Black History Month: Let's Talk About Black Guitarists

J.B. Lenoir. If someone came to me and told me that I could only listen to one song for the rest of my life, this version of this song might very well be the one I'd pick. "Mama, Talk to Your Daughter". This first video is J.B. on his own, and the second is him with a little help from Willie Dixon.



Goldtop Lloyd
 
Regarding Ray Parker Jr. -- I saw his name amongst the list on the Funk Brothers, recognized it, but did not know where from.
 
Gotta toss this one out. Besides being a cool musician, he's got a cool last name.........:cool:

Carl LeBlanc (lifted from wiki)
Carl LeBlanc (born May 26, 1955) is an American guitarist and banjo player. LeBlanc is most striking for his work in both avant garde jazz and traditional jazz—being the only musician to work with famed afrofuturist keyboardist/bandleader Sun Ra and Preservation Hall .Blending the varying styles of traditional jazz, avant garde jazz, bebop, and New Orleans tradition, namely Mardi Gras Indian and Second line style, LeBlanc has recorded seven solo albums during his career.[1] He has also served as banjo player at Preservation Hall, following in the footsteps of his predecessor Narvin Kimball, and directed the Preservation Hall Junior Jazz and Heritage Band. LeBlanc received a scholarship to Columbia University where he studied Music Education. He would later graduate from Southern University of New Orleans, studying under the tutelage of Kidd Jordan, and move to Philadelphia to play with renowned jazz musician Sun Ra. [4] During his career, LeBlanc has also performed with Fats Domino, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, the Dirty Dozen, Allen Toussaint, Bo Diddley, Ellis Marsalis Jr., James Rivers, Blind Boys of Alabama, and Irvin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. LeBlanc continues preserving the legacy of New Orleans music tradition through education and performing.[5][6] He is currently on tour with Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra


 
RonnieD said:
What about Kirk Fletcher? Anybody have him on their radar? For the last few years he's been one of my fave guitarists!
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I'm unfamiliar with him, post a link or video?



Alright, here's a guy I'm crazy about:

Claydes Charles Smith from Kool & The Gang.

I had always liked R&B, Disco, and Funk music but, there was a particularly "dark" period of my life that didn't turn around until I was reminded of the true healing power of music. It sounds cheesy to say it... but I really attribute Kool & The Gang for saving my life.

I was beyond bummed, everything was going wrong, my bands latest record got shelved by our label, I was broke, I had no love in my life, and the loss of my greatest friend and musical brother from a freak accident was the last straw in a long line of friends that had died. I probably should've gone to a doctor or something (definitely should've) but something else happened instead, I heard "Get Down On It" while watching some crappy movie.

It was like I took a mega-dose of some antidepressant! I rewound the VHS tape a million times that night, soaking in what seemed like all the positivity in the universe. The simple message of a song that had only two chords challenged my cynicism and depression and woke me the f@ck up!

I got up the next day and drove to every record store until I finally drove 30 miles to Reckless and found a "best of" album. That ride home, stuck in traffic, was the beginning of my new life. A life where love, positivity, joy, compassion, and strength were all possible as long as I wanted to "get down" and got "my back up off of that wall".

If you're ever feeling troubled.. try listening to it a few times. Music is the most powerful drug I have ever known.



Charles was the sh!t. He was equally as adept at playing jazz as he was at crafting perfect pop songs. His jazzy playing on "Summer Madness" and other tunes has been sampled by a million DJ's and hiphop groups, the freaking harmony guitar parts on "Joanna", the full out "rock" of "Tonight" and his wailing intro to "Emergency" proves what a varied player he could be.

His band spanned three practically different careers, from big band funk, disco, and then finally to pop gods. Although he died in 2006, Charles' presence is still felt at every wedding, graduation, and birthday party in America. It's actually impossible to avoid "Celebration" being played at any or all of those events, even if you try to duck outside for a smoke or a slash.

Having to press buttons to dance to Hollywood Swinging in GTA San Andreas, Jungle Boogie (that moment in Pulp Fiction.. c'mon you knew Jules and Vince were badass when you heard that joint start), helping to get Will Smith off the radio and into movies with Summertime, assuring even ugly white chicks drink for free on Thursday's with Ladies Night appearing in Saturday Night Fever... Charles changed the world and nobody has ever heard of him! Hell, I had to Google his name.

Heres an hour of summer for your cold-ass winter.

So much to choose from...
 
Ray Parker Jr. and Wyzard (Mother's Finest) stopped by the PRS booth at NAMM last month. Here they are jamming with our very own Bryan Ewald.
Ray Wyzard.jpg
 
Ok, I'm sticking with the "cool name" motif for today's artist. I present, one Shuggie Otis. The man played with Al Koooper on his Sessions series in '69. Played on Peaches with Frank, and turned down an offer to join the Stones in '74. He's been sampled by Outkast, Beyonce and others in recent years.

 
bodia said:
Ok, I'm sticking with the "cool name" motif for today's artist. I present, one Shuggie Otis. The man played with Al Koooper on his Sessions series in '69. Played on Peaches with Frank, and turned down an offer to join the Stones in '74. He's been sampled by Outkast, Beyonce and others in recent years.

Click to expand...

He also wrote and recorded "Strawberry Letter 23", which was a big hit for the Brothers Johnson. Their version was a slightly quicker but faithful cover. I think Shuggie's grooves a little better.
 
