Zodiac Lounge, besaß ein Aufnahmestudio und eine eigene Plattenfirma (PM
Records und Simmons Records).
Ende der 60er Jahre zog er sich aus
der Musikindustrie zurück und wurde Prediger. Erst ab 1995 nahm er
wieder Bluesplatten auf, was er bis zu seinem Tod im Jahr 2000 tat.
Little
Mack Simmons (January 25, 1933 — October 24, 2000)[1][2] was an
African-American Chicago blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter.
Biography
Malcolm Simmons was born in Twist, Arkansas.[3] In his youth he befriended James Cotton, and they grew up learning to play the harmonica. Simmons relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, at the age of 18 and worked on the railroad. At this time Simmons made his stage debut with Robert Nighthawk.[4]
In 1954 he moved again to Chicago, put together his own backing band, and had a five year residency at Cadillac Baby's. He commenced recording in 1959, issuing records on a number of labels including Chess.[4]
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Simmons recorded several more obscure singles, often simply billed as Little Mack (or Mac).[3] Simmons went on to provide the opportunity for others talents to be seen. He owned and managed Chicago's Zodiac Lounge from the mid to late 1960s. In addition, he owned a recording studio and recorded on his own labels, PM Records and Simmons Records.[2] Simmons left the music industry at that time for the ministry, and was rarely heard in 30 years, notwithstanding an album he recorded in 1975 in Paris, France.[3]
His return to blues music arrived with High & Lonesome (1995), which was an early success for St. George Records, an independent record label. Simmons' energetic style, accompanied by Studebaker John, belied his years. Come Back to Me Baby (1996), with featured sidemen John Primer, Willie Kent and Jake Dawson (guitarist) was also well received.[3]
Simmons died in October 2000, of colon cancer, in his adopted hometown of Chicago, at the age of 67.
Biography
Malcolm Simmons was born in Twist, Arkansas.[3] In his youth he befriended James Cotton, and they grew up learning to play the harmonica. Simmons relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, at the age of 18 and worked on the railroad. At this time Simmons made his stage debut with Robert Nighthawk.[4]
In 1954 he moved again to Chicago, put together his own backing band, and had a five year residency at Cadillac Baby's. He commenced recording in 1959, issuing records on a number of labels including Chess.[4]
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Simmons recorded several more obscure singles, often simply billed as Little Mack (or Mac).[3] Simmons went on to provide the opportunity for others talents to be seen. He owned and managed Chicago's Zodiac Lounge from the mid to late 1960s. In addition, he owned a recording studio and recorded on his own labels, PM Records and Simmons Records.[2] Simmons left the music industry at that time for the ministry, and was rarely heard in 30 years, notwithstanding an album he recorded in 1975 in Paris, France.[3]
His return to blues music arrived with High & Lonesome (1995), which was an early success for St. George Records, an independent record label. Simmons' energetic style, accompanied by Studebaker John, belied his years. Come Back to Me Baby (1996), with featured sidemen John Primer, Willie Kent and Jake Dawson (guitarist) was also well received.[3]
Simmons died in October 2000, of colon cancer, in his adopted hometown of Chicago, at the age of 67.
