Earl Forest (December 1, 1926 – February 26, 2003) was an American musician and a member of the Memphis-based R&B coalition called the Beale Streeters, which included

Johnny Ace John Marshall Alexander Jr. (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), known by the stage name Johnny Ace, was an American rhythm-and-blues singer. He had a string of hit singles in the mid-1950s. He emerged as a prominent figure in postwar R&B an ...

Bobby Bland Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was describ ...

Junior Parker Herman "Junior" Parker (March 27, 1932November 18, 1971), ...

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

, and

Roscoe Gordon Rosco N. Gordon III (April 10, 1928 – July 11, 2002), sometimes billed as Roscoe Gordon, was an American blues singer, pianist, and songwriter. He is best known for his hit songs "Booted," (1952), " No More Doggin'" (1952), and " Just a Litt ...

. Forest had a hit record in 1953 with "Whoopin' And Hollerin'" on Duke Records. He also recorded for Meteor Records and

Flair Records Flair Records was an American record label owned by the Bihari brothers, launched in the early 1950s. It was a subsidiary of Modern Records. Its most famous artists were Elmore James, who released ten singles with this label (as listed below), R ...

Life and career

Forest was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

on December 1, 1926. By the late 1940s Forest was part of the network of musicians performing around Beale Street known as the Beale Streeters. These musicians included

Junior Parker Herman "Junior" Parker (March 27, 1932November 18, 1971), ...

, and

. They weren't a formal band, but they played at the same venues and backed each other during recording sessions. Scout and program director of WDIA, David James Mattis, would attend local shows and have musicians perform live at the radio station. Forest, pianist John Alexander, and saxophonist Adolph "Billy" Duncan backed B.B King during broadcasts at WDIA. "I guess you can say this was the first little bitty B.B. King band," King recalled in his autobiography. In 1951,

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

, who was a talent scout and producer for the Bihari brothers at

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Hadda Brooks, Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turn ...

, arranged for the Beale Streeters to record for Modern. Forest backed Bobby Bland on his sessions for Modern, which produced the single "Crying All Night Long" / "Dry Up Baby." That session also included musicians

on piano, Billy Duncan on

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

, and Matt Murphy on guitar. In 1952, WDIA program director David James Mattis founded Duke Records and signed many of the Beale Streeters to the label. Forest played drums during a session for Bobby Bland at WDIA studios in 1952. Soon after, Forest recorded his first record, "Whoopin' And Hollerin'," with Johnny Ace on piano. It reached No. 7 on the ''Billboard'''s R&B chart (Most Played in Juke Boxes) in April 1953. To capitalize off the success of the record, the Bihari brothers released a single by Forest on their sublabel Meteor Records, credited as Earl (Whoopin' & Hollerin') Forrest. Later that year, Forest's "Trouble And Me" was issued as a split single with Johnny Ace's "Mid Night Hours Journey" on

. Forest continued to record, releasing more singles on Duke Records until the 1960s. As a songwriter, Forest co-wrote the blues standard " Next Time You See Me" which was recorded by Junior Parker, Frankie Lymon,

James Cotton James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career. ...

and many others. He co-wrote "Morning After" by the Mar-Keys, released on

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in September 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. ...

in 1961. In the 1980s, Forest recorded with one-time Beale Streeter Bobby Bland, backing him on his 1987 album ''Blues You Can Use''. He also co-wrote two songs on that album, "Spending My Life With You" and "For The Last Time." Forest co-wrote two songs on

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his List of number-one R&B singles of 1965 (U.S.), number-one R&B single "We're Gonna Ma ...

's 1987 album ''Movin' To The Country'', "Just Because You See Me Smilin'" and "Room 244." Forest died from cancer at the Memphis Veterans Administration Medical Center on February 26, 2003.

Discography

Singles

* 1953: "Whoopin' And Hollerin'" / "Pretty Bessie" (

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

R-108) – No. 7 on ''Billboard'' R&B * 1953: "I Wronged A Woman" / "I Can't Forgive You" (

Meteor A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...

5005) * 1953: "Last Night's Dream" / "Fifty Three" (Duke 113) * 1953: "Mid Night Hours Journey" (Johnny Ace) / "Trouble and Me" (

Flair Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) is a magnetic resonance imaging sequence with an inversion recovery set to null fluids. For example, it can be used in brain imaging to suppress cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) effects on the image, so as to ...

1015) * 1954: "Out On A Party" / "Oh, Why" (Duke 121) * 1954: "Your Kind Of Love" / "Ohh, Ohh Wee" (Duke 130) * 1962: "Memphis Twist" / "Beale Street Popeye" (Duke 349) * 1963: "The Duck" / "The Crown" (Duke 363)

Albums

Featured appearances

* 1978: ''Big Blues From Duke & Peacock (Blues Anthology Vol. 2)'' (

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

) *1987: ''Earl Forest Featuring The Beale Streeters With Bobby Bland And Johnny Ace'' ( Ace records) * 1989: ''The Original Memphis Blues Brothers'' (Ace Records) * 1992: ''The Best Of Duke-Peacock Blues'' (

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

) * 2005: ''Blowing The Fuse 1953 – 29 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox in 1953'' (

Bear Family Records Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging primarily in country music but varying in everything from 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History T ...

) * 2008: ''Rockin' Memphis'' (

Proper Records Proper Records is an English record label founded by Proper Music Group Chairman – Malcolm Mills and Paul Riley. Commencing with a handful of releases, including the Balham Alligators and Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, the label grew ...

) * 2010: Ike Turner – ''That Kat Sure Could Play! The Singles 1951–1957'' ( Secret Records Limited) * 2012: Johnny Ace – ''Ace's Wild: The Complete Solo Sides And Sessions'' (Fantastic Voyage) * 2017: Ike Turner – ''Sessionography Vol. 1'' (Real Gone Records)

As a sideman

* 1981: B.B. King – ''The Rarest King'' (Blues Boy) * 1987: Junior Parker & Roscoe Gordon – ''Feelin' Good'' ( Sun Record Company / P-Vine Special) * 1987: Bobby Bland – ''Blues You Can Use'' ( Malaco Records) * 1992: B.B. King – ''King of the Blues'' (MCA Records) * 2001: Bobby Bland – ''The Antholog''y (MCA Records) * 2010: Ike Turner – ''That Kat Sure Could Play! The Singles 1951–1957'' (Secret Records Limited) * 2013: B.B. King – ''The Indispensable 1949–1962'' (Frémeaux & Associés) * 2013: Little Junior Parker – ''Feelin' Good – The 1952–1962 Recordings'' (Hoodoo Records)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forest, Earl 1926 births 2003 deaths American rhythm and blues singers Flair Records artists Meteor Records artists Duke Records artists Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee American rhythm and blues drummers African-American drummers 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 21st-century African-American musicians Drummers from Tennessee