Arthur Adams
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Arthur Adams
- Genres: Blues
Biography
As house bandleader at B.B. King's Los Angeles blues club, Arthur Adams cranks out searing blues for the well-heeled tourists who trod the length of Universal Studios' glitzy City Walk. But the great majority of his transient clientele can't begin to imagine the depth and variety of the guitarist's career.The shaven-headed Tennessee native began playing guitar in the mid-'50s, taking early inspiration from the man whose name adorns the club that later employed him (Howard Carroll, axeman for gospel's Dixie Hummingbirds, also was a principal influence). He studied music at Tennessee State University, playing briefly with the school's resident jazz and blues aggregation.
Touring as a member of singer Gene Allison's band, Adams found himself stranded in Dallas, where he dazzled the locals with his fancy fretwork. Relocating to L.A. in 1964, he began to do session work for jazz great Quincy Jones, and cut singles for the Bihari Brothers' Kent label and Hugh Masekela's Motown-distributed Chisa imprint. His late-'60s R&B sides for the latter were co-produced by Stewart Levine and featured support from most of the Crusaders. Adams' 1970 debut LP for Blue Thumb, It's Private Tonight, was co-produced by Bonnie Raitt and Tommy Lipuma. Adams continued to record solo albums through the late '70s, but by the '80s he retreated from the forefront, only ocasionally moonlighting as a session guitarist for various groups. In 1992, he wrote two songs for B.B. King's There Is Always One More Time album and 1999 saw Adams's first solo release in 20 years with Back on Track, which featured King as a guest guitarist. In 2004, Adams continued rebuilding momentum with the release Soul of the Blues. ~ Bill Dahl, Rovi
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Arthur Adams (singer)
| Arthur Adams | |
|---|---|
 Adams performing on stage in 2008 |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Arthur K. Adams |
| Born | 25 December 1943 Medon, Tennessee, United States |
| Genres | Blues, Gospel, R&B, Pop, Funk, SoulDisco, Jazz |
| Occupations | Musician, Composer, Bandleader, Film scorer |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar, Bass |
| Years active | 1957 - Present |
| Labels | RCA, Kent Records, Jamie Records, Modern Records, Blind Pig, Blue Thumb, Fantasy, Utopia, A&M, Dutchess Records, Chisa Records, Valdot Records |
| Associated acts | Nina Simone, B. B. King |
| Website | www.arthuradamsband.com |
Arthur Adams (born December 25, 1943) is an American blues musician from Medon, Tennessee. Inspired by B.B. King and other 1950s artists, he played gospel music before attending college. He moved to Los Angeles, and during the 1960s and 1970s he released solo albums and worked as a session musician. In 1985 he was tapped to tour on bass guitar with Nina Simone,[1] and he staged a comeback in the 1990s when he released "Back on Track", and became a respected Chicago blues player and bandleader in B.B. King's clubs.
A prolific songwriter,[1] with a blues style that incorporated a variety of genres, and a vocalist with a funky, soul-driven sound, Adams is known for his collaboration with many of blues' elite and continues to perform to date.
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Contents
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Early life
Arthur Adams was born on 25 December 1943 in Medon, Tennessee.[2] At the age of six, he sang in the church choir,[3] but did not begin playing the guitar until he was a teenager. In the mid-1950s, he learned the instrument from his mother, by copying her finger positions.[2][3] He was inspired by artists such as B. B. King, Howard Carroll of Dixie Hummingbirds,[1][4] Elmore James and Muddy Waters, which he listened to on the radio.[3]
Adams formed a group with his cousins, called the Gospel Travelers,[3] who toured Tennessee and Arkansas.[2] The group was disbanded when he moved to Tennessee to attend the State University,[3] where he studied music and played in the school's resident jazz and blues band.[4]
Professional career
