(Singer-songwriter 1934–84) Detroit-born Jackie Wilson, an ex-amateur boxer, sang with gospel groups before replacing Clyde McPhatter in Billy Ward and The Dominoes in 1953. His first solo success came with 1957’s UK and US hit, Reet Petite’, co-written by Berry Gordy Jr., who went on to found Motown Records. His first US Top 40 hit was 1958’s ...
(Vocals, 1934–84) With his powerful high vocal range, Jackie Wilson was among the earliest singers to make the transition from R&B to soul. His first single, 1957’s ‘Reet Petite’, was the start of a winning partnership with its writer, young Berry Gordy (although Wilson never recorded for Gordy’s Motown label). ‘Reet Petite’ was actually more successful in ...
(Piano, 1912–86) Although the physical brilliance of Art Tatum may have eluded most pianists in the 1930s, the more practical possibilities offered by Teddy Wilson made him the most influential pianist of the decade. Softening Earl Hines’ emphasis on the beat still further, Wilson’s style was centred almost wholly in his right hand, which spun smooth, ...
(Alto saxophone, 1931–2006) Jackie McLean worked with Sonny Rollins and practised with Bud Powell as a teenager. His invention and passionate delivery on alto saxophone attracted collaborations with Miles Davis (1951–52), Charles Mingus (1956, 1958–59) and Art Blakey (1956–57). He recorded a series of albums for Prestige and acted in Jack Gelber’s play The Connection (1959–61). His powerful recordings ...
(Vocals, composer, b. 1955) Raised in Mississippi, smoky contralto Wilson sang R&B and folk music, but emerged in New York in the early 1980s as a member of the M-Base Collective and with Henry Threadgill’s band. Her breakout album Blue Skies (1988) reprised jazz standards and she starred in Wynton Marsalis’ oratorio Blood on the Fields, ...
(Vocals, songwriter, b. 1973) Raised in rural Pocahontas, Illinois, Gretchen Wilson was one of the biggest acts to emerge on the country scene in some years. She moved to Nashville in 1996, where she eventually met John Rich, of singer-songwriters Big And Rich, and gave him a demo. This led to a deal with ...
(Saxophone, vocals, 1930–79) Jackie Brenston recorded arguably the first rock’n’roll record with 1951’s ‘Rocket 88’, an R&B boogie that featured Ike Turner’s Kings Of Rhythm, of which Brenston was a member. ‘Rocket 88’ (by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats) stayed at the top of the R&B charts for over a month, but Brenston never recaptured the ...
(Vocals, 1941–2006) After an early career with the seminal R&B group The Falcons (he replaced Eddie Floyd as lead singer), Pickett signed with Atlantic in 1965, recording with Booker T. And The M.G.s at Stax in Memphis, and scored an early hit with ‘In The Midnight Hour’, first of many successes characterized by mighty horn stabs ...
Albert King’s late 1960s and early 1970s recordings for the Stax label remain cornerstones of modern blues. Tunes like ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’, ‘Crosscut Saw’ and ‘I’ll Play the Blues For You’ are also an antidote to the over-the-top playing indulged in by so many contemporary blues guitarists. For King, a six-foot-four, 250-pound man possessed of a big ...
(Founder, Motown Records, b. 1929) Gordy co-wrote Jackie Wilson’s ‘Reet Petite’ in 1957 while working on Detroit’s Ford assembly line and started Motown in 1959 with an $800 loan, creating a factory-like hit-making process. Gordy scouted talented Detroit performers and matched them to equally talented in-house writers and producers. He fostered a family atmosphere of (mostly) friendly rivalry ...
(Singer-songwriter, 1928–58) Known as ‘The Sheik Of The Stroll’, Atlanta-born Harold Willis was a rising star, with a string of US R&B hits to his credit, the biggest 1957’s R&B No. 1, ‘C.C. Rider’, which also made the US pop Top 20. Signed to Okeh Records between 1952 and 1954, his career took off in ...
(Vocals, 1932–72) McPhatter was among the first singers to make the transition from gospel singer to R&B and pop star, and his emotional singing set the stage for vocalists like Jackie Wilson and Smokey Robinson. McPhatter started out with Billy Ward’s Dominoes, and left in 1953 to form and lead The Drifters. His Drifters hits included ‘Money Honey’ ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1978–86) The brainchild of Kevin Rowland, Dexy’s bagged a UK No. 1 with the punky, singalong soul of ‘Geno’ (1980). The manifesto album Searching For The Young Soul Rebels (1980) backed it up. After internal disruptions, a Celtic element was added, and the stomping anthem ‘Come On Eileen’ from the 1982 album Too-Rye-Ay became ...
(Bandleader, singer-songwriter, b. 1921) Of Greek parentage, California-born John Veliotes topped the US R&B chart twice in 1950 with ‘Double Crossing Blues’ and ‘Mistrustin’ Blues’, both credited to The Johnny Otis Orchestra. After moving from Berkeley to Los Angeles, he supposedly discovered such notable R&B vocalists as ‘Little’ Esther Phillips, Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton, ...
(Vocals, 1943–92) One of Motown’s first female superstars, Wells was signed when she demo’d a song she had written for Jackie Wilson. Instead it became her own 1961 debut single ‘Bye Bye Baby’, and reached No. 8 in the R&B chart. Although only her 1964 US pop No. 1 ‘My Guy’ charted in Britain, she had many more ...
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David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
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sweep of incredible photographs.