Wynonie Harris "Mr. Blues"

I was recently reading Jack Kerouac's "On the "On_the_road (again). My intentions were to read the Kerouac-penned book "Big Sur" which I had never read. This was because of the recent Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard record with songs inspired by "Big Sur". My library didn't have "Big Sur" (criminal, I know) but they had "On the Road" so I decided to read it again. Within the pages of "On the Road" were mentions of hip jazz clubs, blues clubs, artists of that ilk, and of course the travels of Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise. A couple of artists I took note of on that giant roll of "On the Road" were Lionel_Hampton and Wynonie_Harris. I jotted their names down on a small piece of paper and stuffed it in my wallet (along with receipts and coffee stamp cards, and maybe a buck or two) until I was at a record store (the online variety or the brick and mortar type).

I eventually found a record of both of them about a month ago. While the Hampton record I procured is good, I'm not the biggest jazz fan in the world. I have a few of the classic records just to say I have them. Perhaps in time, my pallet for jazz will be enhanced. What did trip my trigger was the rhythm and blues of Wynonie Harris. This music is alive! The Omaha born singer never did get quite the fame he may have deserved but if you want a good taste of post WWII R&B, look no further than Harris. In an age when people didn't write their own songs, Harris wrote many of his own songs. Just file him under: "If the world of music was truly just, ___________ would be a huge star." One could also say that he didn't quite get the fame because they hadn't found the right handsome white guy to sing his songs. How in the blazes had I never heard of Harris before? Perhaps I had and I just never filed his name away. Then there was this guy named Elvis who covered a song Harris had sung, "Good Rockin' Tonight". You'd think I would have backtracked from there, alas, no. Then the mid-80's rock super group, The Honeydrippers sang a song Harris had also made his own, "I Get Thrill".

Another little musical 6 degrees of separation I found just recently that goes along with my discovery of Harris is that Harris' music was the part of the namesake of Bloodshot Records. Part of the inspiration of the Bloodshot name was the Harris song, Bloodshot Eyes (along with the X song "Nausea"). Here is a recent interview with Rob and Nan from Bloodshot regarding the recent state of Bloodshot and a mention of the namesake: .xpn.org

Wynonie Harris lived the rock n roll life of his day with his elaborate living of big spending, woman, and song. According to the liner notes written by Preston Love of a record I did pick up, "Wynonie Harris: Oh Babe!" on Route 66 records (a 1982 re-issue), Harris died broke in 1969 of Esophagus cancer. By 1963 he was reduced to being a bookie in Brooklyn. I'm just "hear" to just tell a little more of my exuberant music find but if you want more history look to some of the links I highlighted. However, if you want to listen to some R&B that is truly jumpin' and a great precursor to rock n roll, look to Wynonie Harris.

Buy some Wynonie Harris records: Wynonie Harris