Adams began playing the blues professionally at a local student bar called the Club Baron. He toured with Gene Allison's band,[4] as a backup singer.[3] Allison had success in 1957 with "You Can Make It If You Try" on the Vee-Jay label. At the end of an ill-fated tour, Adams was stranded by Allison in Dallas.[1] He remained there from February 1959 until April 1964, working in local nightclubs including the Clubhouse and the Empire Room, playing with Lightnin' Hopkins, Chuck Berry, Elmore James, and Lowell Fulson. On one occasion, Adams supported Buddy Guy, and picked up his showmanship habit of walking through the audience in mid-solo.[3][4] Tenor saxophonist Jimmy Beck, who had a hit record, the instrumental "Pipe Dream" (on the Champion Records label) hired Arthur in 1959.[3] During his early career, he played gospel and blues.[3]
In the early 1960s, he produced several singles, including "If It Ain't One Thing It's Another"/"Willin' To Die" on Philadelphia-based Jamie Records), which was produced in Dallas by Al Klein, who went on to become a Motown representative.[3]
On the Dutchess record label, he released "I Had A Dream" in 1961.[5] He also released "The Same Thing"/"Tend To Your Business" on the Valdot label, which was owned by Nashville songwriter Ted Jarrett.[3]
On some of Adams' records, up until the late 1960s, he was credited as Arthur K. Adams - the "K" being a marketing device, with no particular significance. It was the idea of promoter/singer Scotty McKay.[3]
In 1964, Adams moved to Los Angeles, California after a DJ in Fort Worth recommended Adams as a session player to Vee-Jay Records. Although he recorded a session, it was never released.[3] That same year, he began working as a session musician full-time, working with Quincy Jones, and recording singles for the notorious Bihari Brothers (on the Kent Records label), and for Hugh Masekela on the Chisa label.[4] The move was lucrative for Adams, who not only made a name for himself in the clubs, but also became a prolific studio musician, contributing to movies and soundtracks, playing on hundreds of sessions with artists ranging from Lou Rawls to Henry Mancini.[6]
In 1967, he was performing he performed music on the television movie The Outsider, which starred Darren McGavin. He then recorded a blues track, "She Drives Me Out Of My Mind", on the Bihari brothers' Modern Records label.[3]
He produced both blues and soul music on the Modern label,[3] and with Edna Wright (later lead singer of Honey Cone), he sang a duet called "Let's Get Together", using the name Arthur & Mary.[3] Upon recommendation from Bobby Womack, Adams appeared in the house band for a TV program hosted by NFL defensive tackle Rosey Grier, who was also a singer. This led to further studio work in Los Angeles; he played on recordings by the Jackson 5, Henry Mancini, Lou Rawls, Willie Hutch, Sonny Bono, Nancy Wilson, Kim Weston, the Ballads (on their 1968 single "God Bless Our Love"), Sonny Charles & the Checkmates, Ltd. (on the 1969 single "Black Pearl", produced by Phil Spector), and others.[3]
He contributed to TV and movie soundtracks including Cactus Flower, Buck and the Preacher, The Bill Cosby Show, and Ironside. His song "Love And Peace" was covered by Quincy Jones on his Grammy Award- winning 1969 album Walking In Space.[3]
In the late 1960s he recorded several Rhythm and blues records with Gadson[who?] and several members of The Crusaders, co-produced by Stewart Levine.[4] In 1969 he released the single "It's Private Tonight" on the Motown-distributed Chisa Records label.[3] He then joined Bob Krasnow's Blue Thumb Records, and released his 1972 debut album, It's Private Tonight.[3] It was co-produced by Bonnie Raitt and Tommy LiPuma.[4] This featured artists such as The Crusaders' keyboardist Joe Sample and saxist Wilton Felder.[3] Conversely, Adams played on many of the Crusaders' 1970 jazz and funk LPs, includingThe Crusaders, Second Coming, Unsung Heroes, Those Southern Knights, and Free As the Wind.[3]
In 1967, Adams performed in a cameo appearance for the made for television movie, The Outsiders, playing a rendition of "She Drives Me Out Of My Mind".[1]
He released four more albums during the decade.[6] Adams' style became progressively more funk-oriented, with the release of three further albums, Home Brew (1975, Fantasy Records), Midnight Serenade (the follow-up, also Fantasy Records), and I Love Love Love My Lady on A&M.[3] He also co-wrote "Truckload Of Lovin'" with Jimmy Lewis, which was the eponymous track on Albert King's 1976 Utopia Records album.[3]
During the latter 1970s, Adams changed style and played soul.[3] He recorded more solo albums, but in the 1980s he returned to his blues roots,[3] occasionally working as a session guitarist for various groups.[4] After tiring of session work,[6] in 1985 Adams became the bassist for Nina Simone on her 1995 European tour.[3]
