Tuesday, February 12, 2008

T-Bone Walker...

from Wiki...
Aaron Thibeaux Walker or T-Bone Walker or Oak Cliff T-Bone (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter who was one of the most important pioneers of electric guitar.
His distinctive sound didn't develop until 1942 , when Walker recorded "Mean Old World" for Capitol Records. His electric guitar solos were among the first heard on modern blues recordings and set a standard that is still followed. [Some music historians site Ernest Tubb's 1940 honky tonk classic, "Walking the Floor over You" as the first "hit" recording to feature and highlight a solo by a standard electric guitar--though earlier hits featured electric lap steel guitars. The blues master Lonnie Johnson had also recorded at least once on electric guitar, but his innovation was neither much noted nor influential.]

Much of Walker's output was recorded from 1946–48 on Black & White Records, including 1947's "Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad)", with its famous opening line, "They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad". He followed up with his "T-Bone Shuffle": "Let your hair down, baby, let's have a natural ball". Both are considered blues classics. B. B. King says "Stormy Monday" first inspired him to take up the guitar. The song is also a favorite live number for The Allman Brothers Band.

Throughout his career he worked with top quality musicians, including Teddy Buckner (trumpet), Lloyd Glenn (piano), Billy Hadnott (bass), and Jack McVea (tenor sax).

Following his work with Black & White, he recorded from 1950–54 for Imperial Records (backed by Dave Bartholomew). Walker's only record in the next five years was T-Bone Blues, recorded over three widely separated sessions in 1955, 1956, and 1959, and finally released by Atlantic Records in 1960.

By the early 1960s, Walker's career had slowed down, in spite of a much-hyped appearance at the American Folk Blues Festival in 1962 with Memphis Slim, among others. A few critically acclaimed albums followed, such as I Want a Little Girl, and he won a Grammy Award in 1971 for Good Feelin' (Polydor).

(Did you see Clark Terry play solo on nothing but a mouthpiece?)


And the one that made him famous...

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