On May 28th, in 1910, seminal bluesman, singer, guitarist, songwriter, banjo player, sideman, composer, bandleader, violinist, arranger, pianist, jump blues innovator, mandolin player, bandleader, Chicago blues pioneer, sideman, rock ‘n’ roll mogul, ukulele player, multi-label recording artist and Texas blues trailblazer-T-Bone Walker (Aaron Thibeaux Walker) was born in Linden, TX. He’s considered one of the ‘100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time’ by Rolling Stones magazine (#37). He’s credited with inventing playing the guitar behind your back and with your teeth. If you’ve been following the TOV posts, you’ve noticed that T-Bone Walker’s name has come up in a lot of posts for other rock and blues artists, usually as a bandleader and/or in an influential capacity.
He was taught several instruments by his step-father-Marco Washington. In his pre-teen years, he was mentored by bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson, acting as his sideman and seeing guide. He started playing professionally in the Dallas area during his teens. He made his recording debut in 1929-Wichita Falls Blues b/w Trinity River Blues (under the name-Oak Cliff T-Bone, Columbia Records). In the 30s, he moved to L.A. and changed his performance name to T-Bone which comes from his middle name Thibeaux. He started gigging in Chicago in the 40s and recorded for Rhumboogie Records. In the late 40s, he recorded the brunt of his work on the Black & White Records imprint. In the 50s he signed with Imperial Records. By the early 60s, his career had started to taper off. He performed and recorded up to his death in 1975. The Blues & Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame artist was 64 when he passed.
| | |
On May 28th, in 1944, formative vocalist, songwriter, actress, author, businesswoman, multi-label recording artist, pianist and lead singer of Gladys Knight & the Pips-Gladys (Maria) Knight AKA ‘The Empress of Soul’ was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Gladys has been performing professionally since the early 1950s. She’s most known for her gospel, soul and pop tunes, along with her acting, writing and business career. She has several songs that have been sampled by hip hop producers like: Try to Remember, The Makings of You, And This Is Love, On and On, Who is She, Mr.Welfare, I’ve Got to Use My Imagination and Make Yours a Happy Home. She also has several pop/soul hits like:
Midnight Train to Georgia, Heard it Through the Grapevine, Save the Overtime for Me, If I Were Your Woman, Love Overboard, I’ve Got to Use My Imagination and That’s What Friends Are For with Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Dionne Warwick. In the 60s and 70s, she released several hits with her backing group-The Pips (with cousins William Guest & Edward Patten and brother Bubba Knight-Gladys Knight & the Pips). She went solo 1987 and released her debut LP-All Our Love (MCA, 1988). In the 90s, she continued to perform and record as a solo artist. She also opened successful eateries in Atlanta and appeared in films and TV shows like: New York Undercover, Living Single, Twenty Bucks and the Jamie Foxx Show. Gladys is a member of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame (1996) and the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2007). She’s won Grammy awards as a solo artist and member of the Pips. She’s 74 today.
| | |
On May 28th, in 1949, punk rock innovator, singer, former adult film actress, heavy metal pioneer, saxophonist, songwriter, clarinetist and former lead singer of the Plasmatics-Wendy O. Williams (Wendy Orlean Williams) AKA ‘The Queen of Shock Rock’ was born in Webster, New York. She’s most known for being one of the few female lead singers in the NYC punk scene during the late 70s. She played clarinet and saxophone as a child, and continued into her high school years. Her teen years were full of travel and delinquency. For example, she was arrested when she was 15 (indecent exposure), she dropped out of high school before she completed her junior year, she hitchhiked to Colorado, then Florida-where she was a lifeguard. She went to Europe-where she was a dancer and cook.
While overseas, she was detained often for stealing and using counterfeit money. In 1976, she returned to the states-NYC specifically. She worked live sex shows at Captain Kink’s Theatre (created by Rod Swenson). This led to her becoming a member of the Plasmatics in 1977 (the band Swenson managed). They made their stage debut in July of 1978 at the infamous punk club CBGBs. She appeared in the 1979 adult film Candy Goes to Hollywood. She continued to perform with the band that embarked on a world tour during the early 80s. In 1981, she had several run-ins with the law due to her stage outfits, or lack thereof. She went solo in the mid 80s, before reuniting with the Plasmatics in 1987. She released another solo recording in 1988-Deffest! and Baddest! The 90s were a problematic time for Wendy. She took her own life in 1998. She was 48 when she passed.
| | |
HONORABLE MENTION: On May 28th, in 1910, we lost a seminal jazz musician, pianist, composer, side-person, arranger, multi-label recording artist, bandleader, bebop innovator, third stream artist (merge of jazz and classical music) and swing jazz pioneer-Mary Elfieda Scruggs. TOV covered the artist’s birthday on the May 8th post. Please refer to it for more information. Scruggs was one of the few female musicians in jazz that helped create the bebop sound. She was a musical mentor and great friends with the core of musicians that are credited with making bebop a sub-genre of jazz: Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Tadd Dameron and Thelonious Monk. She also has a lengthy discography containing LPs on over 15 different record labels. She was 71 when she passed.
On May 28th, in 1917, multi-genre musician, violinist, composer, arranger and 60s rock collaborator-Papa John Creach (John Henry Creach) was born in Beaver Falls, PA. Creach was a classically trained violinist that had his professional start in Chicago nightclubs during the mid 30s. He said that the diversity of the city and gigs coerced him to learn to play everything. He learned blues, jazz, rock, pop, classical and soul. He often played with Jefferson Airplane/Starship, the Grateful Dead, Hot Tuna, The Dinosaurs, the Charlie Daniels Band (also at the annual Volunteer Jams with Daniels in Nashville, TN) and had several solo recordings of his own. He was 76 when he passed.
On May 28th, in 1934, social activist, educator, nurse, former member of the Nation of Islam, mother, nurse and the only spouse of slain civil rights activist-Malcolm X-Betty Shabazz (Betty Dean Sanders) was born. She grew up in the Detroit, MI area and attended college at Tuskegee Institute in AL. She moved to NYC before she graduated and became a nurse. In 1956, she met Malcolm X and joined the Nation of Islam. They married in 1958 and had 6 children. In 1995, her second eldest daughter Qubilah was arrested for the attempted assassination of Louis Farrakhan. Her son-Betty’s grandson Malcolm Shabazz was taken in by Betty. In 1997, she passed from her injuries sustained in a fire. She was 63.
On May 28th, in 1943, we lost a pioneering vocal crooner, radio personality, broadcast executive and jazz singer-Vaughn De Leath (Leonore Vonderlieth). She was dubbed: ‘The First Lady of Radio’ and ‘The Original Radio Girl’. She helped develop the ‘crooning’ style of singing and is most known for her hit song: Are You Lonesome Tonight?. It was covered by Elvis Presley in the 60s and became a hit bringing her singing and songwriting skills to the forefront of rock ‘n’ roll. She’s an Illinois native that moved to L.A. during her pre-teen years. She studied music and became one of the first women to manage a radio station (WDT-NYC, NY). She was 48 when she passed.
For more information on any musician or event reviewed in posts, or for additional information on The Wandering Eyes Blog overall, use the search bar and search the artist or event using keywords. It’s like a Google search for the site. A wide variety of information, covering several topics exists on this site going back to 2013 when it was created. PEACE