Earl Backus

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Earnie "Earl" Backus (* 1920, † after 1979) was an American musician ( guitar ) in the area of Big Band jazz and popular music .

Live and act

Earl Backus recorded the number "Lula from Honolulu" in Chicago in February 1940 with the western swing band Sweet Violet Boys (Vocalion 05498); he then worked in the Californian jazz scene from the mid-1940s; As a rhythm guitarist, he was part of the octet / sextet of guitarist George Barnes , with which the first recordings for Keynote were made ("Windy City Flash"). In the following years he played with Max Miller , Roy Kral / Anita O'Day , Russell Procope , Jimmy Witherspoon and the organist Ken Griffin ("Oh Happy Day"); he was also a member of the orchestras of Ray Anthony , Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey , Tex Beneke , Bill Russo , Buddy Morrow , David Carroll , Mike Simpson and Ralph Marterie . According to Tom Lord , he was involved in 33 recording sessions between 1946 and 1979, most recently with Bobby Christian. As a studio musician, he has also worked for singers such as Mahalia Jackson ("Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen", 1954), Barbara Lewis ("Straighten up Your Heart", 1963) and Walter Jackson ("It's All Over").

He published his debut album Guitar in the Night in 1954 on Epic Records , with titles such as "I'm Thru with Love" and "In the Still of the Night". In 1957 he presented the easy-listening album Haunted Guitar ( Dot Records ), on which Mel Schmidt (bass), Bob Acri (piano), Remo Biondi (guitar, percussion) and Frank Rullo (drums) had collaborated. The Billboard noted in 1957: "Backus plays uncomplicated, without frills and without outstanding personal interpretations of a topic." During this time, the rock'n'roll- oriented vocal number "Kerrybrooke Hop", which is on the label Sears Roebuck (# U3692), was created. appeared.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ With Alan Crockett, vocal / fiddle; Augie Klein, accordion; Earl Backus, electric guitar; Chick Hurt, mandolin; Salty Holmes, guitar; Bob Long, guitar; Jack Taylor, string bass
  2. ↑ Ken Griffin Al Organo, Philips EP
  3. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed February 7, 2020)
  4. ^ Billboard Jan. 19, 1957, p. 24
personal data
SURNAME Backus, Earl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Backus, Earnie (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician (guitar)
DATE OF BIRTH around 1920
DATE OF DEATH after 1979