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Christian music news: Little Anthony & the Imperials play Westhampton
Latest christian music: Though their golden anniversary is fast approaching, Little Anthony and the Imperials are having a banner year in 2009 - getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, celebrating a new album, "You'll Never Know," and declaring their independence from the "doo-wop reunions" tours.
Little Anthony himself, Anthony Gourdine, says the group's recent honors, including being part of Paul Simon's Brooklyn Academy of Music run last year, make him feel like it's the days of "Tears on My Pillow" and "Hurts So Bad" all over again.
Have you come down from the Rock Hall induction yet?
My wife and I were just talking about that and she said, "I realize it's over and I don't want it to be over. . . . The induction really validates our career. It's us being judged on our body of work, not by some catchphrase. We haven't been a doo-wop group since we were 16 or 17 years old.
Source
Little Anthony himself, Anthony Gourdine, says the group's recent honors, including being part of Paul Simon's Brooklyn Academy of Music run last year, make him feel like it's the days of "Tears on My Pillow" and "Hurts So Bad" all over again.
Have you come down from the Rock Hall induction yet?
My wife and I were just talking about that and she said, "I realize it's over and I don't want it to be over. . . . The induction really validates our career. It's us being judged on our body of work, not by some catchphrase. We haven't been a doo-wop group since we were 16 or 17 years old.
Source
Monday, August 24, 2009
Christian music news: Little Anthony and the Imperials
Latest christian music: Anthony Gourdine (vocals; born January 8, 1940), Clarence Collins (vocals; born March 17, 1941), Tracy Lord (vocals; born tk), Glouster “Nat” Rogers (vocals; born tk), Sammy Strain (vocals; born December 9, 1941), Ernest Wright, Jr. (vocals; born August 24, 1941)
Little Anthony and the Imperials were one of the finest vocal groups to emerge from the talent-rich New York scene. Moreover, they enjoyed unusual longevity for an act of that type, having hits in both the doo-wop Fifties and the soul-music Sixties. They outlasted their peers by virtue of “Little Anthony” Gourdine’s powerful, beseeching vocals and the consummate professionalism of the Imperials, who mastered a broad range of material and knew how to work a stage.
It all started in Brooklyn, where Gourdine and friends grew up in the throes of the vocal-group craze. His first groups were called the Duponts (after the chemical company) and the Chesters. The latter group got signed to music-biz impresario George Gouldner’s End Records. Wanting a name more regal than the Chesters, the label rechristened them the Imperials. It was Alan Freed, then an influential New York disc jockey and concert promoter, who christened Gourdine “Little Anthony,” for the youthful quality in his voice. Both Freed and fellow deejay/promoter Murray Kaufman (a.k.a. “Murray the K”) liked Little Anthony and the Imperials and helped launch their career with airplay and concert bookings.
“Tears on My Pillow,” their first single as the Imperials, was released on End Records. This classic vocal-group ballad was one of the biggest hits of 1958, reaching #2 on the R&B chart and #4 on the pop chart. Little Anthony and the Imperials were suddenly stars. The story might have ended there, with “Tears On My Pillow” fondly recalled as a vocal-group classic from one of the many one-hit wonders from that era. In fact, some of their followup singles did flop, strong as they were. But the group rebounded with an uptempo number, “Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko Bop,” that capitalized on a dance craze.
Little Anthony and the Imperials enjoyed even greater success in the Sixties with a string of chart singles on the DCP label. Their renaissance followed a two-year hiatus during which Little Anthony pursued acting while the Imperials worked the “borsht belt” circuit of resorts in the Catskills. The time off served to season both parties, and they reunited stronger than ever. Against fierce competition from the British Invasion and Motown, Little Anthony and the Imperials had back-to-back Top Ten hits with “Goin’ Out of My Head” (#6) and “Hurt So Bad” (#10). Both were dramatic pop-soul epics about romantic loss that were keyed by Little Anthony’s fevered, confessional delivery and a strong vocal arrangement. Each song has been heavily covered by other artists, as well. The Letterman returned “Goin’ Out of My Head” to the Top Ten in 1968 and Linda Ronstadt did the same with her revival of “Hurt So Bad” in 1980.
The story didn’t end there. Little Anthony and the Imperials became the first group from the contemporary realm to play New York’s prestigious Copacabana nightclub, predating the Temptations and Supremes into this more “adult” room. The group also continued their hitmaking ways, charting ten more singles between the mid-Sixties and mid-Seventies, including “Take Me Back” and “I Miss You So.” In 1974, they reached #25 on the R&B chart with “I’m Falling in Love With You.” It was their final hit of any consequence. All totaled, Little Anthony and the Imperials placed 21 singles on the pop or R&B charts in three different decades – a formidable record of achievement for this durable vocal group.
In 1969, Ernest Wright left the Imperials and was replaced by Bobby Wade. In the early Seventies, Sammy Strain left to join the O’Jays and was replaced by Harold “Hal” Jenkins, who served both as vocalist and musical director. Little Anthony himself exited in 1975 for a solo career. The remaining trio of Collins, Wade and Jenkins kept the Imperials going through 1979, getting steady work in the Las Vegas lounges and on cruise ships.
Little Anthony and the Imperials reunited in 1992 to make a well-received appearance on an oldies bill at Madison Square Garden. Shortly thereafter, they performed on the 40th anniversary special for American Bandstand. Deciding to make the reunion permanent, Little Anthony and the Imperials have remained active on the touring circuit. The current lineup includes Gourdine, Collins, Wright and Harold Jenkins.
They received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and have been inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In 2008, Little Anthony and the Imperials released You’ll Never Know, an album of new songs and rerecorded oldies to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a group.
Source
Little Anthony and the Imperials were one of the finest vocal groups to emerge from the talent-rich New York scene. Moreover, they enjoyed unusual longevity for an act of that type, having hits in both the doo-wop Fifties and the soul-music Sixties. They outlasted their peers by virtue of “Little Anthony” Gourdine’s powerful, beseeching vocals and the consummate professionalism of the Imperials, who mastered a broad range of material and knew how to work a stage.
It all started in Brooklyn, where Gourdine and friends grew up in the throes of the vocal-group craze. His first groups were called the Duponts (after the chemical company) and the Chesters. The latter group got signed to music-biz impresario George Gouldner’s End Records. Wanting a name more regal than the Chesters, the label rechristened them the Imperials. It was Alan Freed, then an influential New York disc jockey and concert promoter, who christened Gourdine “Little Anthony,” for the youthful quality in his voice. Both Freed and fellow deejay/promoter Murray Kaufman (a.k.a. “Murray the K”) liked Little Anthony and the Imperials and helped launch their career with airplay and concert bookings.
“Tears on My Pillow,” their first single as the Imperials, was released on End Records. This classic vocal-group ballad was one of the biggest hits of 1958, reaching #2 on the R&B chart and #4 on the pop chart. Little Anthony and the Imperials were suddenly stars. The story might have ended there, with “Tears On My Pillow” fondly recalled as a vocal-group classic from one of the many one-hit wonders from that era. In fact, some of their followup singles did flop, strong as they were. But the group rebounded with an uptempo number, “Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko Bop,” that capitalized on a dance craze.
Little Anthony and the Imperials enjoyed even greater success in the Sixties with a string of chart singles on the DCP label. Their renaissance followed a two-year hiatus during which Little Anthony pursued acting while the Imperials worked the “borsht belt” circuit of resorts in the Catskills. The time off served to season both parties, and they reunited stronger than ever. Against fierce competition from the British Invasion and Motown, Little Anthony and the Imperials had back-to-back Top Ten hits with “Goin’ Out of My Head” (#6) and “Hurt So Bad” (#10). Both were dramatic pop-soul epics about romantic loss that were keyed by Little Anthony’s fevered, confessional delivery and a strong vocal arrangement. Each song has been heavily covered by other artists, as well. The Letterman returned “Goin’ Out of My Head” to the Top Ten in 1968 and Linda Ronstadt did the same with her revival of “Hurt So Bad” in 1980.
The story didn’t end there. Little Anthony and the Imperials became the first group from the contemporary realm to play New York’s prestigious Copacabana nightclub, predating the Temptations and Supremes into this more “adult” room. The group also continued their hitmaking ways, charting ten more singles between the mid-Sixties and mid-Seventies, including “Take Me Back” and “I Miss You So.” In 1974, they reached #25 on the R&B chart with “I’m Falling in Love With You.” It was their final hit of any consequence. All totaled, Little Anthony and the Imperials placed 21 singles on the pop or R&B charts in three different decades – a formidable record of achievement for this durable vocal group.
In 1969, Ernest Wright left the Imperials and was replaced by Bobby Wade. In the early Seventies, Sammy Strain left to join the O’Jays and was replaced by Harold “Hal” Jenkins, who served both as vocalist and musical director. Little Anthony himself exited in 1975 for a solo career. The remaining trio of Collins, Wade and Jenkins kept the Imperials going through 1979, getting steady work in the Las Vegas lounges and on cruise ships.
Little Anthony and the Imperials reunited in 1992 to make a well-received appearance on an oldies bill at Madison Square Garden. Shortly thereafter, they performed on the 40th anniversary special for American Bandstand. Deciding to make the reunion permanent, Little Anthony and the Imperials have remained active on the touring circuit. The current lineup includes Gourdine, Collins, Wright and Harold Jenkins.
They received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and have been inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In 2008, Little Anthony and the Imperials released You’ll Never Know, an album of new songs and rerecorded oldies to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a group.
Source
Monday, August 10, 2009
Christian music news: Feelin' the blues
Latest christian music: Roomful of Blues is noncommittal when it comes to touting a particular style of blues, said its band leader Chris Vachon.
Having a meaty horn section gives the New England blues band a swing sound, but lately, the guys have moved closer toward New Orleans style blues.
But, Vachon said, really, the sound the band aims for is “authentic.”
“The way you’re supposed to do it,” Vachon said, in a recent phone interview with The Herald-Mail. “There are a lot of people who sort of try to play that stuff but don’t get all the nuances of it.”
It’s sort of like learning a language but speaking it in the wrong accent, he explained.
“You have to spend a lot of time listening to what’s on those records to get the real approach to those styles,” Vachon said.
Roomful is in Saturday’s band roster at the Western Maryland Blues Fest, a four-day string of concerts set in and around downtown Hagerstown.
Blues Fest starts tonight with a free show at University Plaza Park and runs through Sunday with another free concert at City Park. The focal points of the event are the concerts Friday and Saturday in Hagerstown’s Central Lot downtown. Roomful of Blues’ show comes ahead of Saturday’s headliners The Derek Trucks Band.
For Vachon, performing blues is a pleasure.
“I think the fact that it’s an open-ended, improvisation type of thing, where you don’t have to play the same thing every night in the same song,” Vachon said. “It’s not like copying verbatim because people want to hear it exactly that way because they heard it on a record. So if you get into a different mood and you’re doing a solo, then you’ve got to do something different. The freedom of that is something we all like.”
They bring that live aspect into the recording studio — they don’t do overdubs.