In 1986, he recorded a session for a Church's Fried Chicken commercial, with harpist Chris Smith.[3] By 1987, Adams was fronting his own blues band, and again performing live.[3] He wrote two songs, which appeared on for B. B. King's 1992 album "There Is Always One More Time.[4]
In 1994, B. B. King opened a club in Universal City. Adams had previously played rhythm guitar for B. B. King, and had written two songs for King's 1991 "There Is Always One More Time" (MCA Records), and through this connection he became one of the primary attractions at the club; he also appeared at other L.A. blues clubs.[3]
Adams recorded a version of Ann Peebles soul classic "I Can't Stand the Rain" for the movie Town And Country, starring Goldie Hawn.[3] He performed at the St. Louis Blues Heritage Festival in August 1997, and in November at the Utrecht Blues Estafette in The Netherlands.[3]
In 1999, he released the album Back on Track, his first solo release in 20 years.[4] B. B. King guested on the album on guitar,[4] and the pair duetted on two tracks. This was his first release on the Blind Pig record label.[3][7] Adams wrote eight out of the eleven tracks,[6] combining the three styles of gospel, blues and soul.[8] Tracks include two duets ("Got You Next To Me" and "The Long Haul"), in which Adams sang with B. B. King[3] - both composed by Adams and Will Jennings.[7]
In 2004, he released Soul of the Blues.[4]
Adams was a bandleader at B. B. King's blues club in Los Angeles,[4] often performing with drummer James Gadson.[9] His style has been described as "freight train guitar and soul-steeped vocals".[3] He has also written with the award-winning composer Will Jennings.[3]
Discography
Albums
| Title | Year | Label |
|---|---|---|
| It's Private Tonight | 1972 | Blue Thumb |
| Home Brew | 1975 | Fantasy |
| Midnight Serenade | 1977 | Fantasy |
| I Love Love Love My Lady | 1979 | A&M |
| Back on Track | 1999 | Blind Pig |
| Soul of the Blues | 2004 | PM |
| Stomp The Floor | 2009 | Delta Groove |
Chart singles
References
- ^ a b c d e "Arthur Adams", Artist Releases, Back on Track (Blind Pig Records): pp. Artist releases biography, 2006, http://www.blindpigrecords.com/index.cfm?section=artists&artistid=1, retrieved 17 January 2010
- ^ a b c Larkin 2006
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj Blind Pig Records
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Bogdanov, Woodstra & Erlewine 2003
- ^ 45 Discography for Dutchess Records, http://www.globaldogproductions.info/d/dutchess.html, retrieved 2009-08-10
- ^ a b c d Houff 1999
- ^ a b Allmusic "Back on Track"
- ^ Sikorski 1999
- ^ Living Blues Magazine
- ^ Rice, Rice & Gambaccini 1990
- ^ Roberts, David (2006), British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.), London: Guinness World Records Limited, p. 14, ISBN 1-904994-10-5
Bibliography
- Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2003), All music guide to the blues: the definitive guide to the blues (3, revised ed.), Milwaukee: Backbeat Books, pp. 755, ISBN 978-0-87930-736-3, http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p15291, retrieved 2009-08-09 (Allmusic)
- allmusic Back on Track Overview, Allmusic, http://www.allmusic.com/album/r421728, retrieved 2009-08-09
- Rice, Tim; Rice, Jonathan; Gambaccini, Paul (1990), Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums, Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness World Records and Guinness Publishing, p. 320, ISBN 0-85112-398-8
- Arthur Adams, San Francisco, California: Blind Pig Records, http://www.blindpigrecords.com/index.cfm?section=artists&artistid=1, retrieved 2009-08-09
- Living Blues Magazine (University of Mississippi. Center for the Study of Southern Culture) (96–103), 1991
- Larkin, Colin (2006), The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Fourth ed.), Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, pp. 8904, ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4
- Houff, Dick (1999), Arthur Adams, "Back On Track", Blues On Stage, http://www.mnblues.com/cdreview/cd-arthuradams.html, retrieved 2009-08-16
- Sikorski, Don (September 1999), "Arthur Adams "Back on Track"", Sound Waves Magazine, http://www.swaves.com/Back_Issues/Sept99/arthur_adams.htm, retrieved 2009-08-16
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Mentioned in
Home Brew
(1975 Album by Arthur Adams)
The Ringer: Combat! (TV Episode)
(1966 TV Episode)
Blind Pig Records' 25th Anniversary Collection
(2001 Album by Various Artists)
Universe
(1972 Album by Hampton Hawes)
Motown's Blue Evolution
(1996 Album by Various Artists)
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