name	Jackie Wilson
background	solo_singer
birth name	Jack Leroy Wilson, Jr.
alias	Mr. Excitement, The Black Elvis
born	June 09, 1934Detroit, Michigan,United States
died	January 21, 1984Mount Holly, New Jersey,United States
instrument	Vocals
genre	R&B;, soul, pop
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
years active	1953–1975
label	DeeGee RecordsKing RecordsFederal RecordsBrunswick Records
associated acts	Billy Ward and His Dominoes
website	Official site }}

Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B; and rock history. Gaining fame in his early years as a member of the R&B; vocal group Billy Ward and His Dominoes, he went solo in 1957 and recorded over 50 hit singles that spanned R&B;, pop, soul, doo-wop and easy listening. During a 1975 benefit concert, he collapsed on-stage from a heart attack and subsequently fell into a coma that persisted for nearly nine years until his death in 1984. By this time, he had become one of the most influential artists of his generation.

A two-time ''Grammy Hall of Fame'' Inductee, Jackie Wilson was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked Jackie Wilson #68 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Early years and career

Jack Leroy Wilson, Jr. was born on June 9, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan, the only son of Jack, Sr. and Eliza Mae Wilson. Eliza Mae was born on The Billups-Whitfield Place in Columbus, Mississippi. Her parents were Tom and Virginia Ransom. Jackie often visited his family in Columbus and was greatly influenced by the choir at Billups Chapel. Growing up in the rough Detroit area of North End, Wilson joined a gang called the Shakers (the name taken from the Shaker Heights section of Detroit) and often found himself in trouble. Wilson's father was frequently absent, as he was an alcoholic and usually out of work. Young Jackie was introduced to alcohol by his father at the age of nine. Wilson began singing at an early age, accompanying his mother, once a choir singer, to church. In his early teens Jackie formed a quartet, the Ever Ready Gospel Singers, which became a popular feature of churches in the area. Jackie wasn't very religious, he just loved to sing and the cash he and his group earned came in handy for the cheap wine which he drank since the age of nine. Jack Sr. and Eliza separated shortly after this. Wilson dropped out of high school at age 15, having already been sentenced to detention in the Lansing Corrections system for juveniles twice. During his second stint in detention, he learned boxing and started performing in the amateur circuit in the Detroit area at the age of 16. His record in the Golden Gloves was 2 and 8. After his mother pleaded with him to quit, Wilson got married to Freda Hood and became a father at 17. He gave up boxing for music, first working at Lee's Sensation club as a solo singer, then forming a group called the Falcons (not to be confused with The Falcons Wilson Pickett was part of), that included cousin Levi Stubbs, who later went on to lead the Four Tops (two more of Wilson's cousins, Hubert Johnson and Levi's brother Joe, later became members of The Contours). The other members joined Hank Ballard as part of The Midnighters.

Jackie Wilson was soon discovered by talent agent Johnny Otis, who assigned him to join a group called the Thrillers. That group would later be known as The Royals (who would later evolve into R&B; group, The Midnighters, but Wilson wasn't part of the group when they changed their name and signed with King Records). Wilson, however, has credited LaVern Baker for his discovery. Baker, Little Willie John, Johnnie Ray and Della Reese were acts managed by Al Green, owner of two music publishing companies, Pearl Music and Merrimac Music, and Detroit's Flame Show Bar where Wilson met LaVern Baker. After recording two versions of "Danny Boy" with Dizzy Gillespie's record label Dee Gee Records under the name Sonny Wilson (his nickname), Wilson was recruited by Billy Ward in 1953 to join a group Ward formed in 1950 called The Dominoes after a successful audition to replace the immensely popular Clyde McPhatter, who had left and formed his own group, The Drifters. Ward felt a stage name would fit The Dominoes' image, hence ''Jackie'' Wilson. Prior to leaving The Dominoes, Wilson was coached by McPhatter on the sound Billy Ward wanted for his group, influencing Wilson's singing style. "I learned a lot from Clyde, that high-pitched choke he used and other things...Clyde McPhatter was my man. Clyde and Billy Ward." Forties blues singer Roy Brown was also an influence on him, and Wilson grew up listening to The Mills Brothers, The Ink Spots, Louis Jordan and Al Jolson. Wilson was the group's lead singer for three years, but the Dominoes lost some of their stride with the departure of McPhatter. They were able to make appearances riding on the strength of the group's earlier hits, until 1956 when the Dominoes recorded Wilson with an unlikely interpretation of the pop hit, "St. Therese of the Roses", giving The Dominoes a temporary boost in popularity before he began a solo career in 1957. After leaving the Dominoes, he and cousin Levi got work at Detroit's Flame Show Bar, owned by Al Green. Green worked out a deal with Decca Records, and Wilson was signed to their subsidiary label, Brunswick.

Solo stardom

Shortly before Wilson signed a solo contract with Brunswick, Al Green suddenly died. Green's business partner, Nat Tarnopol, took over as Wilson's manager (and later rose to president of Brunswick). Wilson's first single was released, "Reet Petite" from the album ''He's So Fine'', which became a modest R&B; success (and many years later, a huge international smash). The song was written by another former boxer, Berry Gordy, Jr., who co-wrote it with partner Roquel "Billy" Davis (who also went by the pseudonym Tyran Carlo) and Gordy's sister Gwendolyn. Soon the trio composed and produced nine hit singles for Wilson, including "To Be Loved", "(That's Why) I Love You So", "I'll Be Satisfied" and his late-1958 signature song, "Lonely Teardrops", which peaked at No. 7 on the pop charts, No. 1 on the R&B; charts, and established him as an R&B; superstar known for his extraordinary, operatic multi-octave vocal range.

Due to his fervor when performing, with his dynamic dance moves, singing and impeccable dress, he was soon christened "Mr. Excitement", a title he would keep for the remainder of his career. His stagecraft in his live shows inspired Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, among others. Presley was so impressed by Wilson that he made it a point to meet him, and the two instantly became good friends. Presley once dubbed Jackie "The Black Elvis." Wilson's powerful, electrifying live performances rarely failed to bring audiences to a state of frenzy. His live performances consisted of knee-drops, splits, spins, one-footed across-the-floor slides, a lot of basic boxing steps (advance and retreat shuffling) and getting girls in the audience to come up and kiss him. Wilson also said he was influenced by Presley too, saying "A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man’s music, when in fact, almost every black solo entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis."

In 1958, Davis and Gordy left Wilson and Brunswick after royalty disputes escalated between them and Nat Tarnopol. Davis soon became a successful staff songwriter and producer for Chess Records, while Gordy borrowed $800 from his family and used money he earned from royalties writing for Wilson to start his own recording studio, Hitsville USA, the foundation of Motown Records in his native Detroit. Meanwhile, convinced that Wilson could venture out of R&B; and rock and roll, Tarnopol had the singer record operatic ballads and easy listening material, pairing him with Decca Records' veteran arranger Dick Jacobs. Wilson scored hits as he entered the sixties with the No. 15 "Doggin' Around", the No. 1 pop ballad "Night", and "Baby Workout", another Top 10 hit (No. 5), which he composed with Midnighters member Alonzo Tucker. His songwriting alliance with Tucker also turned out other songs, including "No Pity (In The Naked City)" and "I'm So Lonely." Top 10 hits continued with "Alone At Last" (No. 8 in 1960) and "My Empty Arms" (No. 9 in 1961).

Also in 1961, Wilson recorded a tribute album to Al Jolson, ''Nowstalgia...You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet'', which included the only album liner notes he ever wrote: "...to the greatest entertainer of this or any other era...I guess I have just about every recording he's ever made, and I rarely missed listening to him on the radio...During the three years I've been making records, I've had the ambition to do an album of songs, which, to me, represent the great Jolson heritage...This is simply my humble tribute to the one man I admire most in this business...to keep the heritage of Jolson alive." The album was a commercial failure.

Following the success of "Baby Workout", Wilson experienced a lull in his career between 1964 and 1966 as Tarnopol and Brunswick Records released a succession of unsuccessful albums and singles. Despite the lack of sales success, he still made artistic gains as he recorded an album with Count Basie, as well as a series of duets with rhythm and blues legend Lavern Baker and gospel singer Linda Hopkins.

In 1966, he scored the first of two big comeback singles with established Chicago soul producer Carl Davis with "Whispers (Gettin' Louder)" and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher", a No. 6 Pop smash in 1967, which became one of his final pop hits. This was followed by "I Get the Sweetest Feeling", which, despite its modest initial chart success in the US (Billboard Pop #34), has since become one of his biggest international chart successes, becoming a Top 10 hit in the UK twice, in 1972 and in 1987, and a Top 20 hit in the Dutch Top 40, and has spawned numerous cover versions by other artists such as Edwin Starr, Will Young, Erma Franklin (Aretha's sister) and Liz McClarnon.

