Amos Milburn (April 1, 1927 – January 3, 1980) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rhythm and bluesRhythm and blues is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
singer, and
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born and died in
Houston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
.
Born in Houston, one of thirteen
childA child is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren, by the age of five Milburn was playing
tuneTune can refer to:* A melody or tune-family* A tune , a short piece of instrumental music, usually with repeating sections, and often played a number of times.* British slang term, often said when referring to a piece of music that is enjoyed....
s on the
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. He enlisted in the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
when he was fifteen and earned thirteen
battle starsA service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service medals, ribbon...
in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, before returning to Houston and organizing a sixteen-piece
bandIn music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform songs. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band* Dansband* Fife and drum...
playing in Houston
clubsA nightclub is a drinking, dancing and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. People who frequent nightclubs are known as clubbers...
, and mixing with the Houston
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
and
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
scene.
Amos Milburn (April 1, 1927 – January 3, 1980) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rhythm and bluesRhythm and blues is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
singer, and
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born and died in
Houston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
.
Life and career
Born in Houston, one of thirteen
childA child is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren, by the age of five Milburn was playing
tuneTune can refer to:* A melody or tune-family* A tune , a short piece of instrumental music, usually with repeating sections, and often played a number of times.* British slang term, often said when referring to a piece of music that is enjoyed....
s on the
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. He enlisted in the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
when he was fifteen and earned thirteen
battle starsA service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service medals, ribbon...
in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, before returning to Houston and organizing a sixteen-piece
bandIn music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform songs. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band* Dansband* Fife and drum...
playing in Houston
clubsA nightclub is a drinking, dancing and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. People who frequent nightclubs are known as clubbers...
, and mixing with the Houston
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
and
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
scene. He was a polished pianist and performer and in 1946 attracted the attention of an enterprising woman who arranged a
recordingSound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
session with
Aladdin RecordsAladdin Records was a post-World War II United States record label, with headquarters in Hollywood, California. The label was founded in 1946 by brothers Eddie, Leo, and Ira Mesner and was originally called Philo Records, before changing to its better-known name.Aladdin was known for its wealth of...
in
Los AngelesLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
. Milburn's relationship with Aladdin lasted eight years during which he cut over seventy-five
sidesA song is a metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, especially one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad....
. His cover of "
Down the Road a Piece"Down the Road Apiece" is a song written in 1940 by Don Raye as a boogie woogie for the Will Bradley/Ray McKinley big band, which recorded it in August, and gained a top 10 hit in the closing months of the year....
" (1946), a
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
with a rocking
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
boogieBoogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm , "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie music. The characteristic rhythm and feel of the boogie was then adapted to guitar, double bass, and other instruments. The earliest recorded...
beat that bordered on
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the 1960s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music....
, was ahead of its time. However, none caught on until 1949 when seven of his
singlesIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
got the attention of the
R&BRhythm and blues is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
audience. "Hold Me Baby" and "Chicken Shack Boogie" landed numbers eight and nine on Billboard's survey of 1949's R&B
BestsellerA bestseller in music is a song or album listed at or near the top of a hits list or chart such as the Billboard charts produced by Billboard magazine which published its first hit parade in 1940. These lists are usually based on sales...
s.
He became one of the leading performers associated with the Central Avenue music scene of Los Angeles'
WattsWatts is a residential district in southern Los Angeles, California .-History:The area now known as Watts began its modern history, after the arrival of Spanish-Mexican settlers, as part of the Rancho La Tajuata, which received its land grant in 1820...
neighborhood. Among his best known
songA song is a metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, especially one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad....
s was "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer". In 1950 Milburn's "Bad, Bad, Whiskey" reached the top of the R&B
chartsA record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
and began a string of
drinkingDrinking is the act of consuming water through the mouth. Water is required for many of life’s physiological processes...
songs (none
writtenA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well as the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer.-History and background of songwriters:...
by Milburn, but several penned by
Rudy ToombsRudolph "Rudy" Toombs , born in Monroe, Louisiana, was a black songwriter who wrote "Teardrops from My Eyes", Ruth Brown's first number one R&B hit song...
). However, there is no evidence that Milburn had a drinking problem.
Milburn continued his successful drinking songs through 1952 {"Thinking and Drinking", "Trouble in Mind"} and was by now touring the country playing clubs. While touring the
MidwestThe Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
that summer, he announced that he would disband his
comboCombo may refer to:*A small musical ensemble, especially in jazz*Combo Waterhole, a real location in Australia, believed to be the inspiration for Waltzing Matilda*The Big Combo, a 1955 film noir*Combos, a popular snack food...
and continue as a
soloIn music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
act and that
fallAutumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter, usually in March or September when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier.The equinoxes might be expected to be in the middle of their seasons, but temperature lag Autumn (also known as...
he joined
Charles BrownCharles Brown , born in Texas City, Texas was an American blues singer and pianist whose soft-toned, slow-paced blues-club style influenced the development of blues performance during the 1940s and 1950s...
for a
SouthernThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
concert tourA concert is a live performance, usually of music, before an audience. The music may be performed by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band. Informal names for a concert include "show" and "gig"...
. For the next few years his tours were made up of strings of one nighters. After three years of solo performing he returned to Houston in 1956 to reform his band. In 1957 Milburn's releases on
Aladdin RecordsAladdin Records may refer to:* Aladdin Records * Aladdin Records...
did not sell well, and the
record labelIn the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, having its own problems, went out of business. He tried to regain commercial success with a few more releases on
Ace RecordsAce Records was a record label that was started in August 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi by Johnny Vincent, with Teem Records as its budget subsidiary. Its records were distributed from 1962 by Vee-Jay Records. Ace Records stopped when Vee-Jay went broke...
but his time had passed. Radio airplay was becoming focused on the
teenageAdolescence Adolescence Adolescence (lat adolescere, (to grow) is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological (i.e. pubertal), social, and psychological changes, though the biological or...
market.
Milburn contributed a fine offering to the R&B
YuleYule or Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic peoples as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January...
tide
canonIn music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration . The initial melody is called the leader , while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower...
in 1960 with his swinging "
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
(Comes but Once a Year)" for
KingKing Records is an American record label, started in 1943 by Syd Nathan and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.At first it specialized in country music, at the time still known as "hillbilly music." King advertised, "If it's a King, It's a Hillbilly -- If it's a Hillbilly, it's a King." One of the...
.
Berry GordyBerry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
gave him a comeback forum in 1962, issuing an album on
MotownMotown Records was a group of record labels originally based in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. on January 12, 1959 as Tamla Records, the company was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of the words motor and town, is also a...
predominated by remakes of his old hits that doesn't deserve its extreme rarity today (even
Little Stevie WonderStevie Wonder is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. Blind from birth, Wonder signed with Motown Records at the age of eleven, and continues to perform and record for the label. He has recorded more than thirty U.S...
pitched in on
harmonicaThe harmonica is a free reed wind instrument which is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes. The pressure caused by blowing or drawing air into the reed chambers causes a reed or multiple reeds to vibrate up and down creating sound...
for the sessions).
Nothing could jump start the pianist's fading career by then, though.
Milburn's final
recordingSound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
was on an
albumAn album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. The most common way is through commercial distribution, although smaller artists will often distribute directly to the public by selling their albums at live concerts or on their websites.-...
by
Johnny OtisJohnny Otis is an American blues and rhythm and blues pianist, vibraphonist, drummer, singer, bandleader, and impresario. Otis was one of the most prominent white figures in the history of Rhythm and Blues.-Personal life:Otis was born in Vallejo, California...
. This was in 1972 after he had been incapacitated by a
strokeA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage...
, so much so that Otis had to play the left-hand piano parts for his enfeebled old friend. His second stroke led to the
amputationAmputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for such problems...
of a leg because of circulatory problems. He died shortly after at the age of 52 from a third stroke.
Legacy
The
TexanTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
boogie woogieBoogie-woogie is a style of piano-based blues that became very popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but originated much earlier, and was extended from piano, to three pianos at once, guitar, big band, and country and western music, and even gospel. Whilst the blues traditionally depicts a...
pianist and singer was an important marker in the map of
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
music in the years following
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His best work encapsulated much of what was good about his Houston,
hipsterHipster may refer to:*Hipster *Hipster *Hipster PDA, a paper-based personal organizer...
's romp style, piano work. Thus, Milburn remains an important figure in the history of
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musicianship.
Milburn's boogleing R&B records rocked as hard as the later
Rock 'n' RollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
. Milburn was one of the first performers to switch from sophisticated jazz
arrangementIn music, an arrangement is either a rewriting of a piece of existing music with additional new material or a fleshing-out of a compositional sketch, such as a lead sheet...
s to a rougher jump blues. He began to put
rhythmRhythm is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events.-Rhythm in linguistics:...
first and technical qualities of
voiceThe human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary sound source...
and instrumentation second.
His high-energy numbers, about getting 'high', led the way for a 10 year party, jointly celebrated by fellow musician admirers, such as
Little Willie LittlefieldLittle Willie Littlefield is an American R&B pianist and singer.-Career:By 1947, at the age of sixteen, Littlefield was already a local attraction on many of Houston's Dowling Street Clubs and was recording for local record shop proprietor Eddie Henry who ran his own label "Eddies".Influenced by...
,
Floyd DixonFor the American football player see Floyd Dixon Floyd Dixon was an American rhythm and blues pianist and singer.-Biography:...
and his prime disciple,
Fats DominoAntoine Dominique "Fats" Domino is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter.-Imperial Records era :...
.
He was a commercial success for eleven years and influenced many
performersA musician is a person who performs or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.* A singer uses his or her voice as an instrument....
. Fats Domino consistently credited Milburn as an influence on his
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. At least one person has noted the similarity between Milburn's piano fills and
Chuck BerryCharles Edward "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.Chuck Berry is one of the pioneers of rock and roll music...
's later
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
stylings. Milburn was a musical pioneer, who made the transition from the
swingSwing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
and jump blues of the 1940s, to the R&B of the late 1940s and early 1950s, that evolved into today's
rock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the 1960s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music....
.
Selected recordings
- "Amos Blues" - 1946
- "Down the Road a Piece
"Down the Road Apiece" is a song written in 1940 by Don Raye as a boogie woogie for the Will Bradley/Ray McKinley big band, which recorded it in August, and gained a top 10 hit in the closing months of the year....
" - 1947
- "Chicken Shack Boogie" - 1948
- "A&M Blues" - 1948
- "Bewildered
"Bewildered" is a popular song written in 1936 by Teddy Powell and Leonard Whitcup. It was a 1938 hit for Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, and was also recorded by Mildred Bailey in the same year. The song was revived in the late forties when two different versions, by the Red Miller Trio and Amos...
" - 1948
- "Hold Me, Baby" - 1949
- "In the Middle of the Night" - 1949
- "Roomin' House Boogie" - 1949
- "Let’s Make Christmas Merry, Baby" - 1949
- "Bad, Bad, Whiskey" - 1950
- "Thinkin' And Drinkin" - 1952 - written by Rudy Toombs
Rudolph "Rudy" Toombs , born in Monroe, Louisiana, was a black songwriter who wrote "Teardrops from My Eyes", Ruth Brown's first number one R&B hit song...
- "Trouble in Mind
The song "Trouble in Mind" is a widely recorded eight-bar blues standard.It was written by Richard M. Jones , composer and jazz pianist...
" - 1952
- "Let Me Go Home, Whiskey" - 1953 - written by Shifty Henry
John Willie "Shifty" Henry was an American musician, most noted as a double bass and bass guitar player, and blues songwriter. He also played flute, violin, viola, saxophone, and oboe and was in demand as a session musician and arranger in Los Angeles, California in the 1940s and 1950s...
- "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer" - 1953 - also written by Rudy Toombs
- Rockin' The Boogie - (LP
A gramophone record, commonly known as phonograph record, vinyl record, or simply record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc...
) - 1955
- Let's Have A Party - (LP) - 1957
- Amos Milburn Sings The Blues - (LP) - 1958
- The Return of Blues Boss - (LP) - 1963 - Motown Records
Motown Records was a group of record labels originally based in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. on January 12, 1959 as Tamla Records, the company was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of the words motor and town, is also a...
Compilations:
- The Best of Amos Milburn: Down the Road Apiece - (CD
A Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store sound recordings exclusively, but later it also allowed the preservation of other types of data. Audio CDs have been commercially available since October 1982...
- 1994 - EMI America RecordsEMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second US label next to Capitol Records. It absorbed Liberty Records in 1984. In the late 1980s EMI America was consolidated with Manhattan Records to form EMI Manhattan Records, which later became known simply as EMI in 1990, then part of EMI...
- The Complete Aladdin Recordings of Amos Milburn - (CD box set) - 1994 - Mosaic Records
Mosaic Records is an American specialist jazz record label, founded in 1983 by Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie to issue coherent limited edition box sets of jazz recordings by individual musicians, which had fallen out-of-print...
- Blues, Barrelhouse & Boogie Woogie - (CD box set) - 1996 - Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States-based record label owned by EMI and located in Los Angeles and New York City as part of Capitol Music Group...
- The Best of Amos Mulburn - (CD) - 2001 - EMI-Capitol Special Markets
EMI-Capitol Special Markets is an EMI subsidiary. It bought 3C Records in the early nineties.
It now operates as EMI Music Marketing in North America....
Recommended compilation
- Blues, Barrelhouse And Boogie Woogie 1946-1955 - Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States-based record label owned by EMI and located in Los Angeles and New York City as part of Capitol Music Group...
See also
External links