“I think we’d probably freak out if we had to do a bunch of overdubs,” Vachon said. “Sometimes the little mistakes you make on a record, you end up keeping as something you probably couldn’t come up with if you’re sitting around trying to overdub. It’s kind of fun that way.”
The band’s latest album, “Raisin’ a Ruckus” was released in early 2008 by Alligator Records, the home to Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor.
This year, Roomful’s label mates Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials will also be performing at Blues Fest. Alligator was the source of several past Blues Fest performers, including Nappy Brown, Buckwheat Zydeco and Guitar Shorty.
Roomful of Blues was founded in the late 1960s. Vachon said that 55 musicians have since come and gone. Sax player Rich Lataille joined the band in 1970, when the band added a horn section, making him the longest-tenured member in the eight-man blues band.
“We’ve had very few people that we were happy to see go,” Vachon said.
In fact, the band has only recently replaced one of its members, veteran trumpet player Bob Enos, who died at the age of 60 in 2008. He had been with the band for more than two decades.
“We were on tour over in Georgia,” Vachon said. “We were waiting for him in the morning to get on the bus and he didn’t show up so a couple of us went up there and had the hotel let us in the room and he had passed away.
“It knocked the wind right out of us for a while.”
Six months ago, the band brought in a new trumpet player, Doug Woolverton, who has performed with The Temptations.
“He’s a younger guy, very good. Very good attitude, very positive fellow,” Vachon said.
As for what’s next, Vachon said the band plans to record a new record this fall.
Source
Having a meaty horn section gives the New England blues band a swing sound, but lately, the guys have moved closer toward New Orleans style blues.
But, Vachon said, really, the sound the band aims for is “authentic.”
“The way you’re supposed to do it,” Vachon said, in a recent phone interview with The Herald-Mail. “There are a lot of people who sort of try to play that stuff but don’t get all the nuances of it.”
It’s sort of like learning a language but speaking it in the wrong accent, he explained.
“You have to spend a lot of time listening to what’s on those records to get the real approach to those styles,” Vachon said.
Roomful is in Saturday’s band roster at the Western Maryland Blues Fest, a four-day string of concerts set in and around downtown Hagerstown.
Blues Fest starts tonight with a free show at University Plaza Park and runs through Sunday with another free concert at City Park. The focal points of the event are the concerts Friday and Saturday in Hagerstown’s Central Lot downtown. Roomful of Blues’ show comes ahead of Saturday’s headliners The Derek Trucks Band.
For Vachon, performing blues is a pleasure.
“I think the fact that it’s an open-ended, improvisation type of thing, where you don’t have to play the same thing every night in the same song,” Vachon said. “It’s not like copying verbatim because people want to hear it exactly that way because they heard it on a record. So if you get into a different mood and you’re doing a solo, then you’ve got to do something different. The freedom of that is something we all like.”
They bring that live aspect into the recording studio — they don’t do overdubs.
“I think we’d probably freak out if we had to do a bunch of overdubs,” Vachon said. “Sometimes the little mistakes you make on a record, you end up keeping as something you probably couldn’t come up with if you’re sitting around trying to overdub. It’s kind of fun that way.”
The band’s latest album, “Raisin’ a Ruckus” was released in early 2008 by Alligator Records, the home to Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor.
This year, Roomful’s label mates Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials will also be performing at Blues Fest. Alligator was the source of several past Blues Fest performers, including Nappy Brown, Buckwheat Zydeco and Guitar Shorty.
Roomful of Blues was founded in the late 1960s. Vachon said that 55 musicians have since come and gone. Sax player Rich Lataille joined the band in 1970, when the band added a horn section, making him the longest-tenured member in the eight-man blues band.
“We’ve had very few people that we were happy to see go,” Vachon said.
In fact, the band has only recently replaced one of its members, veteran trumpet player Bob Enos, who died at the age of 60 in 2008. He had been with the band for more than two decades.
“We were on tour over in Georgia,” Vachon said. “We were waiting for him in the morning to get on the bus and he didn’t show up so a couple of us went up there and had the hotel let us in the room and he had passed away.
“It knocked the wind right out of us for a while.”
Six months ago, the band brought in a new trumpet player, Doug Woolverton, who has performed with The Temptations.
“He’s a younger guy, very good. Very good attitude, very positive fellow,” Vachon said.
As for what’s next, Vachon said the band plans to record a new record this fall.
Source
Monday, August 3, 2009
Christian music news: For the love of the blues
Latest christian music: Recently I have found myself feeling a little homesick for the blues, and, let’s be honest, while Enid has a lot to offer, blues is not among those offerings. Live music in Enid is somewhat akin to the punch line in the “Blues Brothers” movie when Jake and Elwood stroll into Bob’s Country Bunker Saloon and the bartender tells the boys not to worry because the bar has “both” kinds of music: “Country AND Western.”
So, off I went in search of some genuine live blues in Oklahoma and let me tell you, the pickings were rather scarce. So imagine my relief when I found a juke joint in a little town called Rentiesville. Better yet, the club was bringing in Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials, one of the top blues acts out of Chicago. But a pretty cool thing happened along the blues highway; I not only found some great blues but also found a genuine love story.
Rentiesville is a small community about 75 miles southeast of Tulsa. It’s so small it does not even have its own post office, but it is the epicenter of Oklahoma blues. It’s also one of only 13 towns remaining out of an original 40-50 communities that were founded in eastern Oklahoma by freed black slaves following the civil war with an eye toward making the area the nation’s first all-black state. Obviously that never materialized.
Rentiesville also is the home to D.C. Minner’s Down Home Blues Club which is run by Selby Minner, the charming, engaging and talented widow of the late D.C. Minner, a member of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame who, aside from being an established blues star in his own right, played alongside musical greats like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Freddie King. And for Rhode Island native Selby Minner, who has called Rentiesville home since 1988 when she and D.C. moved here after spending several years touring the nation, with a heavy emphasis on the West Coast, this has become a true labor of love in every sense of the word.
Together, D.C. and Selby (they married in 1979 after meeting in California) became the first couple of Oklahoma blues when they made the decision to renovate the property where D.C.’s grandmother operated a “corn whiskey house” several decades earlier. “It was a place with a jukebox and where people came for entertainment and bootleg whiskey,” Selby told me while taking me through a tour of the blues club. “They also made and sold choc beer,” which I learned was good old-fashioned home-brew.
The blues-loving couple completed renovating the house a few years after moving back home. “D.C. did all the work by hand,” Selby explained. But it didn’t end there.
Together, the Minners established the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame in 2004. “That’s what D.C. wanted — he understood he wasn’t going to get wealthy playing blues, but at the end of the day what made it worthwhile was the recognition by his peers. We wanted to share that.”
The couple went on to organize the three-day outdoor “Dusk Til Dawn” blues festival which takes place every Labor Day weekend on the grounds of the blues club and, in 1999, also were recipients of the prestigious “Keeping the Blues Alive” award.
Selby continues to do more than her part in “keeping the blues alive” through the “Blues in the Schools” program as well as offering young people a place to perform on the first Friday of each month (the club is only open the first weekend of each month), with a coffeehouse atmosphere where the bar is closed off and young people are invited to perform during their “Java Jam.”
On this night, Selby’s band, “Blues On The Move” opened up for Lil Ed and Selby’s engaging stage presence, on guitar and vocals, demonstrated how her love of the blues, and for D.C., (who passed away last year at the age of 73) clearly keeps her going. She sang some of D.C.’s original material — apparently there is a veritable treasure trove of unpublished D.C. Minner-penned tunes — and then later jammed onstage with the headliner.
This funky little juke joint seemingly in the middle of nowhere is not, however, just about the blues. It stands as a living, thriving testament to the enduring bond between Selby and D.C. that remains today. You can see it in her eyes and feel it in her words when she speaks about D.C. and, most of all, you feel it in her music.
Source
So, off I went in search of some genuine live blues in Oklahoma and let me tell you, the pickings were rather scarce. So imagine my relief when I found a juke joint in a little town called Rentiesville. Better yet, the club was bringing in Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials, one of the top blues acts out of Chicago. But a pretty cool thing happened along the blues highway; I not only found some great blues but also found a genuine love story.
Rentiesville is a small community about 75 miles southeast of Tulsa. It’s so small it does not even have its own post office, but it is the epicenter of Oklahoma blues. It’s also one of only 13 towns remaining out of an original 40-50 communities that were founded in eastern Oklahoma by freed black slaves following the civil war with an eye toward making the area the nation’s first all-black state. Obviously that never materialized.
Rentiesville also is the home to D.C. Minner’s Down Home Blues Club which is run by Selby Minner, the charming, engaging and talented widow of the late D.C. Minner, a member of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame who, aside from being an established blues star in his own right, played alongside musical greats like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Freddie King. And for Rhode Island native Selby Minner, who has called Rentiesville home since 1988 when she and D.C. moved here after spending several years touring the nation, with a heavy emphasis on the West Coast, this has become a true labor of love in every sense of the word.
Together, D.C. and Selby (they married in 1979 after meeting in California) became the first couple of Oklahoma blues when they made the decision to renovate the property where D.C.’s grandmother operated a “corn whiskey house” several decades earlier. “It was a place with a jukebox and where people came for entertainment and bootleg whiskey,” Selby told me while taking me through a tour of the blues club. “They also made and sold choc beer,” which I learned was good old-fashioned home-brew.
The blues-loving couple completed renovating the house a few years after moving back home. “D.C. did all the work by hand,” Selby explained. But it didn’t end there.
Together, the Minners established the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame in 2004. “That’s what D.C. wanted — he understood he wasn’t going to get wealthy playing blues, but at the end of the day what made it worthwhile was the recognition by his peers. We wanted to share that.”
The couple went on to organize the three-day outdoor “Dusk Til Dawn” blues festival which takes place every Labor Day weekend on the grounds of the blues club and, in 1999, also were recipients of the prestigious “Keeping the Blues Alive” award.
Selby continues to do more than her part in “keeping the blues alive” through the “Blues in the Schools” program as well as offering young people a place to perform on the first Friday of each month (the club is only open the first weekend of each month), with a coffeehouse atmosphere where the bar is closed off and young people are invited to perform during their “Java Jam.”
On this night, Selby’s band, “Blues On The Move” opened up for Lil Ed and Selby’s engaging stage presence, on guitar and vocals, demonstrated how her love of the blues, and for D.C., (who passed away last year at the age of 73) clearly keeps her going. She sang some of D.C.’s original material — apparently there is a veritable treasure trove of unpublished D.C. Minner-penned tunes — and then later jammed onstage with the headliner.
This funky little juke joint seemingly in the middle of nowhere is not, however, just about the blues. It stands as a living, thriving testament to the enduring bond between Selby and D.C. that remains today. You can see it in her eyes and feel it in her words when she speaks about D.C. and, most of all, you feel it in her music.
Source
Monday, July 20, 2009
Christian music news: Raucous crowd enjoys thrills at Western Maryland Blues Fest
“Somebody scream,” Lil’ Ed urged hundreds of music fans Friday night, but there was no need. They already were raucous, pumped full of electric blues flying from his slide guitar.
A few minutes earlier, Lil’ Ed — Ed Williams of Chicago — had ratcheted up the thrill level by stepping down from the back of the stage and wading through the crowd, playing all the while.
He got up close with dozens of hard-core Western Maryland Blues Festers, the ones dancing and hollering and waving their arms with unbridled glee.
No one, though, seemed to be having a better time than the frontman for Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials. If he wasn’t grinning, he was laughing, and it seemed to be contagious.
“He’s fantastic,” said Linda Overstreet of Silver Spring, Md. “There’s nothing like seeing a performer who’s having a ball.”
Lil’ Ed’s band gave way to Friday’s headline act, Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, capping Day 2 of the four-day Blues Fest.
The festival continues today in the city’s central parking lot off North Potomac Street, then Sunday at City Park.
Williams kept smiling and laughing as he signed autographs after his set.
“I like what I do,” he said.
Asked about the enthusiastic Hagerstown crowd, he said, “I love them. They’re wonderful — tremendously wonderful.”
For Beverly Wilson of Hollywood, in southern Maryland, the admiration was mutual.
Wilson and her husband, Steve, had front-row seats, but were on their feet a lot. Beverly Wilson was part of the crush that surrounded Lil’ Ed as he passed by with his guitar.
“He makes you happy,” she said later. “The blues makes you happy.”
Marie Messick got right up to Lil’ Ed for several seconds and grooved with him, face to face.
That left her giddy. She shared the fun with her friend, Nancy Borne.
Messick said the Blues Fest has established itself as a tradition in her life, even though this only was her second time attending.
Messick, who is from California, got to know her husband, Dennis, who is from Martinsburg, W.Va., online. They met in person in Georgia. A few months later, in April 2008, they got married.
They treated last year’s Blues Fest as an extension of their wedding.
“This is like a reception with people you don’t know,” Marie Messick said.
This year, they shared the party with Borne, who used to live in New Orleans.
“This is like a little bit of home for me,” Borne said.
Marie Messick said she was ready to top last year’s feat of dancing for five straight hours.
Friday also was a day for the regulars, who go from blues festival to blues festival and become friends along the way.
That group includes Jeff Jackson of Columbia, Md., and Bob Lubbehusen of Annandale, Va., who got Lil’ Ed to pose for pictures with them after he played.
Jackson said the fan group’s last stop was the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival on May 16 and 17.
Jackson complimented Hagerstown’s event as a nice venue with good acts, good food and good drinks.
Overstreet said she was depressed when she missed last year’s blues fest because of other things going on in her life.
“I hear blues and my body wants to move,” she said.
Source
A few minutes earlier, Lil’ Ed — Ed Williams of Chicago — had ratcheted up the thrill level by stepping down from the back of the stage and wading through the crowd, playing all the while.
He got up close with dozens of hard-core Western Maryland Blues Festers, the ones dancing and hollering and waving their arms with unbridled glee.
No one, though, seemed to be having a better time than the frontman for Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials. If he wasn’t grinning, he was laughing, and it seemed to be contagious.
“He’s fantastic,” said Linda Overstreet of Silver Spring, Md. “There’s nothing like seeing a performer who’s having a ball.”
Lil’ Ed’s band gave way to Friday’s headline act, Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, capping Day 2 of the four-day Blues Fest.
The festival continues today in the city’s central parking lot off North Potomac Street, then Sunday at City Park.
Williams kept smiling and laughing as he signed autographs after his set.
“I like what I do,” he said.
Asked about the enthusiastic Hagerstown crowd, he said, “I love them. They’re wonderful — tremendously wonderful.”
For Beverly Wilson of Hollywood, in southern Maryland, the admiration was mutual.
Wilson and her husband, Steve, had front-row seats, but were on their feet a lot. Beverly Wilson was part of the crush that surrounded Lil’ Ed as he passed by with his guitar.
“He makes you happy,” she said later. “The blues makes you happy.”
Marie Messick got right up to Lil’ Ed for several seconds and grooved with him, face to face.
That left her giddy. She shared the fun with her friend, Nancy Borne.
Messick said the Blues Fest has established itself as a tradition in her life, even though this only was her second time attending.
Messick, who is from California, got to know her husband, Dennis, who is from Martinsburg, W.Va., online. They met in person in Georgia. A few months later, in April 2008, they got married.
They treated last year’s Blues Fest as an extension of their wedding.
“This is like a reception with people you don’t know,” Marie Messick said.
This year, they shared the party with Borne, who used to live in New Orleans.
“This is like a little bit of home for me,” Borne said.
Marie Messick said she was ready to top last year’s feat of dancing for five straight hours.
Friday also was a day for the regulars, who go from blues festival to blues festival and become friends along the way.
That group includes Jeff Jackson of Columbia, Md., and Bob Lubbehusen of Annandale, Va., who got Lil’ Ed to pose for pictures with them after he played.
Jackson said the fan group’s last stop was the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival on May 16 and 17.
Jackson complimented Hagerstown’s event as a nice venue with good acts, good food and good drinks.
Overstreet said she was depressed when she missed last year’s blues fest because of other things going on in her life.
“I hear blues and my body wants to move,” she said.
Source
Friday, July 17, 2009
Christian music news: Blues Music Awards honor best of genre
Latest christian music: Magness scored the Contemporary Blues Female Artist honor in addition to being named the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year.
King received the Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year award and his 2008 release, "One Kind Favor," was named Traditional Blues Album of the Year.
In the acoustic categories, Eden Brent was a big winner with awards for Acoustic Artist of the Year and Acoustic Album of the Year for "Mississippi Number One."
Band of the Year honors went to Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials and Best New Artist Debut accolades went to Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm.
Other BMA winners included Jeff Healey (Rock Blues Album), Etta James (Soul Blues Female Artist), Bobby Rush (Soul Blues Artist) and Koko Taylor (Traditional Blues Female Artist).
Taylor made a surprise appearance during the seven-hour show to perform with The Mannish Boys, who went into the evening with the largest number of BMA nominees--six.
B.B. King also made an unscheduled appearance, performing with Curtis Salgado before presenting his namesake award to Magness.
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King received the Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year award and his 2008 release, "One Kind Favor," was named Traditional Blues Album of the Year.
In the acoustic categories, Eden Brent was a big winner with awards for Acoustic Artist of the Year and Acoustic Album of the Year for "Mississippi Number One."
Band of the Year honors went to Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials and Best New Artist Debut accolades went to Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm.
Other BMA winners included Jeff Healey (Rock Blues Album), Etta James (Soul Blues Female Artist), Bobby Rush (Soul Blues Artist) and Koko Taylor (Traditional Blues Female Artist).
Taylor made a surprise appearance during the seven-hour show to perform with The Mannish Boys, who went into the evening with the largest number of BMA nominees--six.
B.B. King also made an unscheduled appearance, performing with Curtis Salgado before presenting his namesake award to Magness.
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Monday, July 13, 2009
Christian music news: Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials at Red Miles Blues Festival
Latest christian music: The spot-checking of artistic influences was abundant in the music that Chicago guitarist Lil' Ed Williams summoned to close the inaugural Red Mile Blues Festival. The syncopated groove to Housekeeping Job was coated with Peter Green-style Brit blues, and Woman, Take a Bow suggested Carlos Santana with a melodic hook that sounded — improbable as this might seem — like a light-funk interpretation of the 1973 Edgar Winter instrumental hit Frankenstein. But the lightning electric-blues jolt of Hound Dog Taylor, Elmore James and Williams' esteemed uncle, J. B. Hutto, really fueled the performance. When Williams leaned heavily into the roadhouse cheer of those elders during the sly blues shuffles Pride and Joy (not the Stevie Ray Vaughan tune of the same name) and Take Out Some Insurance, or the densely patterned grind of Hold That Train, the Blues Imperials summoned a roaring juke-joint fire. The music sounded like the work of an honest-to-goodness blues band instead of the usual tired blues outfit siphoning rock 'n' roll for cheap, accessible thrills. Especially impressive was how keen, clean and mean Williams' slow blues excursions sounded. Even the semi-novelty tune Check My Baby's Oil, with all its cheesy lyrical innuendo, sounded quietly urgent. Like the entire show, this slice of underplayed Chicago blues served with playful menace sounded very sweet indeed.
Uncle Woody Sullender at Land of Tomorrow: The brittle passages at the core of this brief 40-minute set by Brooklyn banjoist Sullender possessed a stark, ancient air that seemed to predate bluegrass. Of course, this was in no way a traditional music program. Pedal effects and laptop-guided electronic enhancements created progressive, often otherworldly harmony. At times, the electric accents rose like voices in another room. Or mounting waves of static chatter. Or chimed bells at a dance. Or chattering insects. Or a lone, chirping bird. None of this made the performance seem like a novelty act, though. What was continually absorbing was how the natural timbre of the banjo would dissolve even as the electronics would continue to react against — or, more often than not, harmonize with — the tense strums and plucks pronounced on the strings. On Violence of Volk, especially, the electronics entered like a squall that rode shotgun to Sullender's more agitated playing. Of course, the real ingenuity of this music came not from the rise or fade of the electronics but with the cunning Sullender displayed as a soloist. On Where the Flowers on the River's Green Margin May Blow, the effects took a breather so he could experiment with the banjo's given tone and temperament. At times contemplative, at others exquisitely giddy, Sullender's music was just as progressive when surrounded by pure acoustic solitude as it was when all the dizzy electric gremlins crashed the party.
Source
Uncle Woody Sullender at Land of Tomorrow: The brittle passages at the core of this brief 40-minute set by Brooklyn banjoist Sullender possessed a stark, ancient air that seemed to predate bluegrass. Of course, this was in no way a traditional music program. Pedal effects and laptop-guided electronic enhancements created progressive, often otherworldly harmony. At times, the electric accents rose like voices in another room. Or mounting waves of static chatter. Or chimed bells at a dance. Or chattering insects. Or a lone, chirping bird. None of this made the performance seem like a novelty act, though. What was continually absorbing was how the natural timbre of the banjo would dissolve even as the electronics would continue to react against — or, more often than not, harmonize with — the tense strums and plucks pronounced on the strings. On Violence of Volk, especially, the electronics entered like a squall that rode shotgun to Sullender's more agitated playing. Of course, the real ingenuity of this music came not from the rise or fade of the electronics but with the cunning Sullender displayed as a soloist. On Where the Flowers on the River's Green Margin May Blow, the effects took a breather so he could experiment with the banjo's given tone and temperament. At times contemplative, at others exquisitely giddy, Sullender's music was just as progressive when surrounded by pure acoustic solitude as it was when all the dizzy electric gremlins crashed the party.
Source
Monday, July 6, 2009
Christian music news: Lil' Ed And The Blues Imperials
Latest christian music: Lil’ Ed Williams and his long-standing band The Blues Imperials crank their native Chicago blues just a notch over the top, making it as party-ready as any good up-tempo soul act. In addition to those giddy slide-guitar leads, Lil’ Ed tends to look a bit more flamboyant than your average bluesman, especially when decked out in red Chuck Taylors and one of his flashy fez hats. The titles of his Alligator Records releases stretching back to the ’80s tend to reflect this ecstatic quality—Roughhousin’, Get Wild, and last year’s Full Tilt—and with this band, revving up the blues is just another route to the genre’s richness.
