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~~~BANDS~~~ - Amos Milburn Want your band info added to this list?
email: info@houstonbluessociety.org (attn: website committee)
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| Biography |
Born in Houston, one of thirteen children, by the age of five Milburn was playing tunes on the piano. He enlisted in the United States Navy when he was fifteen and earned thirteen battle stars in the Philippines, before returning to Houston and organizing a sixteen-piece band playing in Houston clubs, and mixing with the Houston jazz and blues scene. He was a polished pianist and performer and in 1946 attracted the attention of an enterprising woman who arranged a recording session with Aladdin Records in Los Angeles. Milburn's relationship with Aladdin lasted eight years during which he cut over seventy-five sides. His cover of "Down the Road a Piece" (1946), a blues with a rocking Texas boogie beat that bordered on rock, was ahead of its time.[1] However, none caught on until 1949 when seven of his singles got the attention of the R&B audience. "Hold Me Baby" and "Chicken Shack Boogie" landed numbers eight and nine on Billboard's survey of 1949's R&B Bestsellers
He became one of the leading performers associated with the Central Avenue music scene of Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood. Among his best known songs was "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer". In 1950 Milburn's "Bad, Bad, Whiskey" reached the top of the R&B charts and began a string of drinking songs (none written by Milburn, but several penned by Rudy Toombs). However, there is no evidence that Milburn had a drinking problem.
Milburn continued his successful drinking songs through 1952 {"Thinking and Drinking", "Trouble in Mind"} and was by now touring the country playing clubs. While touring the Midwest that summer, he announced that he would disband his combo and continue as a solo act and that fall he joined Charles Brown for a Southern concert tour. For the next few years his tours were made up of strings of one nighters. After three years of solo performing he returned to Houston in 1956 to reform his band. In 1957 Milburn's releases on Aladdin Records did not sell well, and the record label, having its own problems, went out of business. He tried to regain commercial success with a few more releases on Ace Records but his time had passed. Radio airplay was becoming focused on the teenage market.
Milburn contributed a fine offering to the R&B Yuletide canon in 1960 with his swinging "Christmas (Comes but Once a Year)" for King. Berry Gordy gave him a comeback forum in 1962, issuing an album on Motown predominated by remakes of his old hits that doesn't deserve its extreme rarity today (even Little Stevie Wonder pitched in on harp for the sessions).
Nothing could jump start the pianist's fading career by then, though.
Milburn's final recording was on an album by Johnny Otis. This was in 1972 after he had been incapacitated by a stroke, so much so that Otis had to play the left-hand piano parts for his enfeebled old friend.[3] His second stroke led to the amputation of a leg because of circulatory problems. He died shortly after at the age of 52 from a third stroke.
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The Houston Blues Society is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 corporation. One half of membership dues are tax deductible.
Every Sunday
Houston's Home of the Blues & Zydeco Jam
SHAKESPEAR'S PUB
14129 Memorial Dr., Houston, TX 77079
Sunday Nite Blues at Frank's
Frank's Pizza
417 Travis at Prairie, Houston, 77002
Blues Show
Mr. Gino's
7306 Cullen, Houston, TX
Danton's - Houston's Only Live Blues Brunch
Danton's Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen
4611 Montrose Blvd. in Chelsea Market
Every Monday
BLUE MONDAYS
THE RICHMOND CHILL BAR & GRILL
4704 Richmond Avenue
Every Tuesday
DHARMA BLUES JAM
DHARMA CAFE
1718 Houston Avenue (at Crockett)
Big Ass Blues Jam
The Hideaway
3122 Dunvale
Every Wednesday
Open Blues Jam - Open Mic
The Big Easy
5731 Kirby
Working Man's Blues Jam
Crazy Frogs
3939 West FM 1960
Every Thursday
Open Mic Night
NJ's Bar
3815 Mangum Road (at 290 and 610)
Weekly Jam - Southern Rock
ROCK, WINE & BLUES
18321 W. Lake Houston Parkway, Suite 140, Humble, TX
The Oldest Blues Jam In Houston
Dan Electro's Guitar Bar
1031 E. 24th St. (Between N. Main & Airline)
Think Tank Thursday
Frank's Pizza
417 Travis at Prairie, Houston, 77002
Blues Jam hosted by Charlie Parker
Spring Tavern
24401 Aldine Westfield Rd., Ste J
Brother Jam
Ray's
45550 FM 1774, Plantersville, TX 77363
Blues Jam Hosted by Dan Workman
19th Hole Grill & Bar
202 Sawdust Road, The Woodlands, TX
Every Sunday
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Houston Blues Society | P.O. Box 7809 Houston, TX 77270 | Phone: 713-827-6789