Augustus D. "Gus" Jenkins (March 24, 1931 – December 22, 1985) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and R&B pianist, vocalist and bandleader. Credited as Gus Jinkins, he had a no.2 hit on the ''

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 advertise ...

'' R&B chart in 1956 with the instrumental "Tricky". He sometimes used the stage names The Young Wolf, Little Temple, and Piano Bo, and from the late 1960s took the name Jaarone Pharoah. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and developed his piano style influenced by St. Louis blues pianist Walter Davis. He toured with Sammy Green's Hot Harlem Review, and backed singers

Big Mama Thornton Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's " Hound Dog", in 1952, which becam ...

and

Percy Mayfield Percy Mayfield (August 12, 1920August 11, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues singer with a smooth vocal style. He also was a songwriter, known for the songs " Please Send Me Someone to Love" and "Hit the Road Jack", the latter being a song ...

, before reaching Chicago in the late 1940s. Jenkins first recorded for the Chess label in January 1953, accompanied by Walter Horton (harmonica) and

Willie Nix Willie Nix (August 6, 1922 – July 8, 1991) was an American Chicago blues singer and drummer, active in Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1940s and 1950s. Life and career Nix was born in Memphis. He learned to tap dance as a child and later, as a te ...

(drums), but his recordings, including "Eight Ball", were not released for some years. He also accompanied David "Honeyboy" Edwards on some of his recordings at Chess. Later in 1953 he recorded "Cold Love" and other tracks as Little Temple for the Specialty label in Los Angeles, with Jimmy Liggins (harmonica), Ted Brinson (bass), and an unknown drummer. Biography
Allmusic. Retrieved 11 August 2014 He remained in Los Angeles for the rest of his career, and learned woodworking while continuing to perform, with

Johnny Otis Johnny Otis (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes; December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was an American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, and talent scout. He was a seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll. He ...

' band and others, and record. He recorded "I Miss My Baby" for

Jake Porter Jake Vernon Haven Porter (August 3, 1916 – March 25, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter and record producer. Born in Oakland, California, Porter started playing violin at age seven and switched to cornet at nine. He played locally in the ...

's Combo label in 1955, before recording "Tricky" in 1956 for the Flash label owned by Charlie Reynolds. The single reached no.2 on the R&B chart and no.79 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart in late 1956. He released several further singles on Flash, including "Spark Plug" and "Payday Shuffle", before forming his own label, Pioneer International, with Clayton Metzler in 1959. He released a string of records on the label until 1962, many being piano and organ instrumentals released under his own name, and some featuring vocalist Mamie Perry. He later recorded for the General Artist label, but without further commercial success. However, his single "Chittlins" was released by Tower Records, a subsidiary of Capitol, in 1964. "Chittlins", ''So Many Records, So Little Time'', 3 October 2011
Retrieved 11 August 2014 By 1970, Jenkins had converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, and used the name Jaarone Pharoah. He continued to perform around Los Angeles, until his death in 1985 at the age of 54.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Gus 1931 births 1985 deaths American blues pianists American male pianists African-American pianists American rhythm and blues musicians 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians