Ace Cannon

For The Record...

Born Hubert John Cannon on May 5, 1934, in Grenada, MS. Saxophonist and bandleader, 1950-; began career as a session man behind Billy Lee Riley, Brad Suggs, Warren Smith, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others at Sun Records and Fernwood Records, late 1950s; joined Bill Blacks Combo, 1959; recorded for Hi Records as a solo act, 1961-74; recorded for London, Gusto, Wirl, and several smaller labels, 1975-95; worked as a session man in Nashville, 1975-95; nominated for a Grammy for his 1975 instrumental version of "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," 1975; toured via cruise ships and recorded for his own RMD label, 2000-. Awards: Inducted into Memphis Music Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian Rock and Soul Hall of Fame, 2000, and to International Rockabilly Hall of Fame, 2001; presented with a legislative award honoring his six decades in music by Representative Steve McDaniel, early 2000s; inducted into Mississippi Musicians' Hall of Fame, 2008. Addresses: Record company—RMD Music, Inc., Carl Griffin, P.O. Box 565, Greenville, MS 38701, phone: 1-800-891-0627, 601-335-2962, e-mail: ace@acecannon.com. Web site—Ace Cannon Official Web site: http://www.acecannon.com.

Instrumentalist, bandleader

Ace Cannon is one of the premier saxophonists of his generation. Whether honking out rock and roll at Sun Records, playing jukebox instrumentals with the Bill Black Combo, or soloing through sensual ballads, he has executed his sound with feeling and skill. A self-taught musician, the Mississippi-born saxman can embrace the comic ragtime of Boots Randolph or the romantic mood of Syl Johnson without missing a chord change.

Born Hubert John Cannon on May 5, 1934, in Grenada, Mississippi, his love of music came from his father, who played fiddle and guitar. His family moved to Memphis when he was a child. Fond of humming through a comb with paper behind it, which made a noise like a kazoo, the youngster would often sing or play at local grocery stores and earn a "cold drink." At the age of ten, after schoolmate/local sax phenom Martin Willis piqued his interest in the saxophone, Cannon's father decided it was time to buy his son a real instrument. The only one available was a baritone sax. Cannon recalled, "It was about twice as tall as I was and so heavy that I couldn't play it. I found out that they made 'em in different sizes and I told him what I wanted to play. I remember him going to a music store uptown in Memphis and buying one. I couldn't wait to get home to play it. I took it out in the back seat of the car on the way home and started playing ‘Beer Barrel Polka.’"

A quick study, young Cannon began playing in the school band with much older students when he was in fifth grade. He also played in beer joints and nightclubs, usually with his father's group, as well as for family functions or events at the high school.

Formed Friendship with Bill Black
At the time, Cannon was playing a lot of country music and singing Hank Thompson songs with such local groups as Clyde Leppard and the Snearly Ranch Boys and Buck "Stuffy" Turner and his Buckeroos. However, his true musical interest was jazz, with Earl Bostic proving a particular favorite. During his formative years he learned to read music and played in the Hollywood Junior High School and Tech High School Bands. After graduation, he planned to major in music at Memphis State University, but he recalled, "I didn't last but a semester and a half because I quit, got married, and got a day job."

Cannon worked his way up from file clerk to personnel manager for Layne Irrigation Pumps, while also playing with local bands. In between his day job and nightclub stints, Cannon occasionally played saxophone behind such Sun Records artists as Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Lee Riley, Warren Smith, Brad Suggs, and many others. But it was his friendship with former Elvis Presley sideman Bill Black that would kick Cannon's career into high gear.

The Bill Black Combo, buoyed by such million-selling instrumental hits as "Smokie Part 2" and "White Silver Sands," needed someone to fill in and eventually take the place of saxman Martin Willis, who didn't want to tour. Black chose his friend, neighbor, and drinking buddy Cannon to fill in on road dates at first, but by 1961 he had become a regular member of the recording ensemble. Willis continued on and off with the Combo until early 1965, but today most people remember the gregarious Cannon as the band's saxophonist.

"Tuff" Became Breakthrough Hit
Although Bill Black is revered by rockabilly revivalists for his work with Elvis Presley, his Combo's recordings were mostly dismissed as corny and gimmick-leaden novelties. The initial sound was based around Reggie Young's ability to thwack his guitar strings with a no. 2 lead pencil. Later, pianist Bobby Emmons played a Chord-a-Vox device which provided the records with a roller-rink organ sound. "We were just trying all kinds of different gimmicks," Cannon recalled.

Cannon's sax work elevated the group's energy, and he proved quite a popular stage presence. However, his penchant for hard drinking got out of control quickly, causing him to blow off gigs and upset promoters. "I just started too early with it," he admitted. "Getting out there in the music business and playing places where I wasn't even supposed to be." Cannon, who didn't completely quit drinking until he nearly lost one of his feet in a 1995 auto accident, was quickly replaced with Charles Chalmers.

Although he was forced to fire Cannon, the ever-loyal Black still liked his hard-drinking sax player enough to provide him with a golden opportunity—a chance to record his breakthrough hit, "Tuff." "What we did was take the old song ‘Columbus Stockade Blues,’ an old country thing that Jimmie Davis wrote a long time ago," explained Cannon. "Me and [drummer] Johnny Bernero went in there and changed the format, slowed it down and made a blues out of it called ‘Cattywampus’ at first." Initially, Cannon and Bernero took the tune to Bill Justis at Sun, who was looking for a follow-up to his hit "Raunchy." "Tuff," recalled Cannon, "was what they called a sleeper. It slept for about six months before it ever really done anything."

Distributed by Hi, "Tuff" went on to hit number 17 on the national pop charts and number three on the R&B charts. A smart, more aggressive adjunct to the Bill Black Combo sound, it put Cannon's career into high gear with jukebox operators all across the country. After he scored another top 40 hit with his version of the Delmore Brothers' "Blues Stay Away From Me," Santos Records leased an early track Cannon had cut at the Fernwood studios, "Sugar Blues," which scraped onto the bottom of the Billboard Hot 100. However, Cannon, like his former boss Bill Black, discovered that his market was increasingly becoming album oriented. Signed to a long term contract with Hi, the saxophonist recorded prolifically for the label until 1974, tackling many different genres.

Recording next for London Records, Cannon's sound began to steadily embrace country music, and from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, he played on numerous session dates in Nashville. As a solo artist, his 1975 instrumental version of Willie Nelson's hit "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain" earned a Grammy nomination. Yet despite appearing on such country music-oriented programs as The Wilburn Brothers Show and The Porter Wagoner Show, Cannon never really clicked in that genre. Still a popular artist, he cut mood music albums for labels like Gusto, Wirl, and Tee Vee, who advertised them on late night television. Overnight, Cannon's career was revived, and after that time he was able to make a solid living alternating between playing romantic ballads and rock and roll revival gigs.

Earned Grammy Nomination
Cannon relocated several times, but occasionally revisited his Memphis roots. At the request of producer Chips Moman, Cannon's engineer at Hi, he played on the 1987 Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins album Class of '55. "That was one of the most fun albums that I've ever cut just because I was in the studio with all those particular stars," Cannons recalled. "And that finale ["Big Train"] just kept on going, kept on going, we didn't want to quit."

Class of '55 led to a 1996 tour with Carl Perkins, who was recovering from cancer at the time, and the tour stops included Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Another notable reunion came when he played in a reconstituted version of the Bill Black Combo as part of former Elvis Presley sidemen Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana's 1997 album All the King's Men. Hitting their old groove, Cannon and the band garnered a Grammy nomination for their take on "Goin' Back to Memphis."

Once a true road warrior who played 250 shows a year, Cannon eventually cut back to 50 dates a year, many of them on cruise ships. Still cutting new music when he can, Cannon has recorded for his own private label, selling the tapes and discs at shows, and has formed RMD Music with his friend and attorney, Carl Griffith. He is amazed at how far his fan base has spread. "I've cut two albums for West Indies Records down in Barbados and Trinidad," he explained. "I've been over there at least 25 times. I'm very popular in the Caribbean and it's all because of the smoochin', hold close and sexy sound I get."

Now living in Calhoun City, Mississippi, just 30 miles away from where he was born, Cannon still loves the being part of the music business. "That's the way I had it planned," he stated proudly. "I hope that's where I am when I fall after I hit the last note on one of these bandstands. I have no desire to quit."

Selected discography

Solo
Looking Back, Hi, 1962.
Tuff, Hi, 1962.
Moanin' Sax, Hi, 1963.
Aces High, Hi, 1964.
Christmas Cheer, Hi, 1964.
Plays the Great Show Tunes, Hi, 1964.
Ace Cannon Live, Hi, 1965.
Sweet & Tuff, Hi, 1966.
Misty Sax, Hi, 1967.
In the Spotlight, Hi, 1969.
Incomparable Sax, Hi, 1969.
Ace of Sax, Hi, 1970.
Happy & Mellow, Hi, 1970.
Cool & Saxy, Hi, 1971.
Blowing Wind, Hi, 1972.
Cannon Country, Hi, 1972.
Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me, Hi, 1973.
That Music City Feeling, Hi, 1974.
Country Comfort, London, 1975.
Super Sax Country Style, London, 1975.
Sax Man, London, 1978.
Holiday With Ace, Gusto, 1983.
Help Me Make It Through the Night, Project 3, 1987.
Sweet Dreams, SOH, 1993.
Music For Lovers, Wirl, 1994.
Ace Cannon Plays Gold Favorites, Power Pak, 1996.
Unsafe Sax, King, 1996.
Misty Sax/Memphis Golden Hits, Hi, 1996.
Hank Williams Songbook, K-Tel, 1996.
The Best of Ace Cannon, Curb, 1996.
The Hi Masters, Hi, 1998.
Very Best of Ace Cannon, London, 1998.
The Best of Ace Cannon: The Hi Records Years, Hi, 2001.
Favourites, Pegasus, 2006.
Ace Cannon, Tee Vee, 2008.

With others
(With Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins) Class of '55—Memphis Homecoming, Mercury/American, 1986.
(With Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana) All the King's Men, Sweetfish, 1997.

Sources
Online
"Ace Cannon," All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com (December 11, 2008).
Ace Cannon Official Web site, http://www.acecannon.com/bio.html (December 11, 2008).
"Ace to be Inducted Into Hall of Fame," Calhoun County Journal, http://www.calhouncountyjournal/index/php?view=article&catid1%3Alatest-news&ID=681%3ace&tmpl=component&print=1&page=&option=com_content (December 11, 2008).
Additional information was obtained in an interview with Ace Cannon, from which quotations in this entry were drawn.