Billy Valentine

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Billy Valentine (* 1926 in Birmingham , Alabama ) was an American jazz , rhythm and blues musician ( vocals , piano ) and songwriter .

Live and act

Billy Valentine attended Morehouse College and had his first radio appearances at the station WGBE; he also performed with his own combo, the Harlem Nighthawks , in which he sang and played the piano. He was working in Houston in 1949 when he got the opportunity to join Johnny Moore 's Three Blazers ( replacing Charles Brown ). In 1949 the group created the tracks "New Driftin 'Blues", "Walkin' Blues" and "You Can Go Feed Yourself" (Victor). Also in 1949 he sang with Count Basie (replacing Jimmy Rushing in "Rocky Mountain Blues"); At the end of the year he recorded for Mercury under his own name ("How Long, How Long"), accompanied by John Collins , Ray Brown and Specs Powell . In 1949 he appeared in San Francisco at Club Bop City ; the young John Coltrane was one of his accompanying musicians . Around this time he was voted the third best R&B singer (after Arthur Prysock and Billy Eckstine ) in a listener poll for a radio station in the Atlanta area .

1950 came up with more numbers for Mercury like "Smooth Sailing Baby", in which he was accompanied by Jimmy Mundy (with Big Nick Nicholas , Cecil Payne and Buddy Rich ). From the end of 1950 he was under contract with Decca Records ("Baby, Please Don't Go", with Mickey Baker , Bobby Nicholson , Jimmy Crawford ), and in 1953 with Prestige Records ("Gambling Man"). On New Year's 1954 Valentine appeared in New York's Apollo Theater with the Lucky Millinder Orchestra; He also recorded as a pianist with Mari Jones and Johnny Moore's Three Blazers , 1956-58 with Big John Greer and Bubber Johnson for King Records . The tracks "Your Love Has Got Me Reeling and Rocking" / "It's a Sin" appeared on Capitol ; For King Records he played the songs "I Want Your Love" / "Don't Wait Too Long" under his own name in 1956 (with King Curtis , Herman Foster , Mickey Baker, Jimmy Lewis and Dave Bailey ). In 1959 the record "Cold Hearted Lover" / "Wasted Tears" was released on Federal Records . In the field of jazz he was involved in 20 recording sessions between 1949 and 1958. He wrote u. a. the songs "Rock With It", "You May Be Trash to Someone But Baby You're a Queen to Me" and "Beer Drinking Baby".

Discographic notes

  • Los Angeles Rhythm & Blues
  • The Coolest Rhythm'n'Blues ( Verve Records , ed. 2009)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lewis Porter : Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane: Evidence. JazzTimes , October 1, 2005, accessed April 27, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed April 22, 2018)
personal data
SURNAME Valentine, Billy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American R&B and jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Birmingham, Alabama
DATE OF DEATH 20th century or 21st century