Lowell Fulson |
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Tue. March 09.1999 9:47 PM EST |
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Best Of '99: Bluesman Lowell Fulson Dead at 77Singer/songwriter/guitarist performed for nearly 60 years; his songs were covered by Elvis Presley, Otis Redding, B.B. King. by Contributing Editor Christopher O'Connor |
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Fulson's songs included "Reconsider Baby" and "Three O'Clock Blues." ( ) |
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[Editor's note: Over the holiday season, SonicNet is looking back at 1999's top stories, chosen by our editors and writers. This story originally ran on Tuesday, March 9.] Blues singer/songwriter Lowell Fulson, a member of the Rhythm
Fulson, who suffered from kidney disease and diabetes and required dialysis three times a week for the last five years, died of kidney failure, said Mary Katherine Alden, a longtime friend who produced the 1997 compilation The Complete Chess Masters, which collected songs from Fulson's 10-year stint with Chess Records. Fulson's songs included "Reconsider Baby" (RealAudio excerpt), which reached the top 5 on Billboard's Top R&B Albums Chart in 1954, and which Elvis Presley later covered; "Three O'Clock Blues," made famous by B.B. King; and "Tramp," which was a hit for both Fulson and Otis Redding in the 1960s. "He had a marvelous, expressive, crying voice," said Chris Strachwitz, owner of Arhoolie Records, an El Cerrito, Calif., label that re-released Fulson's earliest recordings last year under the title River Blues. "It was almost like a field holler." Fulson, who was part African American and part American Indian, was born March 31, 1921, on the Choctaw Indian Reservation in Oklahoma. He began performing in bluesman Texas Alexander's band. After two years in the Navy — he enlisted — he moved to Oakland, Calif., and spent the 1940s recording for small labels. He recorded for Chess, the legendary home of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and other seminal blues artists, in the 1950s and '60s. Alden said his recording session for "Reconsider Baby" immediately helped distinguish him from the rest of the label's artists. Fulson refused to record with the Chess session musicians in Chicago, choosing instead to use his own band. "His was an entirely different sound," Alden said. "It was much more urbane, sophisticated. He wasn't part of that in-crowd with Chess." Fulson employed soul and jazz great Ray Charles as his pianist for part of the 1950s. While he was regarded as a highly skilled guitar player, Fulson felt uncomfortable improvising, preferring to stick to his arrangements, Alden said. He also was reserved, usually staying in his dressing room before and after shows rather than mingling with fans, she said. In later years, Fulson incorporated modern R&B and disco into his music. Despite his illnesses, he continued to work until 1998, when he joined Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Jimmy Page and several other musicians on Blues Blues Blues, a tribute album to the late blues singer Jimmy Rogers, who died in 1997. Fulson, who lived in Southern California for more than 50 years, is survived by a son, Richard, and daughter, Yvonne. A public funeral will be held Saturday in Los Angeles. |
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