Peppermint Harris

Peppermint Harris (* 17th July 1925 in Texarkana (Texas) as Harrison Nelson Jr. , † 19th March 1999 in Elizabeth , New Jersey ) was an American rhythm-and-blues - guitarist and singer , of the West Coast Blues is attributable

Harrison Nelson began to make his first recordings in Houston for the Gold Star label in the late 1940s , with whom he was accompanied by his friend Lightnin 'Hopkins and Elmore Nixon , with whom he was unsuccessful. Finally he got a contract with producer Bob Shad for recordings such as "Fat Girl Boogie" , who forgot Nelson's name and released the title under the pseudonym Peppermint Harris on the Sittin'in With label. In 1950 he had his first chart success with "Rainin 'in My Heart" . In 1951 he joined the label Aladdin in Los Angeles and had to "I Got Loaded" (en: I'm drunk ) his biggest hit in the R & B charts, which reached in November # 1. His other songs were less successful, however, many of which had alcohol as their theme, such as "Have Another Drink On Me and Talk to Me" , "Cadillac Funeral" , "Right Back on It" or "Three Sheets in the Wind" . With Albert Collins he recorded material for the album Houston Can't Be Heaven around 1960 .

He later recorded other tracks in Shreveport , Louisiana (including another version of "Raining in My Heart" for the Jewel label , 1965), as well as for Lunar ( "Sweet Black Angels" ) and Duke Records ( "Angel Child" ), and worked in Sacramento and New Jersey before a final album was released in 1995 on the Home Cooking label . He died in Elizabeth , New Jersey in 1999 .

Discographic notes

• Houston Can't Be Heaven (Ace Records) with Albert Collins
• Peppermint Harris (Time Records)
• I Got Loaded (Blue City Records, compilation)
• Texas on My mind (NMD, ed. 2008)

Web links

• Peppermint Harris at Allmusic (English)