Elmore Nixon (November 17, 1933 – June 1975) was an American

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 ...

pianist and singer. His piano playing accompanied several artists on their recordings, including

Peppermint Harris Harrison Demotra Nelson, Jr. (July 17, 1925 – March 19, 1999), known as Peppermint Harris, was an American rhythm and blues and jump blues singer and guitarist. Originally from Texarkana, Texas, he first recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hous ...

Clifton Chenier Clifton Chenier (June 25, 1925 – December 12, 1987), was an American musician known as a pioneer of zydeco, a style of music that arose from Creole music, with R&B, blues, and Cajun influences. He sang and played the accordion. Chenier won ...

and

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its li ...

, as well as releasing a number of singles under his own name. Details of his life outside of his recording career are sketchy.

Biography

He was born in

Crowley, Louisiana Crowley (Local pronunciation: ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Acadia Parish, Louisiana, Acadia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 United States census, Crowley had a population of 11,710. Crowley is the principal city of ...

, United States. Little is known of his early life, although in 1939 his family relocated to

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 ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, where he grew up. He remained in Houston for the rest of his life. It is presumed that he learned to play the piano whilst undergoing training to join the church. In October 1947, at the age of 13, Nixon supplied piano accompaniment to Peppermint Nelson's recording of "Peppermith Boogie" for

Gold Star Records Gold Star Records is an American independent record label founded by Bill Quinn in Houston, Texas in 1941. History In 1939 Bill Quinn settled in Houston and established the Quinn Radio Service, a radio repair shop. After being intrigued by a h ...

. It was the commencement of an almost decade long, continuous career, in the recording studio for Nixon, working with a number of record labels. He became a de facto member of Henry Hayes' Four Kings, who were also credited as Henry Hayes Orchestra and Henry Hayes Band. Apart from Hayes and Nixon, the ensemble regularly included Carl Campbell, Milton Willis, L.C. Williams, Hubert Robinson, Ivory Lee and Hop Wilson. Nixon played predominately in a

style. Nixon's debut single release, "Foolish Love", was recorded in 1949 for the Sittin' in With record label. Further single releases occurred over the next six years for labels including

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

, Mercury,

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, and

Post Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal s ...

. His only commercial success came with the self-penned "Alabama Blues", which was later recorded by other musicians. Studio session work over the same period saw Nixon play piano accompaniment to Lester Williams, Hop Wilson, Billy Bizor and

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (April 18, 1924 – September 10, 2005) was an American singer and multi-instrumentalist from Louisiana. He was best-known as a blues music, blues performer, but his music was often eclectic and also touched on genres ...

. During the mid-1960s, Nixon recorded with

, on the latter's sessions for

Arhoolie Records Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label that was run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was ...

. He also supplied piano backing for

, when Hopkins recorded sides with Jewel Records. Apart from recording work, Nixon toured with his own band, performing largely in Texas and Louisiana. Also in the 1960s, Nixon enjoyed performing before Mexican audiences, making frequent trips across the border. Nixon underwent major surgery in 1970, which curtailed his activities and was in poor health until he died in June 1975, in Houston, Texas, U.S. at the age of 41.

Selected discography

Singles

Compilation albums

References

External links