Eddie Kirkland (August 16, 1923 – February 27, 2011) was an American electric blues guitarist, harmonicist, singer, and songwriter.
Kirkland, known as the "Gypsy of the Blues" for his rigorous touring schedules, played and toured with John Lee Hooker from 1949 to 1962. After his period of working in tandem with Hooker he pursued a successful solo career, recording for RPM Records, Fortune Records, Volt Records, and King Records, sometimes under the stage name Eddie Kirk. Kirkland continued to tour, write and record albums until his death in February 2011.
Kirkland was born in Jamaica to a mother, aged 11, and first heard the blues from "field hollers",and raised in Dothan, Alabama until 1935,when he stowed away in the Sugar Girls Medicine Show tent truck and left town. Blind Blake was the one who influenced him the most in those early days.He was placed on the chorus line with "Diamond Tooth Mary" McLean.He joined the United States Army during World War II. It was racism in the military, he said, that led him to seek out the devil. After his discharge Kirkland traveled to Detroit where his mother had relocated. After a days work at the Ford Rouge Plant, Kirkland played his guitar at house parties, and there he met John Lee Hooker. Kirkland, a frequent second guitarist in recordings from 1949-1962. "It was difficult playin' behind Hooker but I had a good ear and was able to move in behind him on anything he did."
Kirkland fashioned his own style of playing open chords, and transformed the rough, porch style delta blues into the electric age by using his thumb, rather than a guitar pick. He secured his own series of recordings with Sid Nathan of King Records in 1953, at Fortune Records in 1958 and, by 1961, on his own album It's the Blues Man, with the King Curtis Band.Kirkland became Hooker's road manager and the two traveled from Detroit to the Deep South on many tours, the last being in 1962 when Hooker abandoned Kirkland to go overseas. Kirkland found his way to Macon, Georgia and began performing with Otis Redding as his guitarist and band leader.As Eddie Kirk, he released "The Hawg" as a single on Volt Records in 1963.The record was overshadowed by Rufus Thomas's recordings, and Kirkland, discouraged by the music industry and his own lack of education to change the situation, turned to his other skill and sought work as an auto mechanic to earn a living for his growing family.
It was during the mid 1970s that Kirkland befriended the British blues-rock band, Foghat. Kirkland remained with Lowry, Trix, and was based in the Hudson Valley for twelve years. It was during this period that Kirkland appeared on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert with Muddy Waters, Honeyboy Edwards, and Foghat. These were also the years that Kirkland again energized his sound. "Eddie's thumb pick and fingers style give him freedom to play powerful chord riffs rich in rhythms and harmonic tension. He plays like a funky pianist, simultaneously covering bass lines, chord kick, and counterpoint".A documentary short entitled PICK UP THE PIECES was made about a year in Eddie's life (2010) and it could be viewed on youtube.com up until Eddie's death when the family asked that it be removed. It followed Eddie's struggles as an uneducated African American trying to make it as a Blues musician and it chronicled his hard life that included taking three lives in self defense, his stint in the armed forces resulting in an unfair discharge, his struggles with poverty, his many children ( he claimed 73), and his love of music.
Kirkland died in an automobile accident on the morning of February 27, 2011 in Crystal River, Florida.
The Campbell Brothers are an American Sacred Steel gospel group from Rush, New York composed of three brothers and one son.African-American gospel music with electric steel guitar and vocal. This tradition is just now emerging from the House of God Keith Dominion Church, where for over sixty years it has been an integral part of worship and a vital, if little known, American tradition.Secular audiences are now able to appreciate a performance both devoted and rocking.Pedal steel guitarist Chuck Campbell and his lap steelplaying brother Darick are two of the finest in this tradition. Rounding out the band, which has been playing together for nearly two decades, is a high-energy rhythm section featuring brother Phil Campbell on electric guitar and his son Carlton on drums. Classic, gutsy gospel vocals by Denise Brown and Katie Jackson complete the ensemble.
The Campbell Brothers present a compelling, rich variety of material from the African-American Holiness-Pentecostal repertoire with a new twist: the growling, wailing, shouting, singing andswinging voice of the steel guitar.A soul-stirring blend of gospel, electric blues and rock.
Leading up to our November 10 showcase, we'll be getting you familiar with some of our Dallas Observer Music Awards nominees, either via past features we've done on them, or new ones. You can vote for your favorite acts, venues and more right here.
Best Blues Act
Hunter Hendrickson Band
It hasn't gone unnoticed that Hunter Hendrickson has been a blazing show-stealer in the past year or two. Recent opening slots for legends such as John Mayall have yielded grand remarks around town. He's a young and brilliant guitar slinger that's more master than student, to be sure.
Reverend K.M. Williams
While Dallas is famous for another musical Reverend, ordained preacher and guitarist K.M. Williams would surely drive more folks into church if his raw, R.L. Burnside-esque tunes were featured in more houses of worship. Williams knows the truth. With all due respect to Jim Heath, a new musical guide is here, not for Saturday night sin, but for Sunday morning healing.
Jason Elmore
Guitarist Jason Elmore knows that fiery blues can be doled out whether the amps are plugged in or left in the van. It's with his full band, Hoodoo Witch, however, that Elmore's insane licks are greasier than the flat-top grills at the joints he regularly plays.
Aaron Burton
Like so many blues musicians, Aaron Burton is a student of his art's bountiful history. Of course, it's also nice that his knowledge and passion translates into some boogie-worthy country blues, the type Deep Ellum was famous for a few generations ago.
Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King
Kubek, from a national standpoint, might be as respected a musician as we have in North Texas. For more than 20 years, he's repped the unique nature of Texas-style blues to crowds across the globe. Add the jazzy tones of King, and it's easy to see that only an expert duo can offer up such a convincing interpretation of blues-jazz fusion.
CeDell Davis (born Ellis Davis, June 9, 1927)is an American blues guitarist and singer.
Davis is most notable for his distinctive style of guitar playing. Davis plays guitar using a table knife in his fretting hand in a manner similar to slide guitar, resulting in a welter of metal-stress harmonic transients and a singular tonal plasticity. He uses this style out of necessity. When he was 10, he suffered from severe polio which left him little control over his left hand and restricted use of his right.[1] He had been playing guitar prior to his polio and decided to continue in spite of his handicap, and developed his knife method as the only way he could come up with of still playing guitar.Davis was born in Helena, Arkansas, United States, where his family worked on a local plantation. He enjoyed music from a young age, playing harmonica and guitar with his childhood friends.
Once he sufficiently mastered his variation on slide guitar playing, Davis began playing in various nightclubs across the Mississippi Delta area. He played with Robert Nighthawk for a ten year period from 1953 to 1963. While playing in a club in 1957, a police raid caused the crowd to stampede over Davis. Both of his legs were broken in this incident and he was forced to use a wheelchair since that time. The hardships resulting from his physical handicaps were a major influence in his lyrics and style of blues playing.
Davis moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas in the early sixties and continued his artistic work. In recent times, Davis' music has been released by the Fat Possum Records label to much critical acclaim. His 1994 album, produced by Robert Palmer, Feel Like Doin' Something Wrong, received a 9.0 from Pitchfork Media who called it "timeless."
The Horror of It All followed in 1998. Davis took time away from recording after these releases, and spent the next four years writing and performing. When he returned to the recording studio, he drafted musicians like R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, R.E.M. sideman Scott McCaughey, The Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin, and soul keyboardist Alex Veley. The final results, When Lightnin' Struck the Pine, was released in 2002.
