Stick McGhee

Stick McGhee , also Sticks McGhee (born March 23, 1917 in Knoxville (Tennessee) as Granville Henry McGhee , † August 15, 1961 in the Bronx , New York City ) was an American blues and rhythm and blues guitarist and Singer. He was the younger brother of Brownie McGhee .

Live and act

McGhee started playing guitar when he was thirteen. After being kicked out of high school, he worked with his father at Eastman Kodak . In 1940 he left this job and moved to Portsmouth , Virginia , then to New York. There he did his military service in 1942 and was then a soldier in the Army during the Second World War . In 1946 he was discharged from the army and settled in New York.

During his military service he had often played the guitar. Finally he had success with the rhythm and blues song "Drinkin 'Wine Spoo-De-O-Dee" recorded in early 1949. The song also became the first hit of the young label Atlantic Records in the R&B charts . In McGhee's band, Wilbert "Big Chief" played Ellis (piano), Brownie McGhee (guitar) and Gene Ramey (bass).

Drinkin 'Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee summed up “the new attitude towards life: Drinking and fighting are all life is about, and if someone is looking for an argument, give them a drink or give them a beating Maul, “ Greil Marcus described the mood of this song, which his imitators a. a. on Baby, Let's Play House ( Elvis Presley , 1955). The first lines were:

Drinkin 'that mess is our delight

And when we get drunk, start fightin 'all night.

Knockin 'out windows and learnin' down doors ,

Drinkin 'half-gallons and callin' for more .

His song became one of the earliest prototypical rock and roll songs; he experienced numerous cover versions , for example by Jerry Lee Lewis and Mike Bloomfield's Electric Flag (as "Wine"). The song title also gave its name to an alcoholic fruit drink ( spodi ). First Granville and Brownie McGhee had revised the song together and recorded for Harlem Records, where it was released in January 1947 and then ran on the radio. He became known nationwide through the two years later recorded version for Atlantic Records; it then came to position 3 on the Billboard R&B chart.

His other songs have been covered by many artists, including Lionel Hampton , Wynonie Harris, the hillbilly formation Loy Gordon & His Pleasant Valley Boys. "Drinkin 'Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee" remained popular until the late 1950s with versions by Malcolm Yelvington (1954), Johnny Burnette (1957), Jerry Lee Lewis in 1959 and finally in 1962 Larry Dale .

McGhee then made other records for Atlantic and wrote popular songs like Tennessee Waltz, Drank Up All the Wine Last Night, Venus Blues, Let's Do It, and One Monkey Don't Stop No Show “, But there was no commercial success. McGhee moved from Atlantic to Essex Records to record the album My Little Rose , but without any major response, after which he went to King in 1953 . For the label he recorded a number of rock and roll songs such as "Whiskey, Women and Loaded Dice", "Head Happy With Wine", "Jungle Juice", "Six to Eight", "Double Crossin 'Liquor", " Dealin 'from the Bottom ”and“ Get Your Mind Out of the Gutter ”. After King did not succeed either, he made the last recordings for Savoy Records in 1955 ; then he retired from the music business. He died of lung cancer in August 1961 at the age of 44 .

literature

Greil Marcus: Mystery Train - Rock'n'Roll as an American dream . Frankfurt / M .: Rogner & Bernhard at Zweauseindeins, 1998 ISBN 3-8077-0255-5 .

Web links

Stick McGhee discography

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Toshes, Nick. Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' roll: The Birth of Rock in the wild years before Elvis. New York: Da Capo Press, 1999.
↑ Home.earthlink.net
↑ Other tracks in this session on February 14, 1949 were Tall Pretty Woman Blues (unreleased), Lonesome Road Blues , Blues Mixture , I'll Always Remember and Blues And Broken Hearted .
↑ Quoted from Greil Marcus, Mystery Train, p. 200.

personal data
SURNAME	McGhee, stick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	McGhee, sticks; McGhee, Granville Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American blues and rhythm and blues guitarist and singer
DATE OF BIRTH	March 23, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH	Knoxville, Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH	August 15, 1961
Place of death	Bronx , New York City

[Toshes-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Toshes, Nick. Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' roll: The Birth of Rock in the wild years before Elvis. New York: Da Capo Press, 1999.

[2] Home.earthlink.net

[3] Other tracks in this session on February 14, 1949 were Tall Pretty Woman Blues (unreleased), Lonesome Road Blues , Blues Mixture , I'll Always Remember and Blues And Broken Hearted .

[4] Quoted from Greil Marcus, Mystery Train, p. 200.