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Saturday, June 27, 2009
Christian music news: Christian music news: Summer concerts music to our ears
Latest christian music: Those are just some of the performers coming to New Jersey this summer. If there is any place in America that offers more opportunities to see popular musical acts, we've yet to hear about it. Once again this summer, the bounty seems limitless.
Latest christian music: Although the ticket prices for many of the concerts seem to have ignored the fact we are in a recession — many artists these days apparently are worried about paying their bills as well — it has prompted a tidal wave of groups on tour. With record sales slumping, many acts, new and old, are compensating by hitting the lonely road so many of them bemoan in their songs. That's music-lovers' good fortune.
In Monmouth and Ocean counties alone, the choices this summer are endless. Name acts again will appear on the marquees at PNC Banks Arts Center, Count Basie Theater, Paramount Theater, Convention Hall, Stony Pony, Great Auditorium, Six Flags Great Adventure and BlueClaws Stadium.
Among those who will be performing at the Shore: Beach Boys, Motley Crue, Oak Ridge Boys, Creed, the Drifters, Fabian, Lee Ann Rimes, Nine Inch Nails, Rascal Flatts, The Fray, Elvis Costello, Frankie Avalon, Counting Crows, Frank Valli and the Four Seasons, .38 Special, Asia, Melissa Etheridge, Yes, Little Feat, Bobby Rydell, Poison and George Thoroughgood.
Also, Styx, Tommy James and the Shondells, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd, REO Speedwagon, Southside Johnny, Weezer, Dream Theater, Cheap Trick, Melissa Etheridge, Peter Frampton, John Mellencamp, Incubus, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Pretenders, ZZ Top, Loggins & Messina, Felix Cavaliere and The Rascals, The Smithereens, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Moe and John Cafferty.
If you want to broaden your choices, you can always hit the casinos in Atlantic City, the Susqehanna Bank Center in Camden, the Izod Center and Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, the Bergen Performing Arts Center, Wellmont Theater in Montclair and the Mayo Center for Performing Arts in Morristown.
Source
Latest christian music: Although the ticket prices for many of the concerts seem to have ignored the fact we are in a recession — many artists these days apparently are worried about paying their bills as well — it has prompted a tidal wave of groups on tour. With record sales slumping, many acts, new and old, are compensating by hitting the lonely road so many of them bemoan in their songs. That's music-lovers' good fortune.
In Monmouth and Ocean counties alone, the choices this summer are endless. Name acts again will appear on the marquees at PNC Banks Arts Center, Count Basie Theater, Paramount Theater, Convention Hall, Stony Pony, Great Auditorium, Six Flags Great Adventure and BlueClaws Stadium.
Among those who will be performing at the Shore: Beach Boys, Motley Crue, Oak Ridge Boys, Creed, the Drifters, Fabian, Lee Ann Rimes, Nine Inch Nails, Rascal Flatts, The Fray, Elvis Costello, Frankie Avalon, Counting Crows, Frank Valli and the Four Seasons, .38 Special, Asia, Melissa Etheridge, Yes, Little Feat, Bobby Rydell, Poison and George Thoroughgood.
Also, Styx, Tommy James and the Shondells, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd, REO Speedwagon, Southside Johnny, Weezer, Dream Theater, Cheap Trick, Melissa Etheridge, Peter Frampton, John Mellencamp, Incubus, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Pretenders, ZZ Top, Loggins & Messina, Felix Cavaliere and The Rascals, The Smithereens, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Moe and John Cafferty.
If you want to broaden your choices, you can always hit the casinos in Atlantic City, the Susqehanna Bank Center in Camden, the Izod Center and Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, the Bergen Performing Arts Center, Wellmont Theater in Montclair and the Mayo Center for Performing Arts in Morristown.
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Little Anthony & the Imperials play Westhampton
Little Anthony and the Imperials onstage at the 24th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Public Hall on April 4, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio.Though their golden anniversary is fast approaching, Little Anthony and the Imperials are having a banner year in 2009 - getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, celebrating a new album, "You'll Never Know," and declaring their independence from the "doo-wop reunions" tours.
Little Anthony himself, Anthony Gourdine, says the group's recent honors, including being part of Paul Simon's Brooklyn Academy of Music run last year, make him feel like it's the days of "Tears on My Pillow" and "Hurts So Bad" all over again.
Have you come down from the Rock Hall induction yet?
My wife and I were just talking about that and she said, "I realize it's over and I don't want it to be over. . . . The induction really validates our career. It's us being judged on our body of work, not by some catchphrase. We haven't been a doo-wop group since we were 16 or 17 years old.
Though their golden anniversary is fast approaching, Little Anthony and the Imperials are having a banner year in 2009 - getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, celebrating a new album, "You'll Never Know," and declaring their independence from the "doo-wop reunions" tours.
Little Anthony himself, Anthony Gourdine, says the group's recent honors, including being part of Paul Simon's Brooklyn Academy of Music run last year, make him feel like it's the days of "Tears on My Pillow" and "Hurts So Bad" all over again.
Have you come down from the Rock Hall induction yet?
My wife and I were just talking about that and she said, "I realize it's over and I don't want it to be over. . . . The induction really validates our career. It's us being judged on our body of work, not by some catchphrase. We haven't been a doo-wop group since we were 16 or 17 years old.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
TipsLittle Anthony, Dion, Lou Christie play Long Island
Here's a chance to see two hall of famers who can still belt one out along with another star who can still hit the high note.
Little Anthony and the Imperials have been performing for more than 50 years. Starting as doo-wop singers on Brooklyn street corners, the group, led by Anthony Gourdine, produced some of the biggest hits of the 1950s and '60s, including "Tears on My Pillow" and "Goin' Out of My Head." Little Anthony and the Imperials will perform Friday at Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $65-$95. Call 631-288-1500 or visit whbpac.org. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this month and is also a member of the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
While Little Anthony was singing in Brooklyn, Dion was crooning in the Bronx. Dion's 1950s hits include "The Wanderer" and "Runaround Sue." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Dion performs at Capital One Bank Theatre at Westbury April 19. Also on the bill is Lou Christie, whose falsetto powered hits include "Lightning Strikes" and "Two Faces Have I."
Tickets are $51.50-61.50. Call 877-598-8694 or visit LiveNation.com.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
With five decades to look back on, Little Anthony and the Imperials are still moving forward
When a musical group celebrates its 50th anniversary, the typical expectation is that by then it is living on memories and will now fade quietly into history.
Many groups that began in the 1950s have taken that path, while a few others are barely hanging on, doing gigs one step above weddings. Nothing could be farther from that scenario than contemporary reality for Little Anthony and the Imperials, for whom April 2009 may be the best month ever.
The legendary group will be on stage at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Friday, April 17, no doubt still on a high from last week, when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The show in Westhampton Beach begins at 8 p.m., and “it will be one of our first appearances as Hall of Fame members,” Jerome Anthony Gourdine said proudly. Other inductees at the ceremony last Saturday, which was broadcast live on the Fuse cable network, were Bobby Womack, Run DMC, Jeff Beck and Metallica.
Jerome Anthony Gourdine is, of course, Little Anthony, a sobriquet given to him by Alan Freed, who is often credited as being the first disc jockey to champion rock and roll. Mr. Gourdine insisted that he has no interest in resting on his laurels as leader of one of the best groups to come out of the popular rhythm and blues explosion of the Eisenhower decade.
“I swear, I am having more fun at 68 than I did at 28,” he said in an interview last week. “Now I know how George Burns felt in his 80s when he said he was having the time of his life. I remember Moms Mabley saying to me, ‘Honey, these sure are the good old days.’”
A band called the Chesters that formed in 1957 consisted of Mr. Gourdine, Clarence Collins, Tracy Lord, Nathaniel Rodgers, and Ronald Ross. “We were just 17-year-old kids from the neighborhood happy to sing together under the streetlights in Brooklyn,” recalled Mr. Gourdine, who emerged as the lead singer. “We didn’t really have ambitions or know much about the world. I mean, we thought New Jersey was the West Coast. We were a bunch of snotty-nosed kids. But we wanted to have fun and we loved music and we couldn’t stop singing.”
They did a few recordings for Apollo Records that did not attract much notice. But everything changed the following year when Ernest Wright replaced Ross and the five friends changed their name to the Imperials. The group was signed by End Records which issued their first single, a tune of teenage sorrow titled “Tears On My Pillow.” The 1958 release was an immediate hit and is considered an early rock classic.
It was fortunate enough that Little Anthony and the Imperials had a big hit so soon, but even better was the fact that success didn’t ruin a rookie group. “Yes, we were very, very fortunate in that we all had moms and dads, that none of us had single parents who had so many of their own struggles and challenges that they couldn’t help us with ours,” Mr. Gourdine recalled.
“Our parents were big influences on us and we respected them. We did make mistakes, but we had great people to fall back on. We had people in our lives who taught us about class and style and helped us stay grounded, and we could concentrate on creating and performing music we loved.”
During the next three years, more hits followed, including “Two Kinds of People” and “Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko Ko Bop.” But even though the members of the Imperials felt fairly grounded and proud of the music they were putting out, they experienced what many creative groups do over time: the coming and going of artists wanting to try something new.
The first to do it was Mr. Gourdine, who left in 1961. Lord and Rodgers left and were replaced by Sammy Strain and George Kerr, and when the latter left he was replaced by Kenny Seymour. After two years of attempting to make Little Anthony a successful solo act, Mr. Gourdine was back, replacing Seymour.
There would be other changes, but beginning in 1963 the Imperials embarked on a long period of popular and critical success. Their hits included “I’m On the Outside (Looking In),” “Goin’ Out of My Head,” “Hurt So Bad,” and “I Miss You So.” They even did the title song of the James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice.”
They appeared on dozens of television programs ranging from the variety shows hosted by Ed Sullivan, Perry Como, and Merv Griffin to “Hullabaloo” and, of course, Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand.” Very early in his career, Bruce Springsteen was an opening act when the Imperials played in the New York-New Jersey area.
While the Imperials don’t have the album sales today that they enjoyed in the 1960s and ’70s, the group never fell out of fashion. They kept working, performing as an individual act or as part of tours of R&B and doo-wop groups. Beginning this year, though, the group is steering clear of the doo-wop tag and focusing exclusively on its rhythm and blues repertoire.
“That is who we really are,” Mr. Gourdine said. “We came out of the era of the black singing groups. Somehow, we got that doo-wop label and we were never comfortable with it, though we respect and enjoy doo-wop music. We don’t see ourselves as hardcore blues artists but as R&B contemporaries. For as long as we can, that is what we want to focus on. We’re sort of going back to our roots and reclaiming our original identity.”
A distinction that Little Anthony and the Imperials have which is of some importance to concert-goers is that in Mr. Gourdine and Collins and Wright the group has a majority of its original members on board, which can also be said by a few other groups that formed in the ’50s, such as the Dells and the Spinners, who performed last year at WHBPAC. It is not a distinction shared by such peers as the Drifters, Platters, and Coasters.
That made the Hall of Fame induction especially sweet for Mr. Gourdine and his two longtime friends. And it sure doesn’t hurt to be introduced as a Hall of Fame member, which is pretty select company.
“You can look at it as a crowning achievement, and we do in the sense that we are now bona fide, USA-approved legends,” Mr. Gourdine said with a laugh. “We have been accepted into a very exclusive club that includes greats like Elvis Presley and Smokey Robinson and B.B. King. Our body of work has been recognized and we feel joyful about that because it hasn’t been an easy task to keep at it for over 50 years.”
A possible downside to phrases like “crowning achievement” is the implication that maybe it is time to get off the road and sit back and listen to music instead of performing it. The same goes for awards, and Little Anthony and the Imperials have collected quite a few in recent years, including the Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award and inductions in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
“It’s funny how some performers as they get older tend to count themselves out before the audiences do,” lamented Mr. Gourdine. “I never have felt that way. Our philosophy is never quit, let’s take it to the end.”
But Mr. Gourdine said that a big reason for the group to still keep doing what they’re doing is the response and even age of the audience. “After every show we like to meet the people and sign records, and it’s been amazing to us how many of them are in their 20s and 30s and they know our music,” Mr. Gourdine said. “They say, ‘Now we understand what mom and pop have been talking about all these years.’”
He pointed out that the phone keeps ringing. A CD released last summer, “You’ll Never Know,” has sold well. Last Friday, they played the famous Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, and the night after the Hall of Fame induction they sang the national anthem at the Cleveland Cavaliers game, which was broadcast nationally on ESPN. After Little Anthony and the Imperials performed on the David Letterman show last August, there were more than a million hits on the group’s You Tube site.
Mr. Gourdine characterized the renewed interest in his group this way: “Being rediscovered,” he said, “is a wonderful thing.”
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Little Anthony overjoyed to join Rock Hall
Not long ago, Little Anthony Gourdine took a trip to Cleveland, down to the chilly banks of Lake Erie and into a giant glass pyramid whose every wall and corner honors the founders, pioneers and innovators of rock 'n' roll.
"I was walking around like I was on a high, just to see all these people, what they said about this one, and that one — all the great ones," says Gourdine.
This weekend, after a long, long time waiting, Gourdine will be there, too.
Little Anthony and the Imperials, who gave us some of pop music's most beautifully melodramatic songs — Hurt So Bad, Going Out of My Head and Tears on My Pillow, which Rolling Stone once called "as excruciatingly painful a plea of unrequited teen passion as has even been waxed" — will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday.
"I'm their peer now," he says, as if he can't believe it. "I'm on their level. What that means to me, about what I do? It just really knocks me down."
Last year, Gourdine and the Imperials — Clarence Collins, Ernest Wright Jr. and Harold Jenkins — celebrated their 50th anniversary with a new album called You'll Never Know, an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman and a renewed dedication to proving that they're more than a moldy oldies act.
The group's most classic members — Gourdine, Collins, Wright, Tracy Lord, Glouster "Nat" Rogers and Sammy Strain — are being inducted. (Jenkins, the group's longtime choreographer, joined in 1972, and it's worth noting that unlike many classic groups still touring, the Imperials' current lineup bears a majority of original members.)
Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first single, which means The Imperials have technically been waiting since 1983, three years before the Hall's first ceremony. But Gourdine's not the least bit bitter about it.
"Man, that blew me off the planet!" he says of finding out that the Imperials had finally made the list. "I was just a kid from Brooklyn, a little black kid off the street. It's not like we never got an award — I got a lot. But this is where your peers tell you that you're the best at what you do."
Smokey Robinson, whose Miracles were one of Little Anthony and the Imperials' descendants in the pantheon of flawless vocal harmonies, will induct the group, but Gourdine says that he's so excited, "The local butcher could come out and (induct) us and I'd be OK with that."
As enthused as the singer, born Jerome Anthony Gourdine in Brooklyn in 1941, is about his induction, he's concerned that many, maybe even those inducting him, don't get something vital about the group.
"I like to start out by setting something straight," he explains. "We've been doing this for a long time. That's the reason we've survived for 50 years. We've never allowed anyone to define us."
The definition he's talking about, the one that's stuck with them ever since the young singer joined a group called The Chesters in 1957, which changed its name to the Imperials a year later, is the word "doo-wop."
It's a limiting label, one that forever ranks the group in a quaint time capsule rather than as a still-talented, still-vital musical entity, he says.
Label 'disconcerting'
"We came out of a certain era, as young kids, and our body of work is definitely from a period of time that is defined as doo-wop, but that's one of the most disconcerting things in my life," Gourdine says. "We are an R&B contemporary group — we always have been, we always will be. I'm putting that down."
But he doesn't blame his contemporaries who wear the doo-wop mantle — "They just wanna eat. They wanna make sure they make a living, so they accept that moniker. But (that limits) the ability to progress and to do what we need to do. (Labels) hold us back from that. If you get stale, you get bitter."
There is, of course, the matter of the presence of Little Anthony and the Imperials on several doo-wop tours — in fact, their most recent South Florida appearance was in March for Richard Nader's Doo-Wop Reunion Show. So ... what's that about not being a doo-wop group?
"Some at the doo-wop show may say 'Then how come they're here?'" Gourdine admits. "They're paying us a lot of money, for goodness sake! But we're moving in another direction. We can't go on those shows anymore, even though they pay us a lot of money."
Back in the beginning, Gourdine says, the group saw themselves "as rock 'n' rollers," who signed with End Records in 1958 and quickly scored a hit with Tears on My Pillow. Fans immediately took note of Gourdine's sobbing tenor, which the singer says was the result of a tonsillectomy that lowered the former boy soprano's voice to a smooth falsetto.
"I couldn't (hit soprano notes) as easily as I did before. I didn't understand the technical things. ... Finally someone said 'You're a tenor now.' I said 'Does that mean I got a high voice?' I had to learn to accept it," he says.
Delivery to match words
That tenor became, of course, more than a burden to accept — it became the trademark of the singer that was eventually dubbed "Little Anthony" by DJ and rock promoter Alan Freed. After following Tears up with the hits Two Kinds of People and Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop, Gourdine left to pursue a solo career, but returned in 1963, for an astonishing run of hits.
Most of those were written by Teddy Rendazzo, a former member of the group the Three Chuckles, whom the Imperials had known in the scene. Rendazzo had "a heck of a voice, an Italian Vic Damone sort of voice," but thought Gourdine's anguished delivery was a better vehicle for the kind of tortured melodramatic feelings he wanted to commit to music — specifically his own.
"I became Teddy's voice," Gourdine says. "Look at the pattern — I'm on the Outside (Looking In), Going Out of My Head, Hurt So Bad, Take Me Back. Each one was about one woman, who he was having, obviously, a rocky love affair with. He used (the music) to state his pain. I was able to interpret it in my voice, and get exactly what he was trying to say — which was torment."
Gourdine may not have written the words to Hurt So Bad, but every night he sings it, the emotions become his own.
"Nancy Wilson did it, and it was the same thing. It affected her that way. Linda Ronstadt heard it that way, too. We understand it," he says. "Sometimes, I'll be singing it — and I've done that song many, many times — and I never know what emotions are gonna come out on any given night. It never gets old. That feeling is as old as man, as old as people — 'It hurts me. I hurt. I'm hurt. Somebody hurt me, see, and it's so bad.' "
Gourdine's way of musically, and elegantly, channeling that hurt was apparent in that episode of The Late Show last summer. When musical director Paul Shaffer approached the group, they were reluctant to do an old hit, preferring something from the new album and not be presented as a nostalgia act. But Shaffer had a counter offer.
"He said, 'I sold this to David Letterman, that I wanted to do something better, with 47 musicians, big, the way you recorded it,' " he remembers. "And that was one of the greatest things that happened to us."
Instead of cementing the group as a one-note act from yesteryear, Gourdine says it "made his job easier" by showing them as masters of their craft, still in their performance prime. They weren't hamming their way through this — the Imperials were serious.
"It's a lot of work and a lot of dedication," Gourdine says. "We are artists. That's why we've survived for 50 years. And we will give the best show anyone's possibly seen."
THE REST
OF THE BEST
Other inductees this year:
Run-D.M.C.: Groundbreaking rap group that crossed cultural barriers with mainstream hits and a collaboration with Aerosmith on Walk This Way.
Jeff Beck: The guitarists' guitarist, known for his inventive work with both the Yardbirds and the Jeff Beck Group.
Bobby Womack: Soulful singer, songwriter, guitarist. Best known for hits like Across 110th Street and It's All Over Now.
Metallica: The band that signfied heavy metal in the '80s — and beyond.
EARLY INFLUENCES:
Country singer Wanda Jackson, left
SIDEMEN:
Elvis Presley's bassist Bill Black and drummer D.J. Fontana
Muscle Shoals session man and songwriter extraordinaire Spooner Oldham, left (The Dark End of the Street, Cry Like a Baby)
More on palmbeachpost.com
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Rock Hall Inductees Little Anthony and the Imperials in concert on April 2nd, 2009
“Little” Anthony Gourdine and the rest of The Imperials will be inducted as part of the current class of inductees that will be making their way into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame (rockhall.com) on April 4th, 2009. During their time in the industry, Little Anthony and The Imperials (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Anthony_&_The_Imperials) were wellon their way to becoming a Hall-of-Fame inductee in 1958, when End Records put out their first single, the double-sided hit “Tears On My Pillow/Two People in the World”. From there, the group had other songs that helped them gain a following. Little Anthony and the Imperials have released many albums, from the “We Are The Imperials” album in 1959, to the recently released album, “You’ll Never Know” (amazon.com/Youll-Never-Little-Anthony-Imperials/dp/B001FBSMXK).Before being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Anthony Gourdine had the distinction of being a guest at the Rock Hall when he was the guest speaker during Black History in February of 2009.
Little Anthony and The Imperials en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Anthony_&_The_Imperials will be inducted on April 4th, 2009. However, if you are not able to see the band be inducted when the inductions take place here in Cleveland, the band will be spending a little time in Cleveland as Little Anthony & The Imperials will be taking to the stage at The Agora on April 2nd, 2009. If you were a fan of the group, or want to be part of history, as the musician gets ready to be inducted, this would be the perfect time to check out Little Anthony & The Imperials up close and personal.
The group will be in concert in support of their newest release entitled “You’ll Never Know”.
For more information on Little Anthony and the Imperials, go to their website at littleanthonyandtheimperials.com. You can also find the group on MySpace at myspace.com/littleanthonyandtheimperials.
The Inductions for the Rock And Roll hall of Fame will be taking place on April 4th, 2009 at Public Hall. If you are not able to see the event live in person, the Rock Hall will be having a viewing party at which the people in attendance will be able to see the event as it happens. There will also be a chance to win tickets to see the event live in person.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Little Anthony & the Imperials headline Richard Nader's Doo-Wop Reunion X
When Little Anthony & the Imperials join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next month, it won't be strictly for achievements in doo-wop - the layered singing style that arose in the 1950s with vocal workouts such as the Penguins' Earth Angel and the Monotones' Book of Love.
The formal announcement of the Imperials' induction refers to "a rhythm and blues/soul/doo-wop vocal group from New York."
Listing doo-wop last suits frontman Anthony Gourdine just fine. "We're an r&b group. We're not a doo-wop group," the high-singing Gourdine, 69, said in a recent interview.
Why the distinction? Gourdine is, after all, playing one of Florida promoter Richard Nader's "Doo-Wop Reunion" shows tonight with several golden-throated oldies of the genre, among them Kenny Vance & the Planotones (Looking for an Echo), the Dubs (Could This Be Magic) and Gene Chandler (Duke of Earl).
But Gourdine considers "doo-wop" a pigeonhole, if not an epithet - a term coined in hindsight to describe songs of the '50s and '60s that used harmony and phonetic horseplay (see Manfred Mann's Do Wah Diddy Diddy). In the process, Gourdine said, doo-wop became a "broad brush" covering vocal r&b groups such as the Moonglows (Sincerely) and the Flamingos (I Only Have Eyes for You). He called the classification misleading and, worse, "an affront to the memory of some of the finest musicians in the world."
"It's my obligation to speak up for them," he said.
And for himself. Gourdine said only one of his songs is correctly termed doo-wop: Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop - "a novelty," in his words.
Whatever one calls it - the slow-dance classic Tears on My Pillow, the lavish soul of Hurt So Bad - the group's music is enjoying a revival. Gourdine, original bandmates Clarence Collins and Ernest Wright, and newest member Harold Jenkins performed with a 47-piece orchestra in August on The Late Show With David Letterman. Last month, Gourdine was on CBS's Sunday Morning.
The Imperials' Hall of Fame turn comes on April 4 alongside Jeff Beck, Metallica, Run-DMC and Bobby Womack - a salute by peers that Gourdine is enjoying without reservation.
Sean Piccoli can be reached at spiccoli@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4832. He blogs at SunSentinel.com/thebeat.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Rock Hall induction ceremony 22 days and counting
CLEVELAND -- In 22 days, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony returns to Cleveland.
As part of Channel 3's special coverage leading up to the event, we sat down with some inductees to find out what being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is like.
Watch the video on the right to see excerpts from interviews with members of ZZ Top, The Ventures, Little Anthony and The Imperials, and more.
Christian Music News Source
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Little Anthony & the Imperials interview
nterview at the Rock Hall with 2009 Inductees, Little Anthony & the Imperials. To see the full interview, go to http://wkyc.com/rockhall.&q...
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Little Richard keeps rhythm with Music City
It's hard to imagine a time before Little Richard. For more than half a century, the singular entertainer known as The Architect of Rock 'n' Roll has enthralled audiences and inspired generations of performers. His songs, persona and trademark "wooo" are seared into America's collective consciousness, impossible to forget or discount.
But there was a time before the world knew his name, when he was still an eccentric hotshot from Macon, Ga., scrounging a living playing in Nashville's famous R&B clubs of the 1950s.
Quantcast
"I was making $100 a week at the New Era club, when it was on Fourth Avenue, for (owner William Sousa) Soo Bridgeforth," he recalls. "I wasn't famous. I thought I was, but I wasn't — no records yet. I packed the house. You couldn't get in. I had a song that I would sing called 'Baby, Don't You Wish Your Man Looked Like Me.' I would say, 'Baby, don't you wish your man looked like Little Richard?' And all the ladies would say, 'Yeah!' All the men said, 'No!' "
He remembers playing the Club Revillot at 14th and Jefferson, too, and Club Baron, and the Bijou. "And I would pack those places," he says.
More than half a century later, Richard, 76, sits in a hotel lobby in downtown Nashville, mere blocks from the sites of those early gigs. Even without a stage, he has no trouble attracting an audience. Curious guests not-so-subtly snap cell phone photos in the distance, and one man approaches the rock icon with a request to sign his banjo. (Richard politely declines, explaining that he's not a picker.)
It's clear that plenty has changed since his first visit to Nashville. But the unique rapport Little Richard has with the city — a place he now calls home — hasn't.
"I think Nashville has been underrated," he says. "It's more of a mighty place than people think it is. It's a mighty city and it's going to be more mighty. In about five more years, it'll be New York City. The buildings are going to look like that. It's a beautiful scene."
'56 rock 'n' roll
In his early days, it was artists such as Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys and broadcasts from Nashville rhythm and blues radio station WLAC that inspired Richard Wayne Penniman and helped draw him to Music City.
Today, his eyes light up when speaking about current country stars. Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Faith Hill and Taylor Swift are among his favorites.
When he was given a star on the Music City Walk of Fame last November, Richard made time in his acceptance speech to compliment fellow inductee Trace Adkins.
Adkins, in turn, took the opportunity to exclaim, "Little Richard knows my name!"
"What I like about now, the country music that you hear today is '56 rock 'n' roll," Richard says. "The stuff that we played in '56, they call that country music today. The banging pianos and the 'uhhhh!' (singing)."
Nashville producer Steve Fishell, who has worked with the likes of Emmylou Harris and the Dixie Chicks, got to witness those connections firsthand when he worked with Richard on a song for The Imus Ranch Album in 2007. Richard recorded a fiery cover of "I Ain't Never," a song made famous by country star Webb Pierce in the 1950s.
"Richard put his stamp on that song," Fishell says. "I've never heard it rock so hard, and yet it really makes sense. He clearly loves country music. That surprised me a little bit, but then when you think about his past, and the connection that great songs have, it's not surprising that an artist of his stature would listen to country."
But in the beginning, Richard's time in Nashville was all about rhythm and blues. He made some of his earliest recordings playing piano for Nashville blues singer Christine Kittrell. Michael Gray, co-curator of the recent Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues, 1945-1970,says Richard put in "hours of bandstand apprenticeship" in Nashville R&B nightclubs.
"Nashville was segregated at the time, but R&B and blues music flourished in the black nightclubs and theaters here," Gray says. "Nashville was a major stop on the Southern touring circuit."
'I'm the originator'
Richard's tour makes its latest stop on Valentine's Day at the Grand Ole Opry House, where he'll headline a bill that could have been put together 40 years ago, featuring doo-wop pioneers (and recent Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductees) Little Anthony and the Imperials and Northern soul favorites the Tams. He talks up the show with trademark fervor.
"It's gonna be a whoopersnapper," he says. "It's gonna knock you to your knees and make you holler, 'Please!' I want everybody to come so they can enjoy themselves. I want to be their Valentine. For the grandmamma, for the wife, for the kids."
Alongside the self-promotion, it might actually be impossible to have a conversation with Little Richard without hearing the man sing. One of his current favorite songs to break into is Kenny Chesney's "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven."
"When he did the song, he was smart enough to go down to the Caribbean and do the West Indian reggae," Richard explains of Chesney.
The message in the song's hook — "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now" — also resonates with Little Richard. He says he's grateful to still be around.
"People come to hear me because I'm the originator," he explains. "I've been around for so long, and I'm still operating — and look decent! I think that gets to people.
"I still remember that I love this music. I love it from the bottom of my heart."
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Little Anthony and The Imperials (2009 R&R H.O.F. Inductees)
"Two People In The World"
The 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performer inductees were chosen by the 600 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twenty-five years after their first recording is released.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame starts selling induction ceremony tickets today
The public gets its first crack at tickets to the upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions during a walk-up pre-sale today at the Rock Hall box office.
Metallica, Run-D.M.C., Bobby Womack, Jeff Beck and Little Anthony and the Imperials will be among the honorees enshrined at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 4, at Cleveland's Public Hall.
Tickets are $35 and $75 for seating in the balcony, where about 5,000 people will be accommodated for the ceremony.
The pre-sale begins at 10 a.m. today, with fewer than 1,000 tickets set aside.
Remaining tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday at ticket master.com and Ticketmaster outlets, or charge by phone, 1-800-745-3000.
Rock Hall officials expect the event to sell out quickly.
There is a two-ticket limit on all orders.
Christian Music News Source
Little Anthony shares experiences with Cleveland fans at Rock Hall
CLEVELAND -- In celebration of Black History Month, a famed soul group from the 1950s and 60s shared their experienced with fans Friday.
Little Anthony and the Imperials were at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its "Hall of Fame Series" of presentations.
The rhythm and blues, "soul-doo-wop group," had such instant hits as "Tears on My Pillow" and "Goin' Out of My Head."
The group says they enjoy sharing their history with others.
"To have these kinds of programs, to be able to educate these kids, you're only going to get great dividends from that in the long run, because they're going to feel 'wow, I'm part of a country, America, that has all this...well maybe there's a place for me,'" Little Anthony Gourdine said.
Little Anthony and the Imperials will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the ceremony here in April.
Christian Music News Source
Little Anthony at the Rock Hall
February is the time for Black History Month (infoplease.com/spot/bhm1.html). During the month, many places are holding special events to celebrate some of the special people that have made the country great. One of the places that are holding such events is The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (rockhall.com). This week, the Rock Hall has been holding some of those events. One of the events that are still to take place happens tomorrow.
Tomorrow, Friday, February 13th, 2009, the Rock Hall welcomes Little Anthony and the Imperials (littleanthonyandtheimperials.com). The band is one of the artists that will be inducted into the Rock Hall for the 2009 Class of Inductees.
During their time in the industry, Little Anthony and the Imperials have released many albums, from the “We Are The Imperials” album in 1959, to the recently released album, “You’ll Never Know” (http://www.amazon.com/Youll-Never-Little-Anthony-Imperials/dp/B001FBSMXK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1234466235&sr=1-5).
Little Anthony and The Imperials will be inducted in a little over two months. However, Little Anthony will be coming to Cleveland a little early to make a stop at the Rock Hall tomorrow, February 13th, 2009. The musician will be part of an interview session that will be taking place in the Rock Hall’s Theater. This event will be part of the Rock Hall’s Hall of Fame Series.
If you were a fan of the group, or want to be part of history, as the musician gets ready to be inducted, this would be the perfect time to check out Little Anthony up close and personal as he answers questions in front of an audience at the Rock Hall. To be a part of the audience at this event, contact the Rock Hall via e-mail at edu@rockhall.org. Or, you can call and request a spot in the audience by calling (216) 515-8426.
Christian Music News Source
Little Anthony vows to rock Opry house
Little Richard is not the only rock legend gracing the stage at the Grand Ole Opry House on Saturday. Opening act Little Anthony & the Imperials ("Hurts So Bad," "Tears On My Pillow") are about to become certified rock royalty: They'll be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April.
"It feels great," leader Anthony Gourdine said. "When all of your peers tell you that you're cool, it can't get any better than that. We didn't lobby for it. All these years, we've heard that we were nominated, but we never made the first cut . . . but the announcement couldn't have come at a better time. I got the call on my birthday. I would have waited all those years to get that (moment)."
Gourdine says the opportunity to perform at the Opry is an honor, and passes on a message to his prospective audience:
"We're going to perform at a very high rate, I guarantee them. You ain't seen nothin', folks."
Little Richard, Little Anthony & the Imperials and The Tams perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Grand Ole Opry House (2802 Opryland Drive, 871-6779.) Tickets are $60-$95, available through Ticketmaster.
Heidi Newfield's guest room shocker
From Tennessean music writer Peter Cooper:
Heidi Newfield's five ACM nominations weren't just a surprise to many along Music Row. They were a surprise to Heidi as well.
"My manager called and woke me up and said, 'Turn your TV to the CBS Early Morning show,' " said Heidi, who was part of country trio Trick Pony before starting a solo career in 2008 with the Tony Brown-produced What Am I Waiting For? "I thought immediately that something was up. My husband and I don't have a TV in the master bedroom, so we crawled into bed in the guest bedroom."
We wonder aloud, "What did your guests think about that?" And we're ignored by Heidi, as she talks about her excitement and elation.
Two years ago, Heidi's career was in something of a holding pattern when she went to the ACM Awards in Vegas. Last year, she had completed her album and released a single, but the finished product was not yet in stores. This year, her five nominations — including one for best female vocalist — mean she probably has an inside track to a performance slot on the show.
"In all my time doing this, after all the venues and fairs and festivals and the shows with Trick Pony and the shows on my own, I've never had the chance to perform on a major awards show," she said. "That's including Trick Pony having won a best new artist award at the American Music Awards in 2001, and a best new group award at the ACMs in 2002. I've always thought of that as a big mile marker, having an opportunity to get up onstage and throw down and show people what I can do."
Hold onto your hats, it's a jazz rally
From Tennessean music writer Peter Cooper:
The jazzers are up in arms, which is good for our ears.
Here's the thing: Not sure if you've heard, but the economy isn't in particularly great shape right now. Mandatory furloughs are all the rage, and layoffs are pretty hip, too. And then there's fund-slashing. Lots of businesses and schools are into fund-slashing.
The fund of greatest concern to the Nashville jazz community is the one that supports WMOT 89.5 FM, a station that has been broadcasting cutting-edge jazz for 40 years from the campus of Middle Tennessee State University. State budget cuts have imperiled this Tennessee institution, and jazz musicians are banding together on Sunday afternoon to raise money in hopes of saving the station.
"The need for this station goes beyond just the jazz community," Nashville Jazz Orchestra's Jim Williamson said. I don't know any musician who doesn't have WMOT as a preset on his or her radio. In jazz, there are experimentations with harmony and rhythms and orchestrations, and all of that finds its way into pop music eventually. Jazz is always out in front, and musicians in Nashville know that, and pay attention."
Williamson's orchestra will play Sunday at Limelight, with guests including Felix Cavaliere (of The Young Rascals) and Diane Marino (of Diane Marino). Others on the bill include Rod McGaha, Victor Wooten, The Pat Coil Sextet, Christina Watson and El Movimiento (ah, que bueno). The show begins at 3 p.m. Admission is $15, with all proceeds going to WMOT.
"We're calling this a rally, not a benefit," Williamson said. Limelight is at 201 Woodland St., right across from LP Field.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Rock Hall sweet music to Little Anthony's ears
It was one of the all-time great birthday gifts, though "Little" Anthony Gourdine had nothing to unwrap.
On Jan. 8, Gourdine turned 69, and his best present came in the form of a conference call.
During it, he learned that the group he's fronted since he was a teenager, R&B staples Little Anthony & the Imperials, had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2009, which was announced Wednesday.
"It was a heck of a birthday present," Gourdine said with much relish Wednesday afternoon, the words lingering on his tongue as if they came coated in honey.
The group had been eligible for the Rock Hall for some time before getting the nod this year along with heavy metallers Metallica, rappers Run-DMC, guitarist Jeff Beck and soul singer Bobby Womack.
"A lot of people were really lobbying for us," Gourdine said, breathing hard on a power walk before hitting the gym shortly thereafter. "Paul Shaffer, Billy Joel and Paul Simon, who we worked with, they were all lobbying."
The Imperials are rounded out by Ernest Wright, founder Clarence Collins and Harold Jenkins (who replaced singer Sammy Strain upon his retirement), the latter three of whom also live in Vegas.
Beginning in the late '50s, the group notched a slew of hits such as "Tears on My Pillow," "Goin' Out of My Head," "I'm on the Outside (Looking In)" and "Hurt So Bad," driven by Gourdine's high-pitched, boyish lilt and the group's chocolate-rich harmonies.
Though one of their signature songs is doo-wop novelty standard "Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop," Gourdine says the Imperials quickly outgrew the doo-wop tag, and he doesn't appreciate being labeled as such.
"We've always been a group that's been a bit different. That's why I always tell people, 'Do not call us a doo-wop group,' " Gourdine said. "We are an R&B/pop group. Listen to our music. It would disrespect all these great producers and great writers (that the Imperials worked with over the years) to say that we're a doo-wop group. I don't like that."
As his words suggest, Gourdine remains a lively, animated presence, and he still performs regularly with the Imperials, who've remained a solid draw in Vegas and elsewhere.
In the past couple years, the group has played in town with some frequency at The Cannery and the Tropicana, as well as the Aquarius in Laughlin.
"We're really well-entrenched here," said Gourdine, who notes that the group might partake in semi-regular gigs at The Orleans in the near future. "That's why I live here."
The Imperials still tour every year, and the group recently celebrated their 50th anniversary with a performance on "The Late Show With David Letterman."
Unlike many of their peers, Little Anthony & the Imperials continue to boast most of their classic lineup, even after five decades. From boys to men, the group has managed to grow up together without growing old.
"We're the real deal. We never really lost it," Gourdine said. "We weren't cut out of the same cloth that everybody else came out of. We knew how to sing, we knew how to make harmony and we knew how to make it sound good. That's what's kept us together these 50 years, more than anything else."
Christian Music News Source
On Jan. 8, Gourdine turned 69, and his best present came in the form of a conference call.
During it, he learned that the group he's fronted since he was a teenager, R&B staples Little Anthony & the Imperials, had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2009, which was announced Wednesday.
"It was a heck of a birthday present," Gourdine said with much relish Wednesday afternoon, the words lingering on his tongue as if they came coated in honey.
The group had been eligible for the Rock Hall for some time before getting the nod this year along with heavy metallers Metallica, rappers Run-DMC, guitarist Jeff Beck and soul singer Bobby Womack.
"A lot of people were really lobbying for us," Gourdine said, breathing hard on a power walk before hitting the gym shortly thereafter. "Paul Shaffer, Billy Joel and Paul Simon, who we worked with, they were all lobbying."
The Imperials are rounded out by Ernest Wright, founder Clarence Collins and Harold Jenkins (who replaced singer Sammy Strain upon his retirement), the latter three of whom also live in Vegas.
Beginning in the late '50s, the group notched a slew of hits such as "Tears on My Pillow," "Goin' Out of My Head," "I'm on the Outside (Looking In)" and "Hurt So Bad," driven by Gourdine's high-pitched, boyish lilt and the group's chocolate-rich harmonies.
Though one of their signature songs is doo-wop novelty standard "Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop," Gourdine says the Imperials quickly outgrew the doo-wop tag, and he doesn't appreciate being labeled as such.
"We've always been a group that's been a bit different. That's why I always tell people, 'Do not call us a doo-wop group,' " Gourdine said. "We are an R&B/pop group. Listen to our music. It would disrespect all these great producers and great writers (that the Imperials worked with over the years) to say that we're a doo-wop group. I don't like that."
As his words suggest, Gourdine remains a lively, animated presence, and he still performs regularly with the Imperials, who've remained a solid draw in Vegas and elsewhere.
In the past couple years, the group has played in town with some frequency at The Cannery and the Tropicana, as well as the Aquarius in Laughlin.
"We're really well-entrenched here," said Gourdine, who notes that the group might partake in semi-regular gigs at The Orleans in the near future. "That's why I live here."
The Imperials still tour every year, and the group recently celebrated their 50th anniversary with a performance on "The Late Show With David Letterman."
Unlike many of their peers, Little Anthony & the Imperials continue to boast most of their classic lineup, even after five decades. From boys to men, the group has managed to grow up together without growing old.
"We're the real deal. We never really lost it," Gourdine said. "We weren't cut out of the same cloth that everybody else came out of. We knew how to sing, we knew how to make harmony and we knew how to make it sound good. That's what's kept us together these 50 years, more than anything else."
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
"We Built This City" Little Anthony and The Imperials
As they are 50 years later, Nominees for 2009 Induction into The R & R Hall Of Fame!
Christian Music News Source
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Hall hails Little Anthony and the Imperials
Now that Little Anthony and the Imperials have a golden anniversary to go along with the gold records, the timing is right for an appearance in the South Shore Room and possible induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
For its first concert of 2009, Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the South Shore Room, is bringing a group that also got its start a half-century ago.
Little Anthony and the Imperials celebrated their anniversary last year, which might have led to their being one of the nine nominees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The hall will select five this month for induction into Cleveland on April 4.
“We know it’s kind of political, and it’s not just them,” Little Anthony Gourdine said in a recent interview with the Washington Observer Reporter. “The Baseball Hall of Fame is the same way. The Football Hall of Fame is the same way. We just happened to be people where they realized it had been 50 years, and they looked at our body of work and said, ‘My gosh, they should be in.’ ”
The other nominees are Metallica, Run-DMC, the Stooges, Chic, Jeff Beck, Bobby Womack, Wanda Jackson and War.
Along with and the Dells, Little Anthony and the Imperials are the only remaining group from the doo-wop era touring with their original members, although Gourdine gets annoyed when he hears his music labeled doo-wop.
Doo-wop is vocal-based rhythm-and-blues that gained popularity in black communities beginning in the late 1930s. It peaked in the late 1950s and early ’60s, when Italian-American groups emerged. Doo-wop faded in the mid-1960s after the arrival of the British Invasion and Motown.
“When I started, it was a lot of ice cream bands, a lot of doo-wop-type sound,” Gourdine told Action in 2007. “We were in the middle of that, and we graduated from that.”
“Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko Ko Bop” and “Just Two Types of People in the World” were the band’s only doo-wop hits, he said.
“I love my country, but we are very well known for labeling things,” Gourdine said before his last show at Tahoe. “Like Alan Freed started calling me Little Anthony, but he’d never met me. (It was) because of my voice. People come up to me and say ‘You don’t look little.’ That’s right. I’m not.”
Gourdine’s falsetto sound helped popularize the group that had the well-known, post-doo-wop standards “Tears on My Pillow,” “Hurts So Bad,” Goin’ Out of My Head” and “I’m On The Outside Looking In.”
“You don’t last that long singing the same doo-wop song,” Gourdine said. “We consider ourselves being one of the finest recording acts. We’re not recording artists. We became performing artists. Beyonce, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake are recording artists. That’s how we lasted so long.”
Clarence Collins and Ernest Wright are the other Imperials who remain from the group’s heyday. Also in the band is Harold Jenkins, the group’s choreographer, who came onstage in 1972 to replace Sammy Strain, who joined the O’Jays. (Strain later rejoined Little Anthony and the Imperials before retiring in 2004.)
In the early days, Little Anthony and the Imperials members honed their chops by playing the “chitlin’ circuit” in the segregated South and East.
“I had the great pleasure and the blessing to go out and perform on the old chitlin’ circuit, the old black circuit, where you played with people like Moms Mabley, Redd Foxx, Flip Wilson, and famous groups like the Flamingos — that’s another great doo-wop group that wasn’t a doo-wop group. I took a little from here, I took a little from there. I took a little from Sammy Davis because we were friends.”
Gourdine, who grew up in the projects in Brooklyn, knew he had arrived after meeting jazz great Miles Davis, who said he loved “Goin’ Out of My Head.”
“What a dude,” Gourdine said. “I met him at Basin Street East. I thought he was going to be one of those cats who wasn’t too up on pop music and singing groups, but he knew all about it. He knew who I was right away.”
Little Anthony and the Imperials, became regulars in the South Shore Room, which used to feature artists for week-long engagements. Gourdine has fond Tahoe memories of eating soul food prepared by Davis, singing for Liza Minnelli and hanging out with Bill Cosby.
He now lives in the Las Vegas suburb of Summerland and tours with his group in style.
“Today we go out on tour and those buses are homes on wheels,” he said. “They have kitchens and DVDs and DirecTV satellite, queen-sized bed, showers. You name it. It’s wonderful.”
Christian Music News Source
For its first concert of 2009, Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the South Shore Room, is bringing a group that also got its start a half-century ago.
Little Anthony and the Imperials celebrated their anniversary last year, which might have led to their being one of the nine nominees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The hall will select five this month for induction into Cleveland on April 4.
“We know it’s kind of political, and it’s not just them,” Little Anthony Gourdine said in a recent interview with the Washington Observer Reporter. “The Baseball Hall of Fame is the same way. The Football Hall of Fame is the same way. We just happened to be people where they realized it had been 50 years, and they looked at our body of work and said, ‘My gosh, they should be in.’ ”
The other nominees are Metallica, Run-DMC, the Stooges, Chic, Jeff Beck, Bobby Womack, Wanda Jackson and War.
Along with and the Dells, Little Anthony and the Imperials are the only remaining group from the doo-wop era touring with their original members, although Gourdine gets annoyed when he hears his music labeled doo-wop.
Doo-wop is vocal-based rhythm-and-blues that gained popularity in black communities beginning in the late 1930s. It peaked in the late 1950s and early ’60s, when Italian-American groups emerged. Doo-wop faded in the mid-1960s after the arrival of the British Invasion and Motown.
“When I started, it was a lot of ice cream bands, a lot of doo-wop-type sound,” Gourdine told Action in 2007. “We were in the middle of that, and we graduated from that.”
“Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko Ko Bop” and “Just Two Types of People in the World” were the band’s only doo-wop hits, he said.
“I love my country, but we are very well known for labeling things,” Gourdine said before his last show at Tahoe. “Like Alan Freed started calling me Little Anthony, but he’d never met me. (It was) because of my voice. People come up to me and say ‘You don’t look little.’ That’s right. I’m not.”
Gourdine’s falsetto sound helped popularize the group that had the well-known, post-doo-wop standards “Tears on My Pillow,” “Hurts So Bad,” Goin’ Out of My Head” and “I’m On The Outside Looking In.”
“You don’t last that long singing the same doo-wop song,” Gourdine said. “We consider ourselves being one of the finest recording acts. We’re not recording artists. We became performing artists. Beyonce, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake are recording artists. That’s how we lasted so long.”
Clarence Collins and Ernest Wright are the other Imperials who remain from the group’s heyday. Also in the band is Harold Jenkins, the group’s choreographer, who came onstage in 1972 to replace Sammy Strain, who joined the O’Jays. (Strain later rejoined Little Anthony and the Imperials before retiring in 2004.)
In the early days, Little Anthony and the Imperials members honed their chops by playing the “chitlin’ circuit” in the segregated South and East.
“I had the great pleasure and the blessing to go out and perform on the old chitlin’ circuit, the old black circuit, where you played with people like Moms Mabley, Redd Foxx, Flip Wilson, and famous groups like the Flamingos — that’s another great doo-wop group that wasn’t a doo-wop group. I took a little from here, I took a little from there. I took a little from Sammy Davis because we were friends.”
Gourdine, who grew up in the projects in Brooklyn, knew he had arrived after meeting jazz great Miles Davis, who said he loved “Goin’ Out of My Head.”
“What a dude,” Gourdine said. “I met him at Basin Street East. I thought he was going to be one of those cats who wasn’t too up on pop music and singing groups, but he knew all about it. He knew who I was right away.”
Little Anthony and the Imperials, became regulars in the South Shore Room, which used to feature artists for week-long engagements. Gourdine has fond Tahoe memories of eating soul food prepared by Davis, singing for Liza Minnelli and hanging out with Bill Cosby.
He now lives in the Las Vegas suburb of Summerland and tours with his group in style.
“Today we go out on tour and those buses are homes on wheels,” he said. “They have kitchens and DVDs and DirecTV satellite, queen-sized bed, showers. You name it. It’s wonderful.”
Christian Music News Source
Little Anthony keeps thinking big
The inductees for the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be announced next month, some four months after the release of the nominations, but Little Anthony isn't among those sitting around fretting over his chances.
In fact, in a recent interview, the singer couldn't even say who was nominated or how many would get in.
He'll tell you that after 50 years in the music business, he's more concerned with taking care of his own business than worrying about what other people think of him, what awards he's getting or what labels they're putting on his music.
At 68, Anthony Gourdine has seen it all and done it all at this point.
He and the Imperials formed in Brooklyn and came to fame with their very first single, "Tears on My Pillow," which became a No. 4 hit in 1958 and still stands as one of the classic heartbreak ballads of the era. Rather than fade away like so many of the late '50s groups, the Imperials hit the charts again in the '60s with the more modern "Goin' Out of My Head" and "Hurt So Bad."
Little Anthony branched off solo at various points, and members came and went, but five decades going, the Imperials are still touring with three original members - Little Anthony, Ernest Wright and Clarence Collins - at a time when some of the oldies groups don't even have one.
Q: So, how did you get Little in front of your name?
A: It was Alan Freed in 1958. The legend says that one of the promoters came in and played the record on WINS, on his show, and he was the biggest disc jockey on the planet at that time. And he said, "Great stuff, who's the girl?" And (the promoter) said, "That's not a girl; that's a guy." He said, "Man, he must be little," and he just said "Little Anthony." So it became Little Anthony and the Imperials. In fact, the first record we put out was "The Imperials." They had to recall thousands of records 'cause it said the Imperials.
Q: But your career may have been completely different if he hadn't done that, right?
A: Well, what it would have done would have clarified that I wasn't little. That's what it would have done and saved a lot of pain as I went through in this business. People start thinking that you're this mindless little elf that happens to be talented.
Q: When you first heard "Tears on My Pillow," did you think it was going to be that big of a hit?
A: Nope. The song we had was "Two People in the World," that Ernest wrote. It was the one that got us the record deal when we went down there to audition. In those days, you had a little 45 with two sides, so we had to do another song. We did several songs, which just did not please George Goldner, who was the president of End Records. He said, "There's a song I like. I'd like you to listen to it. I think we're going to go back in the studio and record it." And that was "Tears on My Pillow." It was hastily done. I learned it quick. The melody stayed in my head very quickly and then I read the words off the lead sheet, and the guys in the back room had to come up with a background and they didn't know what to do 'cause we had to record it that day so they took the background of the Penguins' "Earth Angel." People would listen to "Earth Angel" and "Tears on My Pillow" - same background.
Q: What was your reaction to being nominated for the Rock and Hall of Fame? I guess you waited a long time.
A: You know what? We never waited. And you probably say, "Oh, he's jivin'" But we never discussed it. We felt that we were fulfilling what our destiny was. There are a lot of people in that Hall of Fame that ain't performing anymore. We reached a pinnacle in our career where we were working at some of the finest places in the world, from Vegas to Lake Tahoe, all the biggest rooms. It was almost to us like, I don't know how they decide who gets to be in the Hall of Fame, but we realize that the only thing we had to do was to be better - better performers. People like Billy Joel, Paul Shaffer, Paul Simon, those were the people who were really lobbying for us. We don't have any power.
Christian Music News Source
In fact, in a recent interview, the singer couldn't even say who was nominated or how many would get in.
He'll tell you that after 50 years in the music business, he's more concerned with taking care of his own business than worrying about what other people think of him, what awards he's getting or what labels they're putting on his music.
At 68, Anthony Gourdine has seen it all and done it all at this point.
He and the Imperials formed in Brooklyn and came to fame with their very first single, "Tears on My Pillow," which became a No. 4 hit in 1958 and still stands as one of the classic heartbreak ballads of the era. Rather than fade away like so many of the late '50s groups, the Imperials hit the charts again in the '60s with the more modern "Goin' Out of My Head" and "Hurt So Bad."
Little Anthony branched off solo at various points, and members came and went, but five decades going, the Imperials are still touring with three original members - Little Anthony, Ernest Wright and Clarence Collins - at a time when some of the oldies groups don't even have one.
Q: So, how did you get Little in front of your name?
A: It was Alan Freed in 1958. The legend says that one of the promoters came in and played the record on WINS, on his show, and he was the biggest disc jockey on the planet at that time. And he said, "Great stuff, who's the girl?" And (the promoter) said, "That's not a girl; that's a guy." He said, "Man, he must be little," and he just said "Little Anthony." So it became Little Anthony and the Imperials. In fact, the first record we put out was "The Imperials." They had to recall thousands of records 'cause it said the Imperials.
Q: But your career may have been completely different if he hadn't done that, right?
A: Well, what it would have done would have clarified that I wasn't little. That's what it would have done and saved a lot of pain as I went through in this business. People start thinking that you're this mindless little elf that happens to be talented.
Q: When you first heard "Tears on My Pillow," did you think it was going to be that big of a hit?
A: Nope. The song we had was "Two People in the World," that Ernest wrote. It was the one that got us the record deal when we went down there to audition. In those days, you had a little 45 with two sides, so we had to do another song. We did several songs, which just did not please George Goldner, who was the president of End Records. He said, "There's a song I like. I'd like you to listen to it. I think we're going to go back in the studio and record it." And that was "Tears on My Pillow." It was hastily done. I learned it quick. The melody stayed in my head very quickly and then I read the words off the lead sheet, and the guys in the back room had to come up with a background and they didn't know what to do 'cause we had to record it that day so they took the background of the Penguins' "Earth Angel." People would listen to "Earth Angel" and "Tears on My Pillow" - same background.
Q: What was your reaction to being nominated for the Rock and Hall of Fame? I guess you waited a long time.
A: You know what? We never waited. And you probably say, "Oh, he's jivin'" But we never discussed it. We felt that we were fulfilling what our destiny was. There are a lot of people in that Hall of Fame that ain't performing anymore. We reached a pinnacle in our career where we were working at some of the finest places in the world, from Vegas to Lake Tahoe, all the biggest rooms. It was almost to us like, I don't know how they decide who gets to be in the Hall of Fame, but we realize that the only thing we had to do was to be better - better performers. People like Billy Joel, Paul Shaffer, Paul Simon, those were the people who were really lobbying for us. We don't have any power.
Christian Music News Source
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