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Blues
Master Jimmy Witherspoon was born August 8, 1920,
Gurdon, Ark. and past on September 18,
1997, Los Angeles, Ca. His
father, a railroad man, sang in local choirs, while his
mother played piano. Spoon didn't pursue music
professionally until after his WWII stint in the
Merchant Marines. On his return to the
states in 1944, he replaced the great Walter Brown in The Jay McShann Band and performed with
Big Joe Turner and T-Bone Walker. Spoon's first hit
record was "Ain't
Nobody's Business" which he followed in 1949 with a
reworking of the Leroy Carr song "In The
Evening When The Sun Goes Down".
His hit "Ain't
Nobody's Business"
was one of the biggest records of the era, and stayed on the
Billboard charts 34 weeks that year. Spoon made at least 200 recordings since and was one of
the few true giants of the post-war Blues boom.
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He recorded for a
variety of labels through the 50s, including cornerstone
sides with Swingtime, Federal, Chess, RCA and even a Dixieland session with The Wilbur De Paris Band for Atlantic in 1956. Spoon's long-running career took place on Jazz
stages around the world, from Carnegie Hall to the Newport Jazz
Festival, from touring Japan with Count Basie
to European tours with Buck Clayton's All Stars. Spoon managed to span the
worlds of Blues, R&B and Jazz with his deep baritone
and
unique style anchored in the big band Blues traditions. In
1963 Spoon
recorded "Evenin' Blues" with T-Bone
Walker and in 1968 recorded "The Blues is Now" with his brother, organist Jack McDuff.
The 70's Spoon met Robben Ford and brought him to the
attention of Spoon's management firm, the same team that handled Eric Burdon and War at the time, Spoon sang on the 1971 Eric
Burdon album "Guilty",
and toured with Burdon. Spoon's 1975 Capitol Records
recording "Love Is A Five Letter Word", made the best-selling charts. He made records for
labels like Blue Note and Fantasy. He cut a
remarkable 1986 album "Midnight Lady Called The Blues", written
and produced by Dr. John and Doc Pomus. He re-teamed with guitarist Robben Ford in the early 90s for "Live At The Notodden Blues
Festival", and cut a 1992 album "The Blues, The Whole Blues and Nothin'
But The Blues" for Indigo Records. Spoon's last
recording "Spoon's
Blues" for Stony Plain
Records featured
Duke Robillard and his band with special guest
Long
John Baldry. |
