Henry Glover

Henry Glover (May 21, 1921 – April 7, 1991^[1]), was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and trumpeter. Glover was one of the first successful black executives in the music industry. He first rose to prominence in the late 1940s with the Syd Nathan independent (and white-owned) King label. Glover served at various times as a producer, arranger, songwriter (sometimes under the alias Henry Bernard), engineer, trumpet player, talent scout, A&R man, studio constructor, and later on as a label owner in his own right. Eclectic in his musical tastes, Glover worked with country, blues, R&B, pop, rock, and jazz artists over the course of his long career, plus he played a major role in building King Records into one of the biggest independents of its era.^[2] He is a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.

Career

Glover was born Henry Bernard Glover, in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He grew up listening to all kinds of music on local radio, and as he got older, he moved freely among the different types of music available on the local club scene. A skilled trumpet player through high school and college, he joined Buddy Johnson's big band in early 1944, and with Lucky Millinder's orchestra as both a musician and arranger early in 1945. It was there that he met King Records founder Syd Nathan, who was impressed enough with Glover to hire him as an A&R man, with an eye towards beefing up King's roster in the area then dubbed "race music." Glover signed on and quickly proved himself in a variety of areas in addition to A&R, even physically helping to build King's first recording studio.^[2]

A country fan since his boyhood, he produced sessions for the label's already-established set of country artists, including The Delmore Brothers, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, Moon Mullican, Grandpa Jones, Wayne Raney, and The York Brothers among others. The Delmore Brothers concert in particular was groundbreaking: Glover co-wrote "Blues Stay Away from Me" with them, rearranging saxophonist Paul Williams' "The Hucklebuck" for country audiences; not only was the record a pre rock and roll fusion of black and white sensibilities, it also made Glover first black producer in country music history. His first success with black audiences came with Bull Moose Jackson's 1945 cover of Joe Liggins' "The Honeydripper", and over the next two years Glover produced a steady stream of releases on King's subsidiary label, Queen Records.^[2]

In 1947, Nathan merged Queen directly into King, signalling a new level of racial integration that extended into his hiring policies, and made Glover something of a trailblazer. Meanwhile, Glover's success with the jump blues/early R&B market solidified his standing as Nathan's right-hand man. He signed artists like his old employer Millinder and Tiny Bradshaw, and went on to work with Wynonie Harris and Bill Doggett. Glover also produced and/or wrote for Hank Ballard & the Midnighters ("Teardrops on Your Letter"), Little Willie John (convincing him to record the original version of the standard "Fever"), James Brown, and the doo-wop vocal group, The Swallows. Meanwhile, Glover's composition "Drown in My Own Tears", originally recorded by the singer Lula Reed with pianist Sonny Thompson, and was memorably covered by Ray Charles, and ranked among the singer's early soul classics.^[2]

Glover then controlled King's New York office, while Nathan remained in the label's home base of Cincinnati. However in 1958, Glover split with King, and went to work for Morris Levy's Roulette label, which at the time featured mostly jazz and rock artists but was lacking in the R&B department. Glover worked to correct that imbalance while working with the likes of Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, and Sonny Stitt among others. He also produced Ronnie Hawkins. He befriended his backup band, the Hawks, and encouraged them in their independent ambitions. Glover later released one of their early singles as The Canadian Squires, prior to their becoming The Band.^[2]

In 1960, Billy Bland heard Titus Turner recording the song "Let the Little Girl Dance" in the studio, and demonstrated to Turner how to sing it (along with guitarist Mickey Baker and other session musicians). The event was recorded by Glover, and was eventually released as a single.^[2] Bland's version of the tune was a hit in the U.S., peaking at #11 on the Black Singles chart and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[3]

Glover hit big in 1961 by co-writing Joey Dee & the Starliters' number one smash "Peppermint Twist", and two years later, the surf/garage group, The Rivieras covered Glover's song "California Sun" for a Top Five hit (it was later recorded by The Ramones). Glover worked extensively with bluesman Louisiana Red during the early 1960s, and also set up his own label for a brief period, recording Larry Dale and Titus Turner. He later returned to King, and after Nathan's death in 1968, served as the head of the label until it was taken over by Starday.^[2]

He also produced The Essex.^[1]

In 1975, The Band drummer Levon Helm invited Glover to come to Woodstock, and the two co-founded a label called RCO Productions, which released a couple of Helm's solo projects. The same year Glover produced Muddy Waters' Chess swansong album, The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album, which won a Grammy, and the following year he produced Paul Butterfield's, Put It in Your Ear. In 1976 Glover partly arranged with Garth Hudson, Howard Johnson, Tom Malone, John Simon and Allen Toussaint the horn section on The Band's concert, The Last Waltz, and thus subsequent album, The Last Waltz.^[2]

In 1986 Glover was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. He was later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Death

He died of a heart attack in April 1991, in St. Albans, New York, at the age of 69.^[4] In addition to his daughter, of Syracuse, he is survived by his wife, Doris, and a son, Ware, also of St. Albans.^[5]

