Jimi Hendrix heard this...sold his guitar and became a real estate agent. Chuck Berry, Little Richard and James Brown huddled together into a fetal position. Only Screamin Jay Hawkins stood...stood and was steam rolled.
Hawkins has to be in the mix...he was the only one that was willing to get to his feet at least. Another one that has to be in the melee is Guitar Slim. Prince was born up north but his family goes way back in New Orleans on both sides....Guitar Slim played with a cord a mile long so he could go out into the street and down the block before coming back to the stage.
What I was really after was more than one Prince video. He must have somebody on staff monitoring youtube.
"Esquerita was the stage name of singer, songwriter and pianist Eskew Reeder Jr, originally known as Steven Quincy Reeder Jr. and also known as S.Q. Reeder and SQ Jr. A native of Greenville, South Carolina, he was born on November 20, 1935, and died in Harlem, New York on October 23, 1986, aged 50, of AIDS. He is credited with influencing rock and roll pioneer Little Richard, though the extent and nature of Reeder's influence or vice-versa is uncertain.
Reeder was a self-taught piano player whose roots were in gospel music. His music career started as a teenager, when he dropped out of high school and joined the gospel group "Heavenly Echoes" based in New York City.
Little is known about Reeder's early career as a secular rock and roll piano player. As Esquerita, he often wore heavy makeup, sunglasses, and two wigs, piling his pompadour high on his head."
Here's his finest outing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE7ONOX8ud4
Apropos of nothing, here's a Little Richard gem from the early 1960s when he was going through one of his periodic gospel phases - took me several weeks' pocket money to buy the wonderful "He Got What He Wanted (But He Lost What He Had)" when it came out in the UK - with my help, it climbed all the way to 38 on the UK singles charts in 1962: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ftdZCfRYo0
Both excellent clips...Little Richard doesn't get nearly enough of the attention he deserves...and poor Esquerita has nearly vanished from all discussions.
Good tune.
ReplyDeleteIf by good you mean legendary performance of an epic song by a stone cold genius...then yes, good tune.
DeleteMy eye's twitching and I'm feeling faint again.
Yeah, it's okay.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you were looking for pearl-clutching or outrage with the Screamin' Jay comparison - but you sure got a belly laugh.
ReplyDeleteHawkins has to be in the mix...he was the only one that was willing to get to his feet at least. Another one that has to be in the melee is Guitar Slim.
DeletePrince was born up north but his family goes way back in New Orleans on both sides....Guitar Slim played with a cord a mile long so he could go out into the street and down the block before coming back to the stage.
What I was really after was more than one Prince video. He must have somebody on staff monitoring youtube.
All kinds of wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you were able to catch the Prince clip before it was removed by a plot of Dylanesquians.
DeleteThe prize has to go to Gorgeous George's man in waiting...spraying down the referee with perfume before he pats George down. Ha
Saw this and thought of you.
ReplyDeletehttp://marcoonthebass.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/radio-riddler-release-purple-reggae.html
Excellent.
DeleteGood to hear one of the greatest pop songs ever written...Take Me With You of course...among the covers.
Thank you sir
This guy:
ReplyDelete"Esquerita was the stage name of singer, songwriter and pianist Eskew Reeder Jr, originally known as Steven Quincy Reeder Jr. and also known as S.Q. Reeder and SQ Jr. A native of Greenville, South Carolina, he was born on November 20, 1935, and died in Harlem, New York on October 23, 1986, aged 50, of AIDS. He is credited with influencing rock and roll pioneer Little Richard, though the extent and nature of Reeder's influence or vice-versa is uncertain.
Reeder was a self-taught piano player whose roots were in gospel music. His music career started as a teenager, when he dropped out of high school and joined the gospel group "Heavenly Echoes" based in New York City.
Little is known about Reeder's early career as a secular rock and roll piano player. As Esquerita, he often wore heavy makeup, sunglasses, and two wigs, piling his pompadour high on his head."
Here's his finest outing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE7ONOX8ud4
Apropos of nothing, here's a Little Richard gem from the early 1960s when he was going through one of his periodic gospel phases - took me several weeks' pocket money to buy the wonderful "He Got What He Wanted (But He Lost What He Had)" when it came out in the UK - with my help, it climbed all the way to 38 on the UK singles charts in 1962:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ftdZCfRYo0
Both excellent clips...Little Richard doesn't get nearly enough of the attention he deserves...and poor Esquerita has nearly vanished from all discussions.
Delete