Ellen McIlwaine

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Ellen McIlwaine (born October 1, 1945 in Nashville , Tennessee , † June 23, 2021 in Calgary , Alberta , Canada ) was an American singer-songwriter and slide guitarist . Their music is often classified as folk , although it also includes blues , funk , gospel , soul, and rock music .

biography

Born in Nashville, McIlwaine was adopted by missionaries and grew up in Kobe, Japan . She attended a Canadian school in Kobe, which she graduated in 1963. In Japan she played music by Ray Charles , Fats Domino and Professor Longhair on the piano , which she heard on the radio. Back in the United States, she bought a guitar and began performing in Atlanta , Georgia in the mid-1960s .

In 1966 McIlwaine appeared in the New York Cafe Au Go Go , including with Jimi Hendrix and as an opening act for Muddy Waters , Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and Big Joe Williams . Back in Atlanta, she formed Fear Itself, a psychedelic blues rock band.

After an album with Fear Itself, McIlwaine began her solo career, during which she worked with numerous famous musicians from all over the world, played at renowned festivals and toured in America, Europe, Asia and Australia. She released two albums with Polydor , Honky Tonk Angel (1972) and We the People (1973). Among the soloists on the Polydor compilation The Guitar Album (1974) a.o. she was the only woman with Eric Clapton and John McLaughlin . This was followed by the album The Real Ellen McIlwaine (1975) on the Canadian label Kot'ai. On her fifth album, Everybody Needs It (1982), she worked with the adored Jack Bruce .

In 1987 McIlwaine moved to Canada, where she recorded the album Looking for Trouble for Stony Plain Records . In 1990 she toured with Johnny Winter . Her next albums Women in (e) motion Festival / Ellen McIlwaine (1999 live in Germany) and Spontaneous Combustion with Taj Mahal were released on the German label Tradition und Moderne.

In 2006 she founded her own label Ellen McIlwaine Music and released the album Mystic Bridge with the Indian tabla player Cassius Khan. In 2013 she appeared in the Jimi Hendrix documentary Hear My Train A Comin .

In 2019 she received the Maple Blues Lifetime Achievement Award from the Toronto Blues Society ( Blues With A Feeling Award ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Calgary-based guitarist and blues legend Ellen McIlwaine dead at 75. In: cbc.ca. Accessed June 25, 2021 .
  2. ^ A b Harrison Smith: Ellen McIlwaine, fiery slide guitarist and blues singer, dies at 75. In: The Washington Post. June 25, 2021 (English).;
  3. ↑ a b c d e f biography on Ellen McIlwaine's homepage, see web links
  4. ↑ a b c d e biography at Allmusic, see web links
  5. ↑ Toronto Blues Society - 22nd Annual Maple Blues Awards - Nominees and Winners
personal data
SURNAME McIlwaine, Ellen
SHORT DESCRIPTION American singer-songwriter and slide guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Nashville , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH June 23, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH Calgary , Alberta , Canada