A key to his musical rebirth was that Davis insisted that Wilson no longer record with Brunswick's musicians in New York; instead, he would record with legendary Detroit musicians normally employed by Motown Records and also Davis' own Chicago-based session players. The Detroit musicians, known as the Funk Brothers, participated on Wilson's recordings due to their respect for Davis and Wilson.

By 1975, Wilson and The Chi-Lites were Brunswick's only significant artists left on the aging label's roster. Until then, Wilson continued to record singles that found success on the R&B; chart, but found no significant pop chart success. His final hit, "You Got Me Walkin' ", written by Eugene Record of the Chi-Lites, was released in 1972 with the Chi-Lites backing him on vocals and instruments.

Personal life

Wilson's personal life was full of tragedy. In 1960 in New Orleans, Wilson was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer when fans tried to climb onstage with Wilson. He shoved a policeman who had shoved one of the fans. Wilson had a reputation of being rather quick-tempered. On February 15, 1961 in Manhattan, Wilson was injured in a shooting. It is said the real story behind this incident is that one of his girlfriends, Juanita Jones, shot and wounded him in a jealous rage when he returned to his apartment with another woman, fashion model Harlean Harris, an ex-girlfriend of Sam Cooke's. Supposedly, his management concocted a story to protect Wilson's reputation; that Jones was an obsessed fan who had threatened to shoot herself, and that Wilson's intervention resulted in him being shot. Wilson was shot twice: One bullet would result in the loss of a kidney, the other lodged too close to his spine to be operated on. However, in early 1975, in an interview conducted by author Arnold Shaw, Wilson maintained it actually was an overzealous fan whom he didn't know, that had shot him. "We also had some trouble in 1961. That was when some crazy chick took a shot at me and nearly put me away for good..." Nonetheless, the story of the overzealous fan was accepted, and no charges were brought against Jones.

Freda Hood, Wilson's first wife, with whom he had four children, divorced him in 1965 after 14 years of marriage, frustrated with his notorious womanizing. Although the divorce was amicable, Freda would regret her decision. Freda never stopped loving him, and Jackie treated her as though she were still his wife. His 16-year-old son, Jackie Jr. was shot and killed on a neighbor's porch in 1970 and two of Wilson's daughters also died at a young age. His daughter Sandra died in 1977 at the age of 24 of an apparent heart attack. Jacqueline Wilson was killed in 1988 in a drug related incident in Highland Park, Michigan. The death of Jackie Jr. devastated Wilson, and for the next couple of years he remained mostly a recluse, drinking and using marijuana and cocaine.

Wilson's second marriage was to model Harlean Harris in 1967 with whom he had three children, but they separated soon after. Wilson later met and lived with Lynn Crochet. He was with Crochet until his heart attack in 1975. However, as he and Harris never officially divorced, Harris took the role of Wilson's caregiver for the singer's remaining nine years.

Wilson converted to Judaism.

Later years and death

Wilson had plans to mount a major comeback in 1975 with an album he recorded entitled ''Nobody But You''. These plans were crushed, when on September 29, 1975, Wilson suffered a massive heart attack while appearing in Dick Clark's Good Ol' Rock 'N Roll Revue at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Wilson collapsed on stage while singing a line from his hit "Lonely Teardrops" ("My heart is crying..."). He was revived after medical personnel worked nearly 30 minutes to stabilize his vitals, but the lack of oxygen to his brain left him comatose. Meanwhile, Eliza Mae Wilson died only two weeks after Jackie fell into a coma, severely distraught over her son's illness. He briefly emerged from his coma in early 1976 but slipped back into unconsciousness and was in a vegetative state for the remainder of his life, as an inpatient at a nursing home, eight years and four months. Jackie Wilson died January 21, 1984 of pneumonia, at the age of 49 at Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly, New Jersey, after being admitted for having trouble taking nourishment.

Wilson's funeral was attended by approximately 1,500 relatives, friends and fans. Initially he was buried in an unmarked grave. Months later, however, fans in Detroit raised money to purchase a mausoleum and re-interred him and his mother inside the structure. He is interred in the Westlawn Cemetery in Wayne, Michigan.

In 1987, a segment on Wilson on ABC's ''20/20'' featured the complicated legacy and death of Wilson. Both Harlean Harris and Lynn Crochet were interviewed, and the segment implied that Tarnopol took unfair advantage of his dual role as Wilson's manager and president of Brunswick Records. Jackie trusted Nat Tarnopol implicitly and foolishly signed over power-of-attorney to him. Around the time he left the hospital after the shooting incident, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seized Jackie's Detroit family home. Tarnopol and his accountant were supposed to take care of such matters. At the time Jackie had declared annual earnings of $263,000, while the average salary a man earned then was roughly $5,000 a year. Yet the fact was he was nearly broke. Fortunately, Jackie made arrangements with the IRS to make restitution on the unpaid taxes and to re-purchase the family home at auction. At the time of his death, it was estimated that Wilson was $300,000 in debt. CBS Records bought the Wilson masters from Brunswick and re-issued them in "The Jackie Wilson Story," Volumes 1 and 2, in order to help pay for some of the medical expenses he incurred. Charges that Tarnopol swindled Wilson out of most of his earnings were not pursued after Tarnopol's death.

Tributes and legacy

In 1985, the soul/funk band The Commodores recorded "Nightshift" in memory of Wilson and soul singer Marvin Gaye, who had both died in 1984. Reaching No. 1 R&B; and No. 3 pop in the US, it was the group's biggest post-Lionel Richie hit.

Van Morrison also recorded a tribute song called "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)" on his 1972 album ''Saint Dominic's Preview''. This song was later covered by Dexys Midnight Runners. When the track was performed on the British TV show ''Top of the Pops'', a picture of darts player Jocky Wilson was used instead. This has often been speculated to be a mistake but Dexy's frontman Kevin Rowland stated that it was a deliberate joke by the band.

Michael Jackson honored Jackie Wilson at the 1984 Grammy Awards. Jackson dedicated his Album of the Year Grammy for ''Thriller'' to Wilson, saying, "In the entertainment business, there are leaders and there are followers. And I just want to say that I think Jackie Wilson was a wonderful entertainer...I love you and thank you so much."

Until Jackson's comments, Wilson's recording legacy had been dormant for almost a decade. Tarnopol owned Wilson's recordings due to Brunswick's separation from MCA, but the label had essentially closed down, essentially deleting Wilson's considerable recorded legacy. But when Jackson praised Wilson at the Grammys, interest in the legendary singer stirred, and Tarnopol released the first Wilson album (a two-record compilation) in almost nine years through Epic Records, Jackson's label at the time. Through Tarnopol's son, Wilson's music has become more available.

In the VH-1 5-part television special,''Say It Loud: A Celebration of Black Music in America'', fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Smokey Robinson and Bobby Womack both paid tribute to Jackie. Smokey explained that "Jackie Wilson was ''the'' most dynamic singer and performer that I think I've ''ever'' seen. Bobby added "He was the ''real'' Elvis Presley, as far as I'm concerned...and Elvis took a lot from him too."

In his autobiography ''To Be Loved'' (named for one of the hit tunes he wrote for Jackie) Motown founder Berry Gordy stated that Jackie Wilson was "The greatest singer I've ever heard. The epitome of natural greatness. Unfortunately for some, he set the standard I'd be looking for in singers forever".(Reference, ''To Be Loved'' by Berry Gordy,1994, pg 88.)

Jackie Wilson is mentioned in the song "Gone But Not Forgotten" sung by artist TQ, which is a song dedicated to the memory of famous musicians who have died. The lyric goes "..and Jackie, will you teach me how to glide across the stage?"

Wilson is mentioned in the rap song "Thugz Mansion" by Tupac Shakur. The lyric is:

"Seen a show with Marvin Gaye last night,It had me shook, sippin' peppermint schnappsWith Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke."

Wilson scored a posthumous hit when "Reet Petite" reached number one in the United Kingdom in 1986. This success was likely due in part to a new animated video made for the song, featuring a clay model of Wilson, that became hugely popular on television. The following year he hit the UK charts again with "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" (No.3), and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" (No.11).

Rita Coolidge covered "Higher and Higher" in 1977; her version reached No. 2 on the US pop charts, earning a gold record.

In 1999, Wilson's original version of "Higher and Higher" and "Lonely Teardrops" were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame,and both are on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the ''500 Greatest Songs of All Time''.

Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987; that same year, he was portrayed in the Ritchie Valens biopic ''La Bamba'' by Howard Huntsberry.

Wilson is referenced in the 1986 song "R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A." by ''John Mellencamp''.

In 1988, his version of "To Be Loved" was featured in the movie ''Coming to America'', when Akeem and Lisa were falling in love. Akeem (Eddie Murphy) later came back home singing the song loudly (and poorly), waking up and infuriating his neighbors.

In 1989, "Higher and Higher" was featured heavily in the comedy film ''Ghostbusters II,'' the soundtrack album of which featured a cover version of the song by Howard Huntsberry.

In 1992, Wilson was portrayed in the ABC miniseries by Grady Harrell in ''The Jacksons: An American Dream'' .

In 2005, Jackie Wilson was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. His recording of "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher" was voted a Legendary Michigan Song in 2008.

In 2007, Wilson's music was featured in a film adaptation of Irvine Welsh's book ''Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance''.

In September 2010, Wilson's hit song, That's Why (I Love You So), appeared on Dick Clark's Rock Roll and Remember.

Discography

''For a detailed listing of singles and albums, see Jackie Wilson discography.''

Hit singles

Year	Title	Chart positions
!US Billboard Hot 100	Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs>US R&B;	!UK Singles Chart
	"Reet Petite"
"To Be Loved"
1958	"Lonely Teardrops"
	"That's Why (I Love You So)"
"I'll Be Satisfied"
"You Better Know It"
"Talk That Talk"
	"A Woman, a Lover, a Friend"
"Night"
"Alone at Last"
"Doggin' Around"
"Am I the Man"
"(You Were Made For) All My Love"
	"My Empty Arms"
"The Tear of the Year"
"I'm Comin' on Back to You"
1963	"Baby Workout"
1966	"Whispers (Gettin' Louder)"
1967	"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher"
1969	"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" (UK re-release)
1970	"(I Can Feel These Vibrations) This Love is For Real"
1972	"I Get the Sweetest Feeling"(UK re-release)
1975	"I Get the Sweetest Feeling" /"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher"(UK re-release)
1986	"Reet Petite" (UK re-release)
	"I Get the Sweetest Feeling" (UK re-release)
"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher"(UK second re-release)

Hit albums

Year	Title	Chart positions
Billboard 200>US Pop	Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums>US R&B;
	''Baby Workout''
''Merry Christmas from Jackie Wilson''
1966	''Whispers''
1967	''Higher and Higher''
1968	''Manufacturers of Soul''

References

External links

Jackiewilson.net

Jackie Wilson at history-of-rock.com

Jackie Wilson Tribute Artist

''The Rise and Fall of Jackie Wilson''

Spinning Soul.com -''The Tragic Life of Jackie Wilson''

''Jackie Wilson'' on the ''Soul Patrol'' website

''The Soul Guy'' website: ''Jackie Wilson''

''Jackie Wilson'': "A history in pictures" from the ''Soulwalking U. K.'' website

''Brunswick Records Album Discography (including Jackie Wilson)

Category:1934 births Category:1984 deaths Category:African American male singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American soul singers Category:American shooting survivors Category:Jews in the African diaspora Category:Converts to Judaism Category:Deaths from pneumonia Category:Infectious disease deaths in New Jersey Category:Musicians from Detroit, Michigan Category:People with severe brain damage Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

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Name	Van Morrison
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	George Ivan Morrison
Alias	Van the ManThe Belfast Cowboy
Birth date	August 31, 1945
Origin	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Genre	Rock, blues, rhythm and blues, folk, blue-eyed soul, celtic, rock and roll, jazz fusion, country
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, harmonica, saxophones, keyboards, drums, tambourine, ukulele
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
Years active	1958–present
Label	Decca, Bang, Warner Bros., London, Mercury, Exile/Polydor, Lost Highway Records, Listen to the Lion/EMI
Associated acts	Them
Website	www.vanmorrison.com }}

Van Morrison, OBE (born George Ivan Morrison; 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums ''Astral Weeks'' and ''Moondance'', and the live album ''It's Too Late to Stop Now'', are widely viewed as among the greatest ever made.

Known as "Van the Man" to his fans, Morrison started his professional career when, as a teenager in the late 1950s, he played a variety of instruments including guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for various Irish showbands covering the popular hits of the day. He rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish R&B; band Them, with whom he recorded the garage band classic "Gloria". His solo career began under the pop-hit oriented guidance of Bert Berns with the release of the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967. After Berns' death, Warner Bros. Records bought out his contract and allowed him three sessions to record ''Astral Weeks'' in 1968. Even though this album would gradually garner high praise, it was initially poorly received; however, the next one, ''Moondance'', established Morrison as a major artist, and throughout the 1970s he built on his reputation with a series of critically acclaimed albums and live performances. Morrison continues to record and tour, producing albums and live performances that sell well and are generally warmly received, sometimes collaborating with other artists, such as Georgie Fame and The Chieftains. In 2008 he performed ''Astral Weeks'' live for the first time since 1968.

Much of Morrison's music is structured around the conventions of soul music and R&B;, such as the popular singles, "Brown Eyed Girl", "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)", "Domino" and "Wild Night". An equal part of his catalogue consists of lengthy, loosely connected, spiritually inspired musical journeys that show the influence of Celtic tradition, jazz, and stream-of-consciousness narrative, such as ''Astral Weeks'' and lesser-known works such as ''Veedon Fleece'' and ''Common One''. The two strains together are sometimes referred to as "Celtic Soul".

Morrison has received considerable acclaim, including six Grammy Awards, being inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and appearing on several "Greatest Artists" lists.

Early life and musical roots: 1945–64

George Ivan (Van) Morrison was born on 31 August 1945, 125 Hynford Street, Bloomfield, East Belfast, Northern Ireland as the only child of George Morrison, a shipyard electrician, and Violet Stitt Morrison, a singer and tap dancer in her youth. Van Morrison's family roots descend from the Ulster Scots population that settled in Belfast. From 1950 to 1956, Morrison, who began to be known as "Van" during this time, attended Elmgrove Primary School. Morrison's father had what was at the time one of the largest record collections in Ulster (acquired during his sojourn in Detroit, Michigan in the early 1950s), and the young Morrison grew up listening to artists such as Jelly Roll Morton, Ray Charles, Lead Belly, and Solomon Burke; of whom Morrison later said, "If it weren't for guys like Ray and Solomon, I wouldn't be where I am today. Those guys were the inspiration that got me going. If it wasn't for that kind of music, I couldn't do what I'm doing now." His father's record collection exposed him to various musical genres, such as the blues of Muddy Waters; the gospel of Mahalia Jackson; the jazz of Charlie Parker; the folk music of Woody Guthrie; and country music from Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers, while the first record he ever bought was by blues musician Sonny Terry. When Lonnie Donegan had a hit with "Rock Island Line", written by Huddie Ledbetter (Lead Belly), Morrison felt he was familiar with and able to connect with skiffle music as he had been hearing Lead Belly before that.

Morrison's father bought him his first acoustic guitar when he was eleven, and he learned to play rudimentary chords from the song book, ''The Carter Family Style'', edited by Alan Lomax. A year later, when he was twelve years old, Morrison formed his first band, a skiffle group, "The Sputniks", named after the recently launched Soviet satellite, Sputnik 1. In 1958, the band played at some of the local cinemas, and Morrison took the lead, contributing most of the singing and arranging. Other short-lived groups followed – at fourteen, he formed Midnight Special, another modified skiffle band and played at a school concert. Then, when he heard Jimmy Giuffre playing saxophone on "The Train and The River", he talked his father into buying him a saxophone, and took lessons in tenor sax and music reading. Now playing the saxophone, Morrison joined with various local bands, including one called Deanie Sands and the Javelins, with whom he played guitar and shared singing. The line-up of the band was lead vocalist Deanie Sands, guitarist George Jones and drummer, vocalist Roy Kane. Later the four main musicians of the Javelins, with the addition of Wesley Black as pianist, became known as the Monarchs.

Morrison attended Orangefield High School, leaving in July 1960 with no qualifications. As a member of a working-class community, it was expected that he would get a regular full-time job, so after several short apprenticeship positions, he settled into a job as a window cleaner— later alluded to in his songs, "Cleaning Windows" and "Saint Dominic's Preview". However, he had been developing his musical interests from an early age and continued playing with the Monarchs part-time. Young Morrison also played with the Harry Mack Showband, the Great Eight, with his older workplace friend, Geordie (G. D.) Sproule, whom he later named as one of his biggest influences.

At age 17, he toured Europe for the first time with the Monarchs, now calling themselves the International Monarchs. This Irish showband, with Morrison playing saxophone, guitar and harp, in addition to back-up duty on bass and drums, toured steamy clubs and US Army bases in Scotland, England, and Germany, often playing five sets a night. While in Germany, the band recorded a single, "Boozoo Hully Gully"/"Twingy Baby", under the name Georgie and The Monarchs. This was Morrison's first recording, taking place in November 1963 at Ariola Studios in Cologne with Morrison on saxophone; it made the lower reaches of the German charts.

Upon returning to Belfast in November 1963, the group disbanded, so Morrison connected with Geordie Sproule again and played with him in the Manhattan Showband along with guitarist Herbie Armstrong (born in 1944, West Belfast). When Armstrong auditioned to play with Brian Rossi and the Golden Eagles, Morrison went along and was hired as a blues singer.

Them: 1964–66

The roots of Them, the band that first broke Morrison on the international scene, came in April 1964 when Morrison responded to an advert for musicians to play at a new R&B; club at the Maritime Hotel – an old dance hall frequented by sailors. The new R&B; club needed a band for its opening night; however, Morrison had left the Golden Eagles (the group with which he had been performing at the time), so he created a new band out of The Gamblers, an East Belfast group formed by Ronnie Millings, Billy Harrison, and Alan Henderson in 1962. Eric Wrixon, still a schoolboy, was the piano player and keyboardist. Morrison played saxophone and harmonica and shared vocals with Billy Harrison. They followed Eric Wrixon's suggestion for a new name, and The Gamblers morphed into Them, their name taken from the Fifties horror movie ''Them!''.

The band's strong R&B; performances at the Maritime attracted attention. Them performed without a routine and Morrison ad libbed, creating his songs live as he performed. While the band did covers, they also played some of Morrison's early songs, such as "Could You Would You", which he had written in Camden Town while touring with The Manhattan Showband. The debut of Morrison's "Gloria" took place on stage here. Sometimes, depending on his mood, the song could last up to twenty minutes. Morrison has stated that "Them lived and died on the stage at the Maritime Hotel," believing that the band did not manage to capture the spontaneity and energy of their live performances on their records. The statement also reflected the instability of the Them lineup, with numerous members passing through the ranks after the definitive Maritime period. Morrison and Henderson would remain the only constants, and a highly unsuccessful version of Them even soldiered on after Morrison's departure.

Dick Rowe of Decca Records became aware of the band's performances, and signed Them to a standard two-year contract. In that period, they released two albums and ten singles, with two more singles released after Morrison departed the band. They had three chart hits, "Baby, Please Don't Go" (1964), "Here Comes the Night" (1965), and "Mystic Eyes" (1965), though it was the b-side of "Baby, Please Don't Go", the garage band classic, "Gloria", that went on to become a rock standard covered by Patti Smith, The Doors, Shadows of Knight, Jimi Hendrix and others.

Building on the success of their singles in the United States, and riding on the back of the British Invasion, Them undertook a two month tour of America in May and June 1966 that included a residency from 30 May to 18 June at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. The Doors were the supporting act on the last week, and Morrison's influence on The Doors singer, Jim Morrison, was noted by John Densmore in his book ''Riders On The Storm''. Brian Hinton relates how "Jim Morrison learned quickly from his near namesake's stagecraft, his apparent recklessness, his air of subdued menace, the way he would improvise poetry to a rock beat, even his habit of crouching down by the bass drum during instrumental breaks." On the final night, the two Morrisons and the two bands jammed together on "Gloria".

Toward the end of the tour the band members became involved in a dispute with their manager, Decca Records' Phil Solomon, over the revenues paid to the band; that, coupled with the expiry of their work visas, meant the band returned from America dejected. After two more concerts in Ireland, Them split up. Morrison concentrated on writing some of the songs that would appear on ''Astral Weeks'', while the remnants of the band reformed in 1967 and relocated in America.

Start of solo career with Bang Records and "Brown Eyed Girl" – 1967

Bert Berns, Them’s producer and composer of their 1965 hit, "Here Comes the Night", persuaded Morrison to return to New York to record solo for his new label, Bang Records. Morrison flew over and signed a contract he had not fully studied. Then, during a two-day recording session at A & R Studios starting 28 March 1967, eight songs were recorded originally intended to be used as four singles. Instead, these songs were released as the album ''Blowin' Your Mind!'' without Morrison being consulted. He said he only became aware of the album's release when a friend mentioned on a phone call that he had just bought a copy of it. He later commented to Donal Corvin in a 1973 interview: "I wasn't really happy with it. He picked the bands and tunes. I had a different concept of it."

However, from these early sessions emerged "Brown Eyed Girl". Captured on the 22nd take on the first day, this song was released as a single in mid-June 1967, reaching number ten in the US charts in 1967. "Brown Eyed Girl" became Morrison's most played song and over the years it has remained a classic; forty years later in 2007, it was the fourth most requested song of DJs in the US.

Following the death of Berns in 1967, Morrison became involved in a contract dispute with Berns' widow that prevented him from performing on stage or recording in the New York area. The song "Big Time Operators", released in 1993, is thought to allude to his dealings with the New York music business during this time period. He then moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and was soon confronted with personal and financial problems; he had "slipped into a malaise" and had trouble finding concert bookings. However, through the few gigs he could find, he regained his professional footing and started recording with the Warner Bros. Records label. The record company managed to buy out his contract with Bang Records. Morrison fulfilled a clause that bound him to submit thirty-six original songs within a year to Web IV Music, Berns' music publishing company, by recording thirty-one songs in one session; however, Ilene Berns thought the songs "nonsense music ... about ringworms" and didn't use them. The throwaway compositions would come to be known as the "revenge" songs.

''Astral Weeks'' – 1968

"Astral Weeks is about the power of the human voice – ecstatic agony, agonising ecstacy. Here is an Irish tenor reborn as a White Negro – a Caucasian Soul Man – pleading and beseeching over a bed of dreamy folk-jazz instrumentation: acoustic bass, brushed drums, vibes and acoustic guitar, the odd string quartet – and of course flute."

Barney Hoskyns – ''Mojo''

''Into the Music'': "The album's last four songs, "Angelou", "And the Healing Has Begun", and "It's All in the Game/You Know What They're Writing About" are a veritable tour-de-force with Morrison summoning every vocal trick at his disposal from "Angelou's climactic shouts to the sexually-charged, half-mumbled monologue in "And the Healing Has Begun" to the barely audible whisper that is the album's final sound." (Scott Thomas Review')

The following year, Morrison released ''Wavelength''; it became at that time the fastest-selling album of his career and soon went gold. The title track became a modest hit, peaking at number forty-two. Making use of 1970s synthesizers, it mimics the sounds of the shortwave radio stations that he listened to in his youth. The opening track, "Kingdom Hall" evoked Morrison's own childhood experiences attending church with his mother and foretold a religious theme that would be more evident in his next album, ''Into the Music''.

Considered by Allmusic as "the definitive post-classic-era Morrison", ''Into the Music'', was released in the last year of the 1970s. Songs on this album for the first time alluded to the healing power of music, which would become an abiding interest of Morrison's. "Bright Side of the Road" was a joyful, uplifting song that would appear on the soundtrack of the movie, ''Michael''.

''Common One'' to ''Avalon Sunset'': 1980–89

With his next album, the new decade found Morrison following his muse into uncharted territory and merciless reviews. In February 1980, Morrison and a group of musicians traveled to Super Bear, a studio in the French Alps, to record (on the site of a former abbey) what is considered to be the most controversial album in his discography; later "Morrison admitted that his original concept was even more esoteric than the final product." The album, ''Common One'', consisted of six songs, each of varying length. The longest, "Summertime in England", lasted fifteen and one-half minutes and ended with the words,''"Can you feel the silence?"''. ''NME'' magazine's Paul Du Noyer called the album "colossally smug and cosmically dull; an interminable, vacuous and drearily egotistical stab at spirituality: Into the muzak." Even Greil Marcus, whose previous writings had been favourably inclined towards Morrison, said: "It's Van acting the part of the 'mystic poet' he thinks he's supposed to be." Morrison insisted that the album was never "meant to be a commercial album." Biographer Clinton Heylin concludes: "He would not attempt anything so ambitious again. Henceforth every radical idea would be tempered by some notion of commerciality." Later the critics would reassess the album more favourably with the success of "Summertime in England". Lester Bangs wrote in 1982, "Van was making holy music even though he thought he was, and us [sic] rock critics had made our usual mistake of paying too much attention to the lyrics."

Morrison's next album, ''Beautiful Vision'', released in 1982, had him returning once again to the music of his Northern Irish roots. Well received by the critics and public, it produced a minor UK hit single, "Cleaning Windows", that referenced one of Morrison's first jobs after leaving school. Several other songs on the album, "Vanlose Stairway", "She Gives Me Religion", and the instrumental, "Scandinavia" show the presence of a new personal muse in his life: a Danish public relations agent, who would share Morrison's spiritual interests and serve as a steadying influence on him throughout most of the 1980s. "Scandinavia", with Morrison on piano, was nominated in the ''Best Rock Instrumental Performance'' category for the 25th Annual Grammy Awards.

Much of the music Morrison released throughout the 1980s continued to focus on the themes of spirituality and faith. His 1983 album, ''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'' was "a move towards creating music for meditation" with synthesisers, uilleann pipes and flute sounds and four of the tracks were instrumentals. The titling of the album and the presence of the instrumentals were noted to be indicative of Morrison's long-held belief that "it's not the words one uses but the force of conviction behind those words that matters." During this period of time, Morrison had studied Scientology and gave "Special Thanks" to L. Ron Hubbard on the album's credits.

''A Sense of Wonder'', Morrison's 1985 album, pulled together the spiritual themes contained in his last four albums, which were defined in a ''Rolling Stone'' review as: "rebirth (''Into the Music''), deep contemplation and meditation, (''Common One''); ecstasy and humility (''Beautiful Vision''); and blissful, mantra like languor (''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'')." The single, "Tore Down a la Rimbaud" was a reference to Rimbaud and an earlier bout of writer's block that Morrison had encountered in 1974. In 1985, Morrison also wrote the musical score for the movie, ''Lamb'' starring Liam Neeson.

Morrison's 1986 release, ''No Guru, No Method, No Teacher'', was said to contain a "genuine holiness...and musical freshness that needs to be set in context to understand." Critical response was favourable with a ''Sounds'' reviewer calling the album "his most intriguingly involved since ''Astral Weeks''" and "Morrison at his most mystical, magical best." It contains the song, "In the Garden" that, according to Morrison, had a "definite meditation process which is a 'form' of transcendental meditation as its basis. It's not TM". He entitled the album as a rebuttal to media attempts to place him in various creeds. In an interview in the Observer he told Anthony Denselow:

After releasing the "No Guru" album, Morrison's music appeared less gritty and more adult contemporary with the well-received 1987 album, ''Poetic Champions Compose'', considered to be one of his recording highlights of the 1980s. The romantic ballad from this album, "Someone Like You", has been featured subsequently in the soundtracks of several movies, including 1995's ''French Kiss'', and in 2001, both ''Someone Like You'' and ''Bridget Jones's Diary''.

In 1988, he released ''Irish Heartbeat'', a collection of traditional Irish folk songs recorded with the Irish group, The Chieftains, which reached number 18 in the UK album charts. The title song, "Irish Heartbeat", was originally recorded on his 1983 album ''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart''.

The 1989 album, ''Avalon Sunset'', which featured the hit duet with Cliff Richard "Whenever God Shines His Light" and the ballad "Have I Told You Lately" (on which "earthly love transmutes into that for God."(Hinton), reached 13 on the UK album chart. Although considered to be a deeply spiritual album, it also contained "Daring Night" which "deals with full, blazing sex, whatever it's churchy organ and gentle lilt suggest."(Hinton) Morrison's familiar themes of "God, woman, his childhood in Belfast and those enchanted moments when time stands still" were prominent in the songs. He can be heard calling out the change of tempo at the end of this song, repeating the numbers "1 – 4" to cue the chord changes (the first and fourth chord in the key of the music). He often completed albums in two days, frequently releasing first takes.

''The Best of Van Morrison'' to ''Back on Top'': 1990–99

The early to middle 1990s were commercially successful for Morrison with three albums reaching the top five of the UK charts, sold out concerts, and a more visible public profile; but this period also marked a decline in the critical reception to his work. The decade began with the release of ''The Best of Van Morrison''; compiled by Morrison himself, the album was focused on his hit singles, and became a multi-platinum success remaining a year and a half on the UK charts. Allmusic determined it to be "far and away the best selling album of his career." After ''Enlightenment'' which included the hit single, "Real Real Gone", another compilation album, ''The Best of Van Morrison Volume Two'' was released in January 1993, followed by ''Too Long in Exile'' in June, another top five chart success. The 1994 live double album ''A Night in San Francisco'' received favourable reviews as well as commercial success by reaching number eight on the UK charts. 1995's ''Days Like This'' also had large sales – though the critical reviews were not always favourable. This period also saw a number of side projects, including the live jazz performances of 1996's ''How Long Has This Been Going On'', from the same year ''Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison'', and 2000's ''The Skiffle Sessions - Live In Belfast 1998'', all of which found Morrison paying tribute to his early musical influences.

In 1997, Morrison released ''The Healing Game''. The album received mixed reviews, with the lyrics being described as "tired" and "dull", though critic Greil Marcus praised the musical complexity of the album by saying: "It carries the listener into a musical home so perfect and complete he or she might have forgotten that music could call up such a place, and then populate it with people, acts, wishes, fears." The following year, Morrison finally released some of his previously unissued studio recordings in a two-disc set, ''The Philosopher's Stone''. His next release, 1999's ''Back on Top'', achieved a modest success, being his highest charting album in the US since 1978's ''Wavelength''.

Recent years: since 2000

Van Morrison continued to record and tour in the 2000s, often performing two or three times a week. He formed his own independent label, Exile Productions Ltd, which enables him to maintain full production control of each album he records, which he then delivers as a finished product to the recording label that he chooses, for marketing and distribution.

The album, ''Down the Road'' released in May 2002, received a good critical reception and proved to be his highest charting album in the US since 1972's ''Saint Dominic's Preview''. one of the tracks was written as a tribute to his late father George, who had played a pivotal role in nurturing his early musical tastes.

Morrison's 2005 album, ''Magic Time'', debuted at number twenty-five on the US Billboard 200 charts upon its May release, some forty years after Morrison first entered the public's eye as the frontman of Them. ''Rolling Stone'' listed it as number seventeen on ''The Top 50 Records of 2005''. Also in July 2005, Morrison was named by Amazon as one of their top twenty-five all-time best-selling artists and inducted into the Amazon.com Hall of Fame. Later in the year, Morrison also donated a previously unreleased studio track to a charity album, ''Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now'', which raised money for relief efforts intended for Gulf Coast victims devastated by hurricanes, Katrina and Rita. Morrison composed the song, "Blue and Green", featuring Foggy Lyttle on guitar. This song was released in 2007 on the album, ''The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3'' and also as a single in the UK. Van Morrison was a headline act at the international celtic music festival, The Hebridean Celtic Festival in Stornoway Outer Hebrides in the summer of 2005.

He released an album with a country music theme, entitled ''Pay the Devil'', on 7 March 2006 and appeared at the Ryman Auditorium where the tickets sold out immediately after they went on sale. ''Pay the Devil'' debuted at number twenty-six on The Billboard 200 and peaked at number seven on Top Country Albums. Amazon Best of 2006 Editor's Picks in Country listed the country album at number ten in December 2006. Still promoting the country album, Morrison's performance as the headline act on the first night of the Austin City Limits Music Festival on 15 September 2006 was reviewed by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as one of the top ten shows of the 2006 festival. In November 2006, a limited edition album, ''Live at Austin City Limits Festival'' was issued by Exile Productions, Ltd. A later deluxe CD/DVD release of ''Pay the Devil'', in the summer of 2006 contained tracks from the Ryman performance. In October 2006, Morrison had released his first commercial DVD, ''Live at Montreux 1980/1974'' with concerts taken from two separate appearances at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

A new double CD compilation album ''The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3'' was released in June 2007 containing thirty-one tracks, some of which were previously unreleased. Morrison selected the tracks, which ranged from the 1993 album ''Too Long in Exile'' to the song "Stranded" from the 2005 album ''Magic Time''. On 3 September 2007, Morrison's complete catalogue of albums from 1971 through 2002 were made available exclusively at the ITunes Store in Europe and Australia and during the first week of October 2007, the albums became available at the US ITunes Store.

''Still on Top - The Greatest Hits'', a thirty-seven track double CD compilation album was released on 22 October 2007 in the UK on the Polydor label. On 29 October 2007, the album charted at number two on the Official UK Top 75 Albums—his highest UK charting. The November release in the US and Canada contains twenty-one selected tracks. The hits that were released on albums with the copyrights owned by Morrison as Exile Productions Ltd.—1971 and later—had been remastered in 2007.

''Keep It Simple'', Morrison's 33rd studio album of completely new material was released by Exile/Polydor Records on 17 March 2008 in the UK and released by Exile/Lost Highway Records in the US and Canada on 1 April 2008. It comprised eleven self-penned tracks. Morrison promoted the album with a short US tour including an appearance at the SXSW music conference, and a UK concert broadcast on BBC Radio 2. In the first week of release ''Keep It Simple'' debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number ten, Morrison's first Top Ten charting in the US.

Live performances

By 1972, after being a performer for nearly ten years, Morrison began experiencing stage fright when performing for audiences of thousands, as opposed to the hundreds as he had experienced in his early career. He became anxious on stage and would have difficulty establishing eye contact with the audience. He once said in an interview about performing on stage, "I dig singing the songs but there are times when it's pretty agonizing for me to be out there." After a brief break from music, he started appearing in clubs, regaining his ability to perform live, albeit with smaller audiences.

The 1974 live double album, ''It's Too Late to Stop Now'', has been on lists of greatest live albums of all time. Biographer Johnny Rogan states that "Morrison was in the midst of what was arguably his greatest phase as a performer." Performances on the album were from tapes made during a three month tour of the US and Europe in 1973 with the backing group The Caledonia Soul Orchestra. Soon after recording the album, Morrison restructured the Caledonia Soul Orchestra into a smaller unit, the Caledonia Soul Express.

On Thanksgiving Day 1976, Morrison performed at the farewell concert for The Band. Morrison's first live performance in several years, he considered skipping his appearance until the last minute, even refusing to go on stage when they announced his name. His manager, Harvey Goldsmith, said he "literally kicked him out there." Morrison was on good terms with The Band as near-neighbours in Woodstock, and they had the shared experience of stage-fright. At the concert, he performed two songs. His first was a rendition of the classic Irish song Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral. His second song was "Caravan", from his 1970 album ''Moondance''. Greil Marcus, in attendance at the concert, wrote: "Van Morrison turned the show around...singing to the rafters and ...burning holes in the floor. It was a triumph, and as the song ended Van began to kick his leg into the air out of sheer exuberance and he kicked his way right offstage like a Rockette. The crowd had given him a fine welcome and they cheered wildly when he left." The filmed concert served as the basis for Martin Scorsese's 1978 film, ''The Last Waltz''.

It was during his association with The Band that Morrison acquired the nicknames: "Belfast Cowboy" and "Van the Man". When Morrison sang the duet "4% Pantomime" (that he co-wrote with Robbie Robertson), Richard Manuel calls him, "Oh, Belfast Cowboy". It would be included in The Band's album ''Cahoots''. When he left the stage, after performing "Caravan" on ''The Last Waltz'', Robertson calls out "''Van the Man!"''

On 21 July 1990, Morrison joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of ''The Wall - Live in Berlin'' with an estimated crowd of between three hundred thousand to half a million people and broadcast live on television. He sang "Comfortably Numb" with Roger Waters, and several members from The Band: Levon Helm, Garth Hudson and Rick Danko. At concert's end, he and the other performers sang "The Tide Is Turning".

Morrison performed before an estimated audience of sixty to eighty thousand people when US President Bill Clinton visited Belfast, Northern Ireland on 30 November 1995. His song "Days Like This" had become the official anthem for the Northern Irish peace movement.

Van Morrison continued performing concerts in the 2000s throughout the year rather than touring. Playing few of his best-known songs in concert, he has firmly resisted relegation to a nostalgia act. During a 2006 interview, he told Paul Sexton:

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ca:Van Morrison cs:Van Morrison cy:Van Morrison da:Van Morrison de:Van Morrison es:Van Morrison eu:Van Morrison fr:Van Morrison ga:Van Morrison gl:Van Morrison is:Van Morrison it:Van Morrison he:ואן מוריסון hu:Van Morrison nl:Van Morrison ja:ヴァン・モリソン no:Van Morrison pl:Van Morrison pt:Van Morrison ru:Моррисон, Ван sk:Van Morrison fi:Van Morrison sv:Van Morrison th:แวน มอร์ริสัน tr:Van Morrison

name	Count Basie
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	William James Basie
born	August 21, 1904Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S.
died	April 26, 1984Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
instrument	Piano, organ
genre	Swing, big band, piano blues
occupation	Musician, bandleader, composer
years active	1924–1984
notable instruments	}}

William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years. Many notable musicians came to prominence under his direction, including tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams. Basie's theme songs were "One O'Clock Jump" and "April In Paris".

Biography

Early life

William James Basie was born to Harvey Lee Basie, and Lilly Ann Childs, who lived on Mechanic Street in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father worked as a coachman and caretaker for a wealthy judge. After automobiles replaced horses, his father became a groundskeeper and handyman for several families in the area. His mother, a piano player who gave Basie his first piano lessons, took in laundry and baked cakes for sale and paid 25 cents a lesson for piano instruction for him.

Basie was not much of a scholar and instead dreamed of a traveling life, inspired by the carnivals which came to town. He only got as far as junior high school. He would hang out at the Palace Theater in Red Bank and did occasional chores for the management, which got him free admission to the shows. He also learned to operate the spotlights for the vaudeville shows. One day, when the pianist failed to arrive by show time, Basie took his place. Playing by ear, he quickly learned to improvise music appropriate to silent movies.

Though a natural at the piano, Basie preferred drums. However, the obvious talents of another young Red Bank area drummer, Sonny Greer (who was Duke Ellington's drummer from 1919 to 1951), discouraged Basie and he switched to piano exclusively by age 15. When not playing a gig, he hung out at the local pool hall with other musicians where he picked up on upcoming play dates and gossip. He got some jobs in Asbury Park, New Jersey, playing at the Hong Kong Inn, until a better player took his place.

Early career

Around 1924, he went to Harlem, a hotbed of jazz, living down the block from the Alhambra Theater. Early after his arrival, he bumped into Sonny Greer, who was by then the drummer for the Washingtonians, Duke Ellington's early band. Soon, Basie met many of the Harlem musicians who were making the scene, including Willie "the Lion" Smith and James P. Johnson.

Basie toured in several acts between 1925 and 1927, including ''Katie Krippen and Her Kiddies'' as part of the ''Hippity Hop'' show; on the Keith, the Columbia Burlesque, and the Theater Owners Bookers Association (T.O.B.A.) vaudeville circuits; and as a soloist and accompanist to blues singers Katie Krippen and Gonzelle White. His touring took him to Kansas City, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Chicago. Throughout his tours, Basie met many great jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong.

Back in Harlem in 1925, Basie got his first steady job at Leroy's, a place known for its piano players and its "cutting contests." The place catered to "uptown celebrities," and typically the band winged every number without sheet music (using "head" arrangements). He met Fats Waller, who was playing organ at the Lincoln Theater accompanying silent movies, and Waller taught him how to play that instrument (Basie later played organ at the Eblon Theater in Kansas City). As he did with Duke Ellington, Willie "the Lion" Smith helped Basie out during the lean times arranging gigs at house-rent parties, introducing him to other top musicians, and teaching him some piano technique.

In 1928 Basie was in Tulsa and heard Walter Page and his Famous Blue Devils, one of the first big bands, which featured Jimmy Rushing on vocals. A few months later, he was invited to join the band, which played mostly in Texas and Oklahoma. It was at this time that he began to be known as "Count" Basie (see Jazz royalty).

Kansas City years

The following year, Basie became the pianist with the Bennie Moten band based in Kansas City, inspired by Moten's ambition to raise his band to the level of Duke Ellington's or Fletcher Henderson's. Where the Blue Devils were "snappier" and more "bluesy," the Moten band was classier and more respected, and played in the "Kansas City stomp" style. In addition to playing piano, Basie was co-arranger with Eddie Durham, who actually did the notating. During a stay in Chicago, Basie recorded with the band. He occasionally played four-hand piano and dual pianos with Moten, who also conducted. The band improved with several personnel changes, including the addition of tenor saxophonist Ben Webster.

When the band voted Moten out, Basie took over for several months as Count Basie and his Cherry Blossoms until the band folded, when he returned to Moten's newly re-organized band. When Moten died in 1935 after a surgical procedure, the band unsuccessfully attempted to stay together. Then Basie formed a new band, which included many Moten alumni, with the important addition of tenor player Lester Young. They played at the Reno Club and sometimes were broadcast on local radio. Late one night with time to fill, the band started improvising. Basie liked the results and named the piece "One O'Clock Jump." According to Basie, "we hit it with the rhythm section and went into the riffs, and the riffs just stuck. We set the thing up front in D-flat, and then we just went on playing in F." It became his signature tune.

Hammond and first recordings

At the end of 1936, Basie and his band, now billed as Count Basie and His Barons of Rhythm, moved from Kansas City and honed their repertoire at a long engagement at the Grand Terrace Ballroom in Chicago. Right from the start, Basie's band was noted for its rhythm section. Another Basie innovation was the use of two tenor saxophone players; at the time, most bands had just one. When Lester Young complained of Herschel Evans' vibrato, the two were split apart and placed one on each side of the alto players, and soon Basie had the tenor players engaged in "duels". Many other bands later adapted the split tenor arrangement.

In that city in October 1936, members of the band participated in a recording session which producer John Hammond later described as "the only perfect, completely perfect recording session I've ever had anything to do with". Hammond, according to Basie, had heard Basie's band over short-wave radio, then he went to Kansas City to check them out. The results were Lester Young's earliest recordings. Those four sides were released under the name Jones-Smith Incorporated, because Basie had already signed with Decca Records but had not started recording for them (his first Decca session was January 1937). The sides were "Shoe Shine Boy", "Evening", "Boogie Woogie", and "Oh, Lady Be Good".

By now, Basie's sound was characterized by a "jumping" beat and the contrapuntal accents of his own piano. His personnel around 1937 included: Lester Young and Herschel Evans (tenor sax), Freddie Green (guitar), Jo Jones (drums), Walter Page (bass), Earle Warren (alto sax), Buck Clayton and Harry Edison (trumpet), Benny Morton and Dickie Wells (trombone). Lester Young, known as "Prez" by the band, came up with nicknames for all the other band members. Basie became known as "Holy Man", "Holy Main", and just plain "Holy".

Basie favored blues, and he showcased some of the most notable blues singers of the era: Billie Holiday, Jimmy Rushing, Big Joe Turner, Helen Humes, and Joe Williams. He also hired arrangers who knew how to maximize the band's abilities, such as Eddie Durham and Jimmy Mundy.

New York City and the Swing years

When they arrived in New York, they made the Woodside Hotel their base (where they often rehearsed in the basement). Soon, they were booked at the Roseland Ballroom for the Christmas show. Basie recalled a review, which in his words was something like, "We caught the great Count Basie band which is supposed to be so hot he was going to come in here and set the Roseland on fire. Well, the Roseland is still standing". Compared to the reigning band of Fletcher Henderson, Basie's band lacked polish and presentation. Hammond advised and encouraged them, and they soon came up with some adjustments, including softer playing, more solos, more standards, and saving their hottest numbers for later in the show to give the audience a chance to warm up. His first official recordings for Decca followed, under contract to agent MCA, including "Pennies from Heaven" and "Honeysuckle Rose".

Hammond introduced Basie to Billie Holiday who was soon singing with the band. (Holiday didn't record with Basie, however, as she had her own record contract and preferred working with small combos). The band's first appearance at the Apollo Theater followed, with vocalists Holiday and Rushing getting the most attention. Eddie Durham came back to help with arranging and composing, but for the most part their numbers were worked out in rehearsal, with Basie, guiding the proceedings, and the results written out little if at all. Once they found what they liked, they usually were able to repeat it using their collective memory.

Next, Basie played at the Savoy, which was noted more for jitterbugging, while the Roseland was more of a place for fox-trots and congas. In early 1938, the Savoy was the meeting ground for a "battle of the bands" with Chick Webb's group. Basie had Holiday and Webb countered with Ella Fitzgerald. As ''Metronome'' magazine proclaimed, "Basie's Brilliant Band Conquers Chick's", then it went on in detail, : "Throughout the fight, which never let down in its intensity during the whole fray, Chick took the aggressive, with the Count playing along easily and, on the whole, more musically scientifically. Undismayed by Chick's forceful drum beating, which sent the audience into shouts of encouragement and appreciation and casual beads of perspiration to drop from Chick's brow onto the brass cymbals, the Count maintained an attitude of poise and self-assurance. He constantly parried Chick's thundering haymakers with tantalizing runs and arpeggios which teased more and more force from his adversary". The publicity over the battle, before and after, gave the Basie band a big boost and they gained wider recognition, as evidenced by Benny Goodman's recording of ''One O'Clock Jump'' shortly thereafter.

A few months later, Holiday left for Artie Shaw's band, and was replaced by Helen Humes; she was also ushered in by John Hammond, and stayed with Basie for four years. Co-arranger and trombone player Eddie Durham left for Glenn Miller's orchestra and was replaced by Dicky Wells. Basie's 14-man band began playing at the Famous Door, a mid-town nightspot, with a CBS network feed and air conditioning. Their fame took a huge leap. Adding to their play book, Basie received arrangements from Jimmy Mundy (who had also worked with Benny Goodman and Earl Hines) particularly for "Cherokee", "Easy Does It", and "Super Chief". In 1939, Basie and his band made a major cross-country tour, including their first West Coast dates. A few months later, Basie quit MCA and signed with the William Morris Agency, who got them better fees.

In 1942, Basie moved to Queens with Catherine Morgan, after being married to her for a few years. On the West Coast, the band did a spot in ''Reveille With Beverly'', a musical starring Ann Miller, and also a "Command Performance" for Armed Forces Radio with Hollywood stars Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Carmen Miranda, Jerry Colonna, and singer Dinah Shore. Other minor movie spots followed including ''Choo Choo Swing'', ''Crazy House'', ''Top Man'', and ''Hit Parade of 1943''. They also started to record with RCA. The war years caused a lot of member turn over, and the band worked many play dates with lower pay. Dance hall bookings were down sharply as swing began to fade, the effects of the musicians' strikes of 1942-44 and 1948 began to be felt and the public's growing taste for singers.

Post-war and later years

The big band era appeared to have ended after the war, and Basie disbanded the group. For a while, he performed in combos, sometimes stretched to an orchestra. In 1950, he headlined the Universal-International short film ''"Sugar Chile" Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet.'' He reformed his group as a 16-piece orchestra in 1952. Basie credits Billy Eckstine, a top male vocalist of the time, for prompting his return to Big Band and Norman Granz for getting him into the Birdland club and promoting the new band through recordings on the Mercury, Clef, and Verve labels. The jukebox era had begun, and Basie shared the exposure along with early rock'n'roll and rhythm and blues artists. Basie's new band was more of an ensemble group, with fewer solo turns, and relying less on "head" and more on written arrangements.

Basie added touches of bebop "so long as it made sense", and he required that "it all had to have feeling". Basie's band was sharing Birdland with bebop greats Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. Behind the occasional bebop solos, though, he always kept his strict rhythmic pulse, "so it doesn't matter what they do up front; the audience gets the beat". Basie also added flute to some numbers, a novelty at the time that became widely copied. Soon, they were touring and recording again. The new band included: Paul Campbell, Tommy Turrentine, Johnny Letman, and Idrees Sulieman, Joe Newman (trumpet); Jimmy Wilkins, Benny Powell, Matthew Gee (trombone); Paul Quinichette and Floyd Johnson (tenor sax); Marshall Royal and Ernie Wilkins (alto sax); and Charlie Fowlkes (baritone sax). ''Down Beat'' said "(Basie) has managed to assemble an ensemble that can thrill both the listener who remembers 1938 and the youngster who has never before heard a big band like this".

In 1954, the band made its first European tour. Jazz was especially strong in France, The Netherlands, and Germany in the 1950s; These countries were the stomping grounds for many expatriate jazz stars who were either resurrecting their careers or sitting out the years of racial divide in the United States. Neal Hefti began to provide arrangements, notably "Lil Darlin'". By the mid-1950s, Basie's band had become one of the preeminent backing big bands for some of the most prominent jazz vocalists of the time. They also toured with the "Birdland Stars of 1955", whose lineup included Sarah Vaughan, Erroll Garner, Lester Young, George Shearing, and Stan Getz.

In 1957, Basie released the live album ''Count Basie at Newport''. "April in Paris" (arrangement by Wild Bill Davis) was a best-selling instrumental and the title song for the hit album. The Basie band made two tours in the British Isles and on the second, they put on a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II, along with Judy Garland, Vera Lynn, and Mario Lanza. He was a guest on ABC's ''The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom,'' a venue also opened to several other black entertainers. In 1959, Basie's band recorded a "greatest hits" double album ''The Count Basie Story'' (Frank Foster, arranger) and "Basie and Eckstine, Inc.": album featuring Billy Eckstine, Quincy Jones (as arranger) and the Count Basie Orchestra. It was released by Roulette Records, then later reissued by Capital Records.

Later that year, Basie appeared on a television special with Fred Astaire, featuring a dance solo to "Sweet Georgia Brown", followed in January 1960 by Basie performing at one of the five John F. Kennedy Inaugural Balls. That summer, Basie and Duke Ellington combined forces for the recording ''First Time! The Count Meets the Duke'', each providing four numbers from their play books.

During the balance of the 1960s, the band kept busy with tours, recordings, television appearances, festivals, Las Vegas shows, and travel abroad, including cruises. Some time around 1964, Basie adopted his trademark yachting cap.

Through steady changes in personnel, Basie led the band into the 1970s. Basie made a few more movie appearances, such as the Jerry Lewis film ''Cinderfella'' (1960) and the Mel Brooks movie ''Blazing Saddles'' (1974), playing his arrangement of "April in Paris".

Basie died of pancreatic cancer in Hollywood, Florida on April 26, 1984 at the age of 79.

Count Basie and His Orchestra

The musicians associated with Count Basie over the years included the following:

c.1937: Joe Keyes, Buck Clayton, Carl Smith, George Hunt, Dan Minor, Caughey Roberts, Herschel Evans, Lester Young, Jack Washington, Claude Williams, Walter Page, Jo Jones.

c.1939: Ed Lewis, Buck Clayton, Shad Collins, Harry Edison, Earle Warren, Buddy Tate, Benny Morton, Dicky Wells, Freddie Green.

1940: Al Killian, Vic Dickenson.

1943: Joe Newman, Snooky Young, Eli Robinson, Robert Scott, Louis Taylor, Jimmy Powell, Rudy Rutherford, Rodney Richardson.

The Singers

Basie hitched his star to some of the most famous vocalists of the 1950s and 1960s, which helped keep the Big Band sound alive and added greatly to his recording catalog. Jimmy Rushing sang with Basie in the late 1930s. Joe Williams toured with the band and was featured on the 1957 album ''One O'Clock Jump'', and 1956's ''Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings'', with "Every Day (I Have the Blues)" becoming a huge hit. With Billy Eckstine on the album Basie-Eckstine Inc., in 1959. Ella Fitzgerald made some memorable recordings with Basie, including the 1963 album ''Ella and Basie!''. With the 'New Testament' Basie band in full swing, and arrangements written by a youthful Quincy Jones, this album proved a swinging respite from her ''Songbook'' recordings and constant touring she did during this period. She even toured with the Basie Orchestra in the mid-1970s, and Fitzgerald and Basie also met on the 1979 albums ''A Classy Pair'', ''Digital III at Montreux'', and ''A Perfect Match'', the last two also recorded live at Montreux. In addition to Quincy Jones, Basie was using arrangers such as Benny Carter ''(Kansas City Suite)'', Neal Hefti ''(The Atomic Mr Basie)'', and Sammy Nestico ''(Basie-Straight Ahead)''.

Frank Sinatra recorded for the first time with Basie on 1962's ''Sinatra-Basie'' and for a second studio album on 1964's ''It Might as Well Be Swing'', which was arranged by Quincy Jones. Jones also arranged and conducted 1966's live ''Sinatra at the Sands''. In May 1970, Sinatra performed in London's Royal Festival Hall with the Basie orchestra, in a charity benefit for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Sinatra later said of this concert "I have a funny feeling that those two nights could have been my finest hour, really. It went so well; it was so thrilling and exciting".

Basie also recorded with Tony Bennett in the early 1960s — their albums together included the live recording at Las Vegas and ''Strike Up the Band'', a studio album. Basie also toured with Bennett, including a date at Carnegie Hall. Other notable recordings were with Sammy Davis, Jr., Bing Crosby, and Sarah Vaughan. One of Basie's biggest regrets was never recording with Louis Armstrong, though they shared the same bill several times.

Legacy

Count Basie introduced several generations of listeners to the Big Band sound and left an influential catalog. Basie is remembered by many who worked for him as being considerate of musicians and their opinions, modest, relaxed, fun-loving, dryly witty, and always enthusiastic about his music. As he summed up the key to his understated style, in his autobiography, "I think the band can really ''swing'' when it swings ''easy'', when it can just play along like you are cutting butter".

Other cultural connections include Jerry Lewis using "Blues in Hoss' Flat" from Basie's ''Chairman of the Board'' album, as the basis for his own "Chairman of the Board" routine in the movie ''The Errand Boy'', in which Lewis pantomimed the movements of a corporate executive holding a board meeting. (In the early 1980s, Lewis revived the routine during the live broadcast of one of his Muscular Dystrophy Association telethons). ''Blues in Hoss' Flat'', composed by Basie band member Frank Foster, was also the longtime theme song of San Francisco and New York radio DJ Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins. In addition, Basie is one of the producers of the "world's greatest music" that Brenda Fricker's "Pigeon Lady" character claims to have heard in Carnegie Hall in 1992's ''Home Alone 2: Lost in New York''. Drummer Neil Peart of the Canadian rock band Rush recorded a version of "One O'Clock Jump" with the Buddy Rich Big Band, and has used it at the end of his drum solos on the 2002 Vapor Trails Tour and Rush's 30th Anniversary Tour.

The Count Basie Theatre and Count Basie Field in his hometown of Red Bank, New Jersey were named in his honor. The street on which he lived, Mechanic Street has the honorary title of Count Basie Way.

On September 26, 2009, Edgecombe Avenue and 160th Street in Washington Heights, Manhattan, were renamed as Paul Robeson Boulevard and Count Basie Place. The corner is the location of 555 Edgecombe Avenue, also known as the Paul Robeson Home, a National Historic Landmark building where Count Basie and Paul Robeson lived.

Discography

The majority of Basie's recordings were made with his big band, see Count Basie Orchestra Discography.

Basie also made several small group recordings without his band:

''Count Basie Sextet'' (1954, Clef)

''Count Basie and the Kansas City 7'' (1962, Impulse!)

''Basie Swingin' Voices Singin''' (1966, EMI)

''Loose Walk'' (with Roy Eldridge) (1972, Pablo)

''Basie Jam'' (1973, Pablo)

''The Bosses'' (with Big Joe Turner) (1973)

''For the First Time'' (1974, Pablo)

''Satch and Josh'' (with Oscar Peterson)

''Basie & Zoot'' (with Zoot Sims) (1975, Pablo)

''For the Second Time'' (1975, Pablo)

''Basie Jam 2'' (1976, Pablo)

''Basie Jam 3'' (1976, Pablo)

''Kansas City 5'' (1977, Pablo)

''The Gifted Ones'' (with Dizzy Gillespie) (1977, Pablo)

''Basie Jam: Montreux '77'' (live) (1977, Pablo)

''Satch and Josh...Again'' (with Oscar Peterson) (1977, Pablo)

''Night Rider'' (with Oscar Peterson) (1978, Pablo)

''Count Basie Meets Oscar Peterson – The Timekeepers'' (with Oscar Peterson) (1978, Pablo)

''Yessir, That's My Baby'' (with Oscar Peterson) (1978, Pablo)

''Kansas City 8: Get Together'' (1979, Pablo)

''Kansas City 7'' (1980, Pablo)

''Kansas City 6'' (1981, Pablo)

''Mostly Blues...and Some Others'' (1983, Pablo)

Filmography

''Sugar Chile Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet'' (1950) – as himself

''Cinderfella'' (1960) – as himself

''Blazing Saddles'' (1974) – as himself with his orchestra

Awards

Grammy Awards

{| class=wikitable |- | colspan=5 align=center | Count Basie Grammy Award History |- |- ! Year ! Category ! Title ! Genre ! Results |- align=center | 1982 | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band | ''Warm Breeze'' | Jazz | Winner |- align=center | 1984 | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band | ''88 Basie Street'' | Jazz | Winner |- align=center | 1980 | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band | ''On The Road'' | Jazz | Winner |- align=center | 1977 | Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band | ''Prime Time'' | Jazz | Winner |- align=center | 1976 | Best Jazz Performance By A Soloist (Instrumental) | ''Basie And Zoot'' | Jazz | Winner |- align=center | 1963 | Best Performance By An Orchestra – For Dancing | ''This Time By Basie! Hits Of The 50's And 60's'' | Pop | Winner |- align=center | 1960 | Best Performance By A Band For Dancing | ''Dance With Basie'' | Pop | Winner |- align=center | 1958 | Best Performance By A Dance Band | ''Basie'' | Pop | Winner |- align=center | 1958 | Best Jazz Performance, Group | ''Basie'' | Jazz | Winner |- align=center |}

Grammy Hall of Fame

By 2011, four recordings of Count Basie had been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."

{| class=wikitable |- | colspan=5 align=center | Count Basie Grammy Hall of Fame Awards |- ! Year Recorded ! Title ! genre ! Label ! Year Inducted |- align=center | 1939 | Lester Leaps In | Jazz (Single) | Vocalion | 2005 |- align=center | 1955 | Everyday (I Have the Blues) | Jazz (Single) | Clef | 1992 |- align=center | 1955 | April in Paris | Jazz (Single) | Clef | 1985 |- align=center | 1937 | One O'Clock Jump | Jazz (Single) | Decca | 1979 |- align=center |}

Honors and Inductions

On May 23, 1985, William "Count" Basie was presented, posthumously, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan. The award was received by his son, Aaron Woodward.

On September 11, 1996 the U.S. Post Office issued a Count Basie 32 cents postage stamp. Basie is a part of the Big Band Leaders issue, which, is in turn, part of the Legends of American Music series.

{| class=wikitable |- | colspan=5 align=center | Count Basie Award History |- ! Year ! Category ! Result ! Notes |- align=center | 2007 | Long Island Music Hall of Fame | Inducted | |- align=center | 2005 | Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame | Inducted | |- align=center | 2002 | Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award | Winner | |- align=center | 1983 | NEA Jazz Masters | Winner | |- align=center | 1981 | Grammy Trustees Award | Winner | |- align=center | 1981 | Kennedy Center Honors | Honoree | |- align=center | late 1970s | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Honoree | at 6508 Hollywood Blvd. |- align=center | 1970 | Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia | Initiated | Mu Nu Chapter |- align=center | 1958 | Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame | Inducted | |- align=center |}

National Recording Registry

In 2005, Count Basie's song "One O'Clock Jump" (1937) was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. The board selects songs in an annual basis that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

References

External links

International Jose Guillermo Carrillo Foundation

Basie biography at swingmusic.net

BBC Profile of Count Basie

Downbeat Magazine

U.S. Postal Service Biography

''Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom – May 23, 1985''

Basie biography and album list

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