P
Ester
Phillips
b: 1935, Galveston,
TX
d: 1984, Houston, TX
Phillips' was one of the great female blues shouters; along
with her God given voice, she possessed the talent and soul to rival Dinah
Washington as a blues singer of power and grace. She moved easily between
musical genres, but her basic grounding in the music of the church and its
opposite, the blues, is always identifiable.
Born
Ester May Jones in Galveston, Texas, Phillips moved with her family to Los
Angeles after WWII, winning a Watts talent contest organized by Johnny Otis when
she was just 13 years old. This led to appearances with the Otis band and, in
1949, to her first records, cut under the name "Little Ester". In the next year
with Otis, she had no less than seven top-ten R&B hits, including
"Mistrustin' Blues" and "Double Crossing Blues." Still only in her mid-teens,
Ester began to crumble from the pressure, leaving Otis and her record company
and picking up a herion habit. By the middle of the decade, she was back in
Texas - this time in Houston - trying to straighten herself out. She managed a
comeback in 1962, on the strength of a Nashville-recorded country song, "Release
Me", which reached the top spot. Atlantic then recorded her in a jazz-blues
context in 1966, with Onzy Mathews making big-band arrangements of songs like,
"In The Evening", and "C.C. Rider" in which Phillips' showed an undiminished
capacity for swinging blues shouting. But more drug problems damaged her
capacity to sustain her career as the 1960's came to a close. In 1970 however,
she was recorded live in LA with a small group; while her repertoire was mostly
standards, her approach was still drenched in the blues as sung by Dinah
Washington. A Gil Scott-Heron song, "Home is Where the Hatred is", gave her one
last hit in 1972. Although she continued to perform and record - often outside
the blues and R&B genres - she never regained her previous popularity. Ester
Phillips died in 1984.
Sammy
Price
b: Oct. 6, 1908 Honey
Grove, TX
d: Apr. 14, 1992 New York, NY
Sammy Price had a long and productive career as
a flexible blues and boogie-woogie based pianist. He studied piano in
Dallas and was a singer and dancer with Alphonso Trent's band during
1927-30. In 1929 he recorded one solitary side under the title of "Sammy
Price and His Four Quarters". After a few years in Kansas City he spent
time in Chicago and Detroit. In 1938 Price became the house pianist for
Decca in New York and appeared on many blues sides with such singer as Trixie
Smith and Sister Rosetta Tharp. He led his own band on records in the
early 40's which included (on one memorable session) Lester Young. Price
worked steadily on 52nd Street, in 1948 played at the Nice Festival with Mezz
Mezzrow, spent time back in Texas and then a decade with Red Allen. He was
also heard on many rock and roll type sessions in the 1950's. In later
years he recorded with Doc Cheatham and Sammy Price was active until near his
death, 63 years after his recording debut.
Walter "The
Thunderbird" Price
b:
August 2, 1914 Gonzales, TX
Big Walter was born August 2, 1914
just east of San Antonio in Gonzales, Texas. He lived with his aunt and at the
age of 17, he met his dad for the first time and moved to Fort Worth to live
with him. Two years later, his aunt was involved in an auto accident and Big
Walter returned to take care of her. During his early years, he never had any
thought to becoming a musician.
Before
starting his musical career, Big Walter had a variaty of jobs with the Katy and
Texas-Pacific railroad, working as a cook and cleaning railcars. It was during
this time that a co-worker told him that he had a great voice and that he should
start singing the blues. This was in the late 40's. Big Walter did not know how
to play an instrument but would go to people's houses and play on the piano.
Joel Simmons taught him how to listen to records and get his time and meter
right. Big Walter (piano) Joel Simmons (guitar) and Loose Wig (drums) started
playing in a club in Fort Worth called the Stop
Six.
Walter used to like to go to
night clubs and listen to other bands, and on one occasion, asked the group if
he could sit in with them. The band thought he really knew how to play and sing.
The truth was, he could only play in one key and when the band wanted to move
on, Walter couldn't play it.
His
first recording was Calling Margie on TNT (TNT8005). He later recorded
Shirley Jean and Gamblin Woman with Peacock (Peacock 1661) and
then Pack Fair and Square
(1666).
Walter says he got the
idea for his name when he found out that Henry Ford was coming out with the
Thunderbird and said, "I sure would like to use that on my song". His slogan
used behind it was " The Thunderbird, The bird that flies so swift from coast to
coast, no matter where you may go, no matter where you may be, you can always
find Big Walter. If you are in Kingston, Norway, France, Australia, Belgium, or
any where else, you can always find, "Big Walter, The
Thunderbird".
Big Walter now lives in
the Houston area and does rare appearances.