Songwriting credits

• "7 Nights to Rock" - recorded by Nick Lowe
• "All My Love Belongs to You" - recorded by Bull Moose Jackson and The Platters
• "Annie Had a Baby" - recorded by Hank Ballard (as The Midnighters)
• "Baby, I’m Doin' It" - recorded by Annisteen Allen
• "Baby, You're Driving Me Crazy" - recorded by Joey Dee and the Starliters
• "Blues So Bad" - recorded by Levon Helm
• "Blues Stay Away from Me" - recorded by B. B. King, Merle Haggard, Harry James, k.d. lang and countless others
• "Bongo Boogie" - recorded by Lucky Millinder
• "Boom Diddy Boom Boom" - recorded by Otis Williams and the Charms
• "Bradshaw Boogie" - recorded by Tiny Bradshaw
• "Breaking Up the House" - recorded by Tiny Bradshaw
• "Bump on a Log" - recorded by Lula Reed
• "California Sun" - recorded by The Rivieras, The Ramones and The Dictators
• "Cherry Wine" - recorded by Esther Phillips
• "Clap Your Hands" - recorded by Lucky Millinder
• "D' Natural Blues" - recorded by Lucky Millinder
• "Down Boy Down" - recorded by Wynonie Harris
• "Drown in My Own Tears" - recorded by Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Dinah Washington, Billy Preston and countless others
• "Everybody Do the Chicken" - recorded by The Five Jets
• "Get Up Betty Jean" - (co-written with Toombs & Martin) - recorded by Titus Turner
• "Henry's Got Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More)" - recorded by Hank Ballard (as The Midnighters)
• "House With No Windows" - recorded by Hank Ballard
• "I Can’t Go On (Without You)" - recorded by Ella Fitzgerald
• "I Love You, Yes I Do" - recorded by The Platters, Dinah Washington, James Brown
• "I Want a Bowlegged Woman" - recorded by Bull Moose Jackson
• "I Want to Love You Baby" - recorded by Wynonie Harris
• "I'll Be There" - recorded by Esther Phillips
• "I'm Going to Have Myself a Ball" - recorded by Tiny Bradshaw
• "I'm Set in My Ways" - (co-written with Singleton) - recorded by Titus Turner
• "I'm Sticking With You, Baby" - recorded by Little Willie John, Joe Williams
• "I'm Waiting Just for You" - recorded by Rosemary Clooney
• "I've Been Around" - recorded by Tiny Bradshaw
• "If I Thought You Needed Me" - recorded by Little Willie John
• "If You Don’t Think I’m Sinking" - recorded by Eddie Vinson
• "It Ain’t the Meat (It’s the Motion)" - recorded by Maria Muldaur, Southside Johnny
• "Jealous Love" - recorded by Lula Reed
• "Keep on Churnin’ (Till the Butter Comes)" - recorded by Wynonie Harris
• "Let's Call It a Day" - recorded by Lula Reed
• "Love, Life and Money" - recorded by Marianne Faithfull
• "Lovin’ Machine" - recorded by Wynonie Harris
• "Me and my Crazy Self" - recorded by Lonnie Johnson, Jeff Healey
• "The More We Get Together" - (co-written with Titus Turner) - recorded by Titus Turner
• "My Little Baby" - (co-written with Nix) - recorded by Charles Brown and Amos Milburn
• "My Tissue Paper Heart" - (co-written with Mann) - recorded by Jimmie Osbourne
• "Nobody’s Lovin’ Me" - recorded by The Swallows, Lonnie Johnson
• "One Big Mouth (Two Big Ears)" - recorded by Joe Jones
• "Peppermint Twist" - recorded by Joey Dee and the Starliters, Sweet
• "Quiet Whiskey" - recorded by Wynonie Harris
• "Rain Down Tears" - recorded by Levon Helm, Hank Ballard
• "Ram-Bunk-Shush" - recorde by The Ventures
• "Rock Love" - recorded by Lula Reed
• "Rocket To The Moon" - recorded by Moon Mullican and Jools Holland
• "She's Alright" - recorded by Sam & Dave
• "Silent George" - recorded by Lucky Millinder
• "Sioux Rock" - (co-written with Ray Felder) - recorded by The Sugar Canes
• "Soulville" - recorded by Dinah Washington, Aretha Franklin, The Zombies
• "Sticks and Stones" - recorded by Ray Charles, Manfred Mann, Joe Cocker and countless others
• "Teardrops on Your Letter" - recorded by Hank Ballard and Freddie King
• "That Was Me" - recorded by The Fiestas
• "To Forget About You" - recorded by Dinah Washington
• "Top Ten Rock" - (co-written with Fuller Todd) - recorded by Fuller Todd
• "Tremblin'" - recorded by Wynonie Harris
• "You Can Run but You Can’t Hide" - recorded by Paul Butterfield

^[6]

See also

• List of number-one rhythm and blues hits (United States)

References

External links

• Henry Glover biography at Allmusic website
• Obituary at the New York Times
• Lyrics and tabs for “I’ll Drown in My Own Tears”
• Lyrics for “Sticks and Stones”
• Official website of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame