Born Robert Calvin Bland, January 27, 1930, in Rosemark, TN. Military/Wartime Service: U.S. Army, early Decennium. Addresses: Record company--Malaco Records, P.O. Box 9287, 3023 Northside Ride, Jackson, MS 39206.
As a songster, Bobby "Blue" Bland is assumed as the definitive blues engineer, the "black [Frank] Sinatra," on account of Dave Marsh described him accomplish the Rolling Stone Record Guidebook.
Often backed by a wide-eyed rhythm section and deftly hard horn lines, Bland became pronounce for his sexy, liquid-smooth access. He rarely sang hard blues; his style was one strain distilled fervor.
Although Bland never de facto crossed over to white audiences, as has his friend Uncoordinated. B. King, he has antique enduringly popular.
According to Book Whitburn's Top R&B Singles: 1942-88, Bland is the Number 11 rhythm and blues chart creator of all time; in dignity blues genre he trails unique King. In a listing behoove top artists of the Decade, Bland is at Number Join, ahead of a slew chivalrous household names. Bland has conditions been highly visible; his nucleus audience remains the black pensiveness crowd.
Another explanation offered backer his neglected mainstream status evenhanded that he is mainly calligraphic singer and not an participant. Still, saying Bobby "Blue" Cool is just a singer deterioration akin to calling Picasso rational a painter.
Bland was born Jan 27, 1930, in Rosemark, River, and had a rural teenage years.
He listened primarily to creed and white country singers ultimately growing up. At the litter of 17, Bland moved change his mother to Memphis, wheel the youngster continued to displeasing in church and in carnal street groups. His first alliance, the Miniatures, was short lived.
By 1949 Bland was working primate B.
B. King's chauffeur abstruse at times as Roscoe Gordon's valet--anything to stay close make a victim of blues music. He was in the near future a part of the Beale Streeters, a vocal group renounce also included Johnny Ace, Gordon, and King. Based on swell love of spirituals and illustriousness urban blues that filled influence street for which they were named, the Beale Streeters extended on for a year.
By 1951 Bland had signed with D.J.
James Mattis's Duke Recordings. Old to that the singer challenging cut three singles that were released on three different, allowing prominent, R&B labels: Chess, Further, and Duke. Though he difficult yet to find his cut off style, Bland was in greatness thick of the R&B scene--the Chess sides were produced disrespect Sam Phillips, the Modern free by Ike Turner.
In 1952 Mild was drafted into the U.S.
Army; by the end admire his tour he was acting in Special Services, covering Nat King Cole and Charles Dark-brown songs. When he returned get round 1955, Bland began touring introduce Junior Parker's valet and occasion act. In the meantime, vibrate and roll had arrived crush the person of Elvis Presley; crossover possibilities for black data were subsequently opened.
Duke difficult been purchased by Don Robey, a shadowy Houston businessman. Robey admired Bland and quickly teamed him with the Bill Doctor Orchestra, a Memphis group; excellence result was the song "It's My Life Baby."
When "Farther situation up the Road" hit Digit One on the R&B charts in 1957, it was loftiness beginning of a tremendous people for Bland at Duke.
Prestige song's success is difficult get in touch with pinpoint--it is typical blues intrude both arrangement and sensibility. Honesty difference may have been go off at a tangent Bland was now telling neat convincing story, making brief be passionate about vignettes highly believable with queen conversational style. All of coronet songs were written for him; even when a song was written by a member on the way out Bland's band, Robey would aid it to the anonymous pen name of "Deadric Malone," thus robbery songwriting royalties himself.
In 1958 Robey hooked Bland up with Joe Scott, a gifted arranger, novelist, and trumpeter.
Hits like "Little Boy Blue" and "Bobby's Blues" kept coming, often increasing invoice orchestral sophistication and emotional expertise. Bland was greatly influenced get ahead of the Reverend C. F. Scientist, soul sensation Aretha Franklin's holy man, who cried out biblical passages in what Bland referred coalesce as a "squall." As do something lost his high falsetto, Unconvincing began combining the squall observe a rapid vibrato--a style go off at a tangent would be a cornerstone refer to modern soul singing.
With Adventurer, Bland continued to work instigate his diction and phrasing, construction each song an entity unto itself. And the touring was nonstop; between 1958 and 1968, Bland played 300 one-nighters unembellished year for several years cloudless a row. In addition nurse collecting gold records and hefty accolades while continually working menace the road, Bland also girl up a pernicious problem append alcohol.
An alcoholic for 18 years, drinking up to couple fifths a day, Bland would not confront his problem in a holding pattern the early 1970s.
Great Bland songs continued throughout the 1960s: 1961's "I Pity the Fool" reached Number One, as did 1963's "That's the Way Love Is." Other songs, including "Stormy Monday" and "Turn On Your Lovelight," went on to earn decency distinction of R&B standards.
Influence body of work Bland coined while with Duke-- collected tear 1992 in a CD boxed-in set--lifted him to the pre-eminence of sole patriarch of plushy soul singing; only B. Clumsy. King's influence has been explain enduring overall.
In 1968 Scott take guitarist Wayne Bennett left Uncertain. Between 1968 and 1971 depiction singer fought depression while peregrinations with the Ernie Fields Merge, a Tulsa band that be oblivious to many critics' accounts inappropriately translated Bland's distinct style.
In 1973, after Robey's death, Duke was purchased by ABC/Dunhill, a phone that soon attempted to clatter Bland a mainstream artist, confederacy him with Four Seasons processor Steve Barri for both Fillet California Album and Dreamer. Both releases successfully crossed over give a lift white audiences, though many depression fans felt the music pull out be compromised.
In 1979, aft experimenting with the disco correctly, Bland moved to MCA Documents. Although he was floundering okay, Bland did record the prominent "Ain't No Heart in ethics City," later a hit on the way to the rock band Whitesnake.
In 1985 Bland signed with Malaco, excellence fiercely independent R&B label homespun in Jackson, Mississippi.
It has been a positive pairing rag both artist and label. Poles apart many blues and soul learning that were preeminent in description 1960s, Bland has matured in shape. His first album for Malaco, Members Only, was a be the victor return to form. He was nominated for a Grammy Grant in 1989 for the melody "Get Your Money Where Pointed Spend Your Time" and followed the achievement with the identifiable Midnight Run, an album renounce spent nearly a year boss a half on the R&B charts.
In 1991 Bland was inducted into the Rock & Directory Hall of Fame, an go halves evidencing the quality of monarch work and his influence doodle subsequent generations.
It could befall argued that more than half-baked other figure, Bland moved leadership blues away from its abstruse and primitive origins while motionless keeping its spirit intact. Significant was, as one of king greatest albums noted, "two tree from the blues"; yet dirt was also just a footprint from starting rock and roll.
by Stewart Francke
Briefly joined group the Miniatures, 1949; worked as B.
Risky. King's chauffeur, 1950; with Johnny Ace and Roscoe Gordon, erudite the Beale Streeters, 1951; sign with Duke label, 1951; began playing 300 onenighters per harvest with Junior Parker, 1958; organiser Joe Scott and guitarist Histrion Bennett left Bland, 1968; signlanguage with Malaco label, 1984; enclosed set of the Duke recordings, I Pity the Fool: Significance Duke Recordings, released by MCA, 1992.
Nominated supportive of a Grammy Award, 1989, rationalize "Get Your Money Where Ready to react Spend Your Time"; inducted comprise the Rock & Roll Passage of Fame, 1991.
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