Li'l Millet
McKinley James "Li'l" Millet (born October 25, 1935 in New Orleans , Louisiana , † June 29, 1997 ibid) was an American R&B musician who, as an interpreter of Rich Woman, had some meaning for the rhythm and blues from New Orleans attained.
Millet formed his first band with his four brothers who were encouraged by their mother to learn an instrument. McKinley took over the keys, a Professor Wilcox ran the band and played bass. The young pianist was able to play the songs of popular R&B musicians such as Ink Spots , Paul Gayten and Roy Brown after just a few recordings .
He got his first professional engagement in Carl Joseph's band The Hawkettes , which he left before their hit Mardi Gras Mambo to join trumpeter Tyler Van Scott, drummer Bill Smith, guitarist Ernest Meyer and tenor saxophonist John "L" to form your own band. From 1954 the troupe played as the house band of the Blue Gardenia Club and in the surrounding cities. Bismark Parker, the owner of the Gables Inn in McComb , Mississippi, first announced the band as "Li'l Millet and the Creoles".
With a performance by the Creoles in 1955 at the Sugar Bowl in Thibodaux , the producer discovered Robert Blackwell of Specialty Records , the band whose version of Bo Diddley Diddley Diddley Daddy he liked. With a new text of the songwriter Dorothy La Bostrie provided Millet played the song with the studio band in the cast Lee Allen on sax, Earl Palmer on drums and Frank Fields on bass, entitled Rich Woman in Cosimo Matassas J & M studio one. With Hopeless Love on the back, Rich Woman appeared as Specialty 565 and has since been re-released and covered several times.
When Specialty colleague Little Richard accompanied the band to a gig in Houma , Louisiana, he heard Millet's own composition All Around the World . The rock 'n' roll star recorded the piece in 1956 and released it as the B-side of The Girl Can't Help It on Specialty 591.Bumps Blackwell, as the Little Richards producer, claimed the credits as co-writing, although that Was written by Millet alone. Millet had previously recorded a demo version of his song, but it was only released in 1993 on a compilation from the Specialty archives. Due to the dominance of the celebrity colleague, Millet saw little support for his career with Specialty Records. Although he recorded a few more sessions under Blackwell, the songs were only released 30 years later on compilations for the British label Ace Records .
Despite the manageable recorded oeuvre, Li'l Millet and his Creoles stayed in business as a much-booked live and support band in the New Orleans area until 1980. After his band split up, Millet worked as a bus driver and played a few charity events in the 1990s. McKinley Millet died of cancer in 1997.
Discography
- 1955 - Rich Woman / Hopeless Love , Specialty 565
literature
- Jeff Hannusch: The Soul of New Orleans. A Legacy of Rhythm and Blues . Swallow Publications, Ville Platte 2001, ISBN 0-9614245-8-3 , Li'l Millet: Rich Woman, pp. 74-76 (American English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Garodkin: Little Richard Special . 2nd Edition. Mjoelner Edition, Praestoe 1984, ISBN 87-87721-14-7 , Specialty Records, pp. 23-66 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Millet, Li'l |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Millet, McKinley James |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rhythm and blues musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 25, 1935 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New Orleans , Louisiana |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 29, 1997 |
| Place of death | New Orleans , Louisiana |