Shawn@PRS said:
Ray Parker Jr. and Wyzard (Mother's Finest) stopped by the PRS booth at NAMM last month. Here they are jamming with our very own Bryan Ewald.View attachment 3742
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Bangin'! I hope you guys threw all the guitars at him.

alantig said:
He also wrote and recorded "Strawberry Letter 23", which was a big hit for the Brothers Johnson. Their version was a slightly quicker but faithful cover. I think Shuggie's grooves a little better.
Click to expand...

Really? I love that song and Brothers Johnson, I gotta go dig that up.
 
Blind Willie Johnson. One of few musicians whose music is out of this world. Literally! His song "Dark Is The Night" was included on the gold record that was sent into space on the Voyager space craft back in '77. Voyager 1 became the first space craft to enter interstellar space back in August of 2012. I'll add "that we know of" since we can't knowingly account for any UFO's.

Blind Willie was born in Texas in 1897. He wasn't born blind. At age 7 his step-mother threw lye in his face, blinding him, in order to spite his father. His father had beat his step-mother for allegedly cheating on him. That's a tough life for a young boy. He spent his short adult life preaching and singing on city streets around Texas until his death of malaria related fever in 1945.

 
veinbuster said:
Thanks for the reminder. I totally forgot about him.
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You're welcome. That's one of the things I really like about this thread. A lot of artists mentioned I have listened to for years. Some, very recently, and some not in quite some time. It's made me go back and look at my library and pull out things I haven't listened to in ages. It's also opened my horizon to artists I have never heard of, or may have dismissed because I wasn't really into a particular genre of music (jazz, for example). Now that I'm well past my snobby "metal rules" youth, I've new found respect and admiration for artists that, stylistically, I would have never looked twice at. The other cool thing about this thread; I've actually learned more about those acts I've listened to for a number of years. Going back and looking at their stories has given me renewed interest, and respect.
 
24-7 Spyz Jimi Hazel

With a birth name like Wayne... I'd change my name to Jimi too.;)

While not as influential as Bad Brains or Fishbone, and not quite as "Glamor" as the boys in Living Color, 24-7 Spyz were still way ahead of the times. In fact, listening to them now I kinda have a larger appreciation for them. Jimi had a rad style and a less "frantic" style of lead playing than Dr. Know and (that was umm.. borrowed by?) Vernon Reid, but still had that similar moshy Bad Brains staccato rhythm that would later influence a whole generation of bands.

Dude was on point!

 
sergiodeblanc said:
24-7 Spyz Jimi Hazel

With a birth name like Wayne... I'd change my name to Jimi too.;)

While not as influential as Bad Brains or Fishbone, and not quite as "Glamor" as the boys in Living Color, 24-7 Spyz were still way ahead of the times. In fact, listening to them now I kinda have a larger appreciation for them. Jimi had a rad style and a less "frantic" style of lead playing than Dr. Know and (that was umm.. borrowed by?) Vernon Reid, but still had that similar moshy Bad Brains staccato rhythm that would later influence a whole generation of bands.

Dude was on point!

Click to expand...
Totally forgot about these guys. Haven't listened to them since the early 90s. This reminds me of Faith No More (or vice-versa).
 
Curtis "Skip" James

Wowed a record shop owner/talent scout in Jackson, Mississippi in 1931 who placed him with Paramount Records. Skip hopped a train from Mississippi to Grafton, Wisconsin in 1931 to record for Paramount. He recorded 31 songs in a furniture factory in Grafton for Paramount. He had the option of a flat fee, or royalties. He opted for royalties and $40 up front. He headed back to Mississippi and never saw a penny from those sessions. The Great Depression killed record sales and Paramount went belly up. Skip became frustrated with the music business and walked away. He spent the next 30 years as a preacher, and his recordings/musical life were forgotten.

In 1964 blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and of Son House at virtually the same moment was the start of the "blues revival" in the US. In July 1964 James, along with other rediscovered performers, appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Throughout the remainder of the decade, he recorded for the Takoma, Melodeon, and Vanguard labels and played various engagements until his death in Philadelphia from cancer in 1969.

Although James was not initially covered as frequently as other rediscovered musicians, British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad" (a studio version and a live version), providing James with the only windfall of his career. Deep Purple also covered "I'm So Glad," on Shades of Deep Purple. John Martyn covered "Devil Got My Woman", titled as "I'd Rather be the Devil" on his album Solid Air and played it live throughout his career. English blues rock band 22-20s named themselves after "22-20 Blues."

His songs have influenced several generations of musicians, being adapted or covered by Kansas Joe McCoy, Robert Johnson, Alan Wilson, Cream, Deep Purple, Chris Thomas King, Alvin Youngblood Hart, The Derek Trucks Band, Beck, Big Sugar, Eric Clapton, John Martyn, Lucinda Williams and Rory Block. He is hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues. Not only on guitar, but also on piano.


 
Al McKay

Al is another guy who has brought so much joy to my life. I'm one of the most devoted Earth, Wind, & Fire fans around and have spent many hours trying to figure out his licks and riffs. He's just so Bangin'!

Al got his first real gig after showing Ike Turner the correct way to play the Temptations' song "Losing You" and was hired on the spot to join Ike and Tina's band. Afterwards he did time with Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St. Band, Sammy Davis Jr., Issac Hayes, The Slyvers, Herbie Hancock, Celine Dion, and tons more as a session musician and songwriter.

I could fill a whole thread with Al McKay and EWF videos so I'll try and just add a few of his hits. If you're pulled in by his playing check out his work on the amazing Wattstax concert with Issac and look for his instructional video for guitar. If you find/have a copy of his guitar video let me know... been half-heartidly lookin' for that forever.






.. And of course:

 
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