- published: 08 Jan 2012
- views: 42314
This article is about the musical artist. For the Earl King convicted of murdering a ship's officer, see Earl King, Ernest Ramsay, and Frank Conner
Earl King (February 7, 1934 – April 17, 2003) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter, most active in blues music. A composer of well known standards such as "Come On" (covered by Jimi Hendrix) and Professor Longhair's "Big Chief", he is an important figure in New Orleans R&B music.
King was born Earl Silas Johnson IV in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father, a local piano player, died when King was still a baby, and he was brought up by his mother. With his mother, he started going to church at an early age. In his youth he sang gospel music, but took the advice of a friend to switch to blues to make a better living.
King started to play guitar at age 15. Soon he started entering talent contests at local clubs including the Dew Drop Inn. It was at one of those clubs where he met his idol Guitar Slim. King started imitating Slim, and his presence gave a big impact on his musical directions. In 1954, when Slim was injured in an automobile accident (right around the time Slim had the #1 R&B hit with "The Things That I Used To Do"), King was deputized to continue Slim's band tour, representing himself as Slim. After succeeding in this role, King became a regular at the Dew Drop Inn.
Street Parade 3: 12 Trk 5
(Earl King Johnson)
Earl King
Arr. horns - Allen Toussaint (& tambourine)
Engnr- Cosimo Matassa, Jazz City Studio, New Orleans
Remix by M. Sehorn. April 1970
(original rel) Kansu Records #101
Musicians: J. Modeliste - drums, G. Porter - bass
L. Nocentelli - gtr, A. Neville - keyboards
w/various musicians from Loyola University.
Transcriber: Awcantor@aol.com
I can hear music in the air
Somewhere, out there
An I can hear happy voices
Out-a in the air
It makes me want to celebrate
Hm, I feel good inside
And I wanna get outdo's
Yes I do, in the open wide
A big time serenade
It must be a Street Parade
And I wanna Second line
Gonna have a good time, yeah-yea!
I get excited
With every beat of the drum
And make ya wanna get down with it
Have a whole lotta fun
We gonna go dance, dancing
Out in the street
A-come on baby, oh Lord!
Girl, just you and me
A big time serenade
We're going to a Street Parade
And we gonna Second line
We gonna have a good time, time, time
Hit me!
Hit me!
Hit me!
Yeah!
Ooo-wee!
Hit me, Frank!
Ooo! Yeah, you're right!
Clap your hands, people
Let me hear them clap, hm!
And keep on clappin', now
Let me hear them rap, yeah
Ev'rybody, do yo' thing
No promise what tomorrow brings
So shake your tambourines
Like they do down in New Orleans
A big time serenade
We goin' to a Street Parade
And we gonna Second line
We gonna have a good time, time, time
Pick 'em up and put 'em down
Your feets don't stay on the ground
Shake it and a-don't let go
Shake it 'til ya can't no mo'
Ev'rybody move ya hips
Go on a-let ya backbone slip
Give it ev'rything you've got
You've got to move it
While the groove is hot
Everybody's got to live it up!
FADES-
Nobody wanna get angry
Guys, shake it up, now!
Play it now, for me
Play now, right now, right now.