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Special Guests
Saturday, June 16, 2001
ALVIN YOUNGBLOOD HART was born in Oakland, California, and was introduced to the blues on summer trips to his grandparents’ home in the hills of northern Mississippi. He taught himself to play the guitar and began playing in earnest at age 14. After his parents settled in Schaumburg, Illinois, he began frequenting Maxwell Street in nearby Chicago, where he
became known to the regular musicians as “Youngblood.” Some time later, Hart signed up with the Coast Guard and was stationed on a river boat in Natchez, Mississippi. There he furthered his blues education by playing in local bars on his off-duty hours. After serving seven years in the Coast Guard, he befriended Joe Louis Walker, who invited Hart to open some of his shows. A year later in 1991, he made his first appearance at the San Francisco Blues Festival. In February 1995, he opened for Taj Mahal at Yoshi’s in Oakland. Through contacts he made at the gig, he soon had a record deal, and within a year, he released his first record, Big Mama’s Door (Sony). Hart has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe, and appeared on the Furthur Festival and House of Blues Presents national tours. He played electric guitar with the Allman Brothers Band, and supported musicians such as Neil Young, Los Lobos, Richard Thompson, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, and Gatemouth Brown. Hart’s most recent CD is Start With the Soul (Hannibal Records).
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Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love, the Memphis Horns
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THE MEMPHIS HORNS, Andrew Love on tenor sax and Wayne Jackson on trumpet, both grew up in Memphis. Jackson got his start in West Memphis playing guitar and singing “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” in childhood talent shows, while Love began his career playing “Amazing Grace” in Memphis’ Mt. Nebo Baptist Church, where his father was pastor. "Following the dots" in school music class, both learned to play music at night, sitting in with bands at Mid-South nightspots in the ’50s. By the early ’60s, Jackson was playing with a group called the Royal Spades (later called the Mar-Keys), that recorded for Stax Records. Meanwhile, Love was doing sessions at Hi Records. At Al Jackson’s (drummer for Booker T. & the MGs) suggestion, Love brought his sax to Stax, where he met Jackson and found a partner for life. The two appeared on virtually every great Stax single, backing Otis Redding, Carla & Rufus Thomas, Sam & Dave, and a host of others. In 1969, they incorporated as The Memphis Horns, offering their services to anyone whose music needed a shot of Memphis soul. The list of artists with whom they’ve worked is long and impressive: Stephen Stills, Rod Stewart, The Doobie Brothers, Sting, Joe Cocker, Lenny Kravitz, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, B.B. King, Peter Gabriel, U2, Al Green, Willie Nelson, and many others. For more information, see: www.memphishorns.com
TRACY NELSON grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, listening to WLAC from Nashville, one of the only black music radio stations that reached Middle America. In 1965, while attending the University of Wisconsin, she was discovered by producer Sam Charters and signed to do a folk record for the Prestige label. Soon after its release, Nelson moved to San Francisco, where she formed the group Mother Earth. In 1968, Mother Earth released its first record, which contained Nelson’s signature song “Down So Low.” In 1969, she moved to Nashville, where she bought a small farm. After making six Mother Earth albums for Mercury and Reprise, Nelson continued to record as a solo artist on various labels throughout the ’70s. After playing mostly live concerts in the ’80s, Nelson cut a straight blues album In the Here and Now (Rounder Records) in 1993. She followed it with two more blues records, before choosing to follow her muse back to the eclectic music she played with Mother Earth. Nelson’s latest CD, Ebony & Irony (Relentless/Nashville-Eclectic Records), is made up of songs that reflect her varied musical taste, regardless of category. Joining Nelson tonight are: Brian Fullen (drums), Sam Stafford (guitar), Toni Sehulster (bass), Dwight Scott (keyboards), Alice Newman (vocals), and Reba Russell (vocals).
For more information, see our Guest Interview with Tracy or www.tracynelson.com
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