Joseph Amos Milburn (April 1, 1927 – January 3, 1980) was an American R&B singer and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. One commentator noted, "Milburn excelled at good-natured, upbeat romps about booze and partying, imbued with a vibrant sense of humour and double entendre, as well as vivid, down-home imagery in his lyrics."

Life and career

Milburn was born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, one of 13 children. By the age of five, he was playing tunes on the piano. He enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

when he was aged 15. He returned to Houston and organized a 16-piece band playing in

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands a ...

in the city. He was managed by William and Geneva Church. Milburn was a polished pianist and performer and, in 1946, attracted the attention of a woman who arranged a

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

session with

Aladdin Records Aladdin Records was a record company and label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by brothers Eddie and Leo Mesner. It was originally called Philo Records before changing its name in 1946. Philo Records Philo's releases included 78 RPM singles of ...

in Los Angeles. Milburn's relationship with Aladdin lasted eight years, during which he recorded more than 75 sides. This included his cover version of " Down the Road a Piece" (1946), a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

song with a Texas boogie, that is similar in many respects to rock music. However, none of his recordings were popular until 1949, when seven of his singles got the attention of the R&B audience. "Hold Me Baby" and " Chicken Shack Boogie" reached numbers eight and nine on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s survey of 1949's R&B

best-seller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

s. He became one of the main performers associated with the Central Avenue music scene in Los Angeles. He was also a popular touring artist. He won awards from ''

Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' magazine (Best Blues and Jazz Star) and ''

'' magazine (Top R&B Artist). Among his best-known songs was " One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer". In 1950 his recording of

Maxwell Davis Thomas Maxwell Davis, Jr. (January 14, 1916 – September 18, 1970), was an American rhythm and blues saxophonist, arrangement, arranger, bandleader and record producer. Biography Davis was born in Independence, Kansas in 1916. In 1937, h ...

' " Bad, Bad Whiskey", reached the top of the R&B

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

. It was the first of a series of drinking songs he recorded (none written by Milburn, but several composed by Rudy Toombs). However, there is no evidence that he had an alcohol problem. Milburn recorded several more drinking songs through 1952 ("Thinking and Drinking", "Trouble in Mind") and was by then touring the country playing clubs. While touring the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

that summer, he announced that he would disband his combo and continue as a solo act. In autumn he joined Charles Brown for a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

of the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. For the next few years each of his tours was a series of one-nighters. After three years of solo performing, Milburn returned to Houston in 1956 to re-form his band. His releases for Aladdin Records in 1957 did not sell well, and the record company, having its own problems, terminated his contract. He tried to regain commercial success with a few more releases for Ace Records, but his time had passed.

Radio airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

was directed at the teenage market. Milburn contributed two songs to the R&B Yuletide canon: "Let's Make Christmas Merry, Baby", in 1949, for Aladdin Records, and "Christmas (Comes but Once a Year)", in 1960, for King Records. The latter was the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of Brown's holiday classic " Please Come Home for Christmas". Milburn's final

was for an album by

Johnny Otis Johnny Otis (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes (Greek language, Greek: Ιωάννης Αλέξανδρος Βελιώτης)); December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was a Greek American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, ...

in 1977, after Milburn had been impaired by a stroke. Otis played the left-hand piano parts for his enfeebled old friend. Milburn had a second stroke, which caused circulatory problems resulting in the

amputation Amputation is the removal of a Limb (anatomy), limb or other body part by Physical trauma, trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as cancer, malign ...

of a leg. He died soon after, of a third stroke, at the age of 52. He was interred as Amos Milburn Jr. at Houston National Cemetery on January 7, 1980. Another artist performing and recording as Amos Milburn Jr. in Texas in the 1960s was a different and unrelated person (James Thomas Russ Jr.).

Legacy

Milburn was an important performer of blues music in the years immediately after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was one of the first performers to switch from sophisticated jazz arrangements to the louder

jump blues Jump blues is an uptempo style of blues, jazz, and boogie woogie usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues wa ...

style. He began to emphasize rhythm and technical qualities of voice and instrumentation second. He was a commercial success for 11 years and influenced many performers. His energetic songs about getting "high" were admired by fellow musicians, such as Little Willie Littlefield, Floyd Dixon and Milburn's prime disciple,

Fats Domino Antoine Caliste Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orl ...

. Domino consistently credited Milburn as an influence on his music.

Discography

Selected recordings

* "After Midnite", 1946 * "Amos Blues", 1946 * " Down the Road a Piece", 1947 * " Chicken Shack Boogie", 1948 * " Bewildered", 1948 * "A and M Blues", 1948 * "Hold Me Baby", 1949 * "In the Middle of the Night", 1949 * "Roomin' House Boogie", 1949 * "Let's Make Christmas Merry, Baby", 1949 * "Sax Shack Boogie", 1950 * " Bad, Bad Whiskey", 1950 * "Let's Rock A While", 1951 * " Trouble in Mind", 1952 * "Thinking and Drinking", 1952 (written by Rudy Toombs) * "Let Me Go Home, Whiskey", 1953 (written by Shifty Henry) * " One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer", 1953 (written by Rudy Toombs) * "Good, Good Whiskey", 1953 * "Let's Have a Party", 1953 * "Vicious, Vicious Vodka", 1954

LPs

* ''Rockin' the Boogie'', 1952,

0-inch LP* ''Let's Have a Party'', 1957, Score Records * ''Million Sellers'', 1962, Imperial Records * ''The Return of the Blues Boss'', 1963,

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

* ''Great Rhythm & Blues Oldies, Volume 10: Amos Milburn'', 1977, Blues Spectrum

Compilation albums

* ''The Best of Amos Milburn: Down the Road Apiece'', CD, 1993,

EMI America Records EMI America Records was launched in 1978 by EMI as their second label in the United States after Capitol Records, relying on Capitol only for pressing, distribution, and international liaison. In 1987, EMI America merged with Manhattan Records ...

* ''The Complete Aladdin Recordings of Amos Milburn'', 7-CD

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

, 1994,

Mosaic Records Mosaic Records is an American jazz record company and label established in 1982 by Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie. It produces limited-edition box sets. The sets recordings are leased from the major record companies, usually for a three- or f ...

* ''Blues, Barrelhouse & Boogie Woogie: The Best of Amos Milburn 1946-1955'', 3-CD box set, 1996,

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

* ''The Best of Amos Milburn'', CD, 2001,

EMI-Capitol Special Markets EMI-Capitol Special Markets was an EMI subsidiary handling distribution for special markets. It bought 3C Records in the early nineties. It later operated as EMI Music Marketing and EMI Music Distribution in North America but have since been abs ...

* ''The Original Blues Sound of Charles Brown & Amos Milburn'', with Jackie Shane, and Bob Marshall & the Crystals, LP, 1965, (Pickwick/Grand Prix Series, Pickwick International)

References

External links

Amos Milburn biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milburn, Amos 1927 births 1980 deaths African-American pianists American blues pianists American male pianists 20th-century male pianists American blues singer-songwriters American rhythm and blues singers Singer-songwriters from Texas Jump blues musicians Imperial Records artists Charay Records artists Ace Records (United States) artists King Records artists Motown artists Singers from Houston West Coast blues musicians Burials at Houston National Cemetery 20th-century American pianists United States Navy personnel of World War II African-American male singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers