Raymond Hill

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Raymond Hill (born April 24, 1933 in Clarksdale (Mississippi) , † April 16, 1996 there ) was an American tenor saxophonist and singer. He gained fame through working with Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner .

biography

The blues singer and saxophonist Raymond Hill grew up in Clarksdale, Mississippi and came into contact with music at an early age through his father Henry's relationships. He ran a dance hall and encouraged his son to keep himself busy with the events of the club acts. These acts included blues musicians such as Sonny Boy Williamson II and Robert Nighthawk . The house band's saxophonist, Winchester Davis, challenged him to learn the instrument, and Hill persuaded his parents to buy him his own saxophone.

Together with his friend, the drummer Billy Gayles, Raymond Hill began to play in his schoolmate Ike Turner's bands in the late 1940s, both the big big band Tophatters and the smaller Kings of Rhythm . On March 5, 1951, Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm were invited to a recording session in the studios of the Memphis Recording Service, a predecessor of Sun Studios founded in 1950 , in Memphis (Tennessee) . A prerequisite for this was that the band recorded their own piece. Hill played a solo at Jackie Brenston's request. The 17-year-old's saxophone playing reached a previously unknown level of rhythm on Rocket “88” . Lonesome Baby from the same session is just as rough played for the time. Rocket “88” hit the R&B charts at the end of April and reached number 1 in June.

In 1952, Raymond Hill left Ike Turner's bands due to a dispute over outstanding fees. He then worked as a session musician for Sun and other local labels, including howlin 'Wolf , Jessie Hill and Little Junior Parker . So he played the tenor saxophone on Parker's Mystery Train . On October 6, 1952, he had his first own recording. Together with guitarist Willie Kizart and Houston Stokes (drums) seven tracks were recorded, but they remained unpublished for a long time. Charly Records only released these recordings in the 1970s .

In 1954 Hill released his first single, The Snuggle / Bourbon Street Jump, under his own name on Sun Records. Both are instrumentals , the pianist was Billy Emerson and the guitar was played by Ike Turner. During this time he also accompanied Billy Emerson, Jesse Knight, Clayton Love and Little Junior Parker.

In 1955, Raymond Hill was again a member of Ike Turner's band and moved with him to St. Louis . When Turner moved to California, Hill stayed in St. Louis and joined Albert King's band. At that time he also accompanied Billy Gayles.

On August 20, 1958, Tina Turner gave birth to their son Raymond Craig. After working with King, he returned to Clarksdale. In the 1970s, he recorded an EP with his then-wife Lillie for the newly founded High Water Recording Company by David Evans and then left the music business.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edward M. Komara, Encyclopedia of the Blues , Psychology Press, p. 431, ISBN 978-0-41592-699-7 .
  2. ↑ http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/raymond_hill.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/ike-turner
  4. ↑ http://www.rhombusmag.com/2011/03/06/the-history-of-rock-n-roll-in-25-songs-jackie-brenston-rocket-88/
  5. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/de/Various-Sun-The-Roots-Of-Rock-Volume-3-Delta-Rhythm-Kings/master/420126
  6. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/de/Various-Sun-The-Roots-Of-Rock-Volume-11-Memphis-Blues-Sounds/release/1242225
  7. ↑ http://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/bit.listserv.blues-l/bzwVQBwdwa8
  8. ↑ http://www.popsike.com/RAYMOND-HILL-THE-SNUGGLE-bw-BOURBON-STREET-JUMP-SUN-204/130970482552.html
  9. ↑ Mark Bego: Tina Turner. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005, ISBN 978-1-589-79253-1 , p. 55 ( limited preview in Google book search).
personal data
SURNAME Hill, Raymond
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American R&B musician
DATE OF BIRTH April 24, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Clarksdale , Mississippi
DATE OF DEATH April 16, 1996
Place of death Clarksdale , Mississippi