Kipling Taquana "Kip" Anderson (January 24, 1938 – August 29, 2007) was an American

soul blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by artists s ...

and R&B

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

. He is best known for his 1967

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "A Knife and a Fork". He recorded for many

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

s, worked as a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

DJ, and maintained a career lasting from the late 1950s to the 1990s, despite serving a decade-long custodial sentence. At various times Anderson worked with

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

, the Drifters,

Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (December 8, 1939 – February 20, 2025) was an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, who were inducted into the Rock and ...

and

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer who was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a master showman and one of th ...

Biography

He was born Kipling Taquana Anderson in Starr, Anderson County,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Anderson had his first musical exposure in church, where he sang and played the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. After featuring in his high school band, Anderson met his future business partner, Charles Derrick, at radio station WOIC, in Columbia. In 1959, Anderson's debut single, "I Wanna Be the Only One", was released by

Vee-Jay Records Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

. For his follow-up release, "Oh My Linda", he was accompanied by the guitarist

Mickey Baker MacHouston "Mickey" Baker (October 15, 1925 – November 27, 2012) was an American musician, best known for his work as a studio musician and as part of the recording duo Mickey & Sylvia. Early life Baker was born in Louisville, Kentucky. His ...

. Lack of commercial gains from recording led Anderson to find work as a disc jockey. Everlast Records released Anderson's third single, "I Will Cry" (1962), and "Here I Am, Try Me", and "That's When the Crying Begins" (1964) followed; the latter reached number 79 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His stock rose further with "I'll Get Along", "Woman How Do You Make Me Love You Like I Do", and "Without a Woman" (1966). In 1967, Anderson released "A Knife and a Fork" for Checker, recorded at FAME Studios in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. "A Knife and a Fork" was a midtempo warning to his girlfriend about her consumption of food: "girl, you gonna let a knife and a fork dig your grave". The single entered 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 advertis ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

. A follow-up release, "You'll Lose a Good Thing", issued by

Excello Records Excello Records was an American blues independent record label, started by Ernie Young in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, in 1953 as a subsidiary of Nashboro, a gospel label. History It recorded such artists as Louis Brooks, Lightnin' Slim, ...

, also made the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

on the R&B chart. "I Went Off and Cried" (1968) may be his best-remembered recording, next to "A Knife and a Fork". A

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "A Knife and a Fork" was recorded by

Rockpile Rockpile were a British rock band of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Noted for their strong pub rock, rockabilly and power pop influences, they were a foundational influence on new wave. The band consisted of Dave Edmunds (vocals, guitar), ...

for the 1980 album, ''

Seconds of Pleasure ''Seconds of Pleasure'' is a 1980 album by Rockpile, a band consisting of guitarists/vocalists Dave Edmunds and Billy Bremner, bassist/vocalist Nick Lowe, and drummer Terry Williams. The band had played together on various solo albums by Edmun ...

''. A dependency on heroin started to affect his work by 1970, and Excello cancelled his

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

. He continued to record and perform in the 1970s, but a ten-year prison sentence in 1974 for possession of heroin halted his activities. He later stated, "It probably saved my life". While in prison he formed a gospel group with other inmates, who performed under surveillance at local churches and community events. Upon his release from prison, Anderson recorded a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, before issuing more soul-based music for

Ichiban Records Ichiban Records was an American independent record label, founded in 1985 by John Abbey and Nina Easton in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. History Wrap Records and Nastymix Records were some of its subsidiary labels. Urgent! Records and Mr. Hen ...

. He also revived his career as a DJ when he moved back to Anderson County. He also hosted a gospel show on WRIX-FM and served as vice president of Electric City Record's gospel division. In 1996, Anderson duetted with

Nappy Brown Napoleon Brown Goodson Culp (October 12, 1929 – September 20, 2008) better known by his stage name Nappy Brown, was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singing, singer. His hit record, hits include the 1955 ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard' ...

on the ''Best of Both Worlds'' joint album. Anderson died in

Anderson, South Carolina Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 28,106 at the 2020 census, making it the 16th-most populous city in South Carolina. It is one of the principal cities in the Gree ...

, in August 2007, at the age of 69.

Discography

Albums

*''A Dog Don't Wear No Shoes'' (1992) - Ichiban *''A Knife and a Fork'' (1993) - Ichiban

Singles

*"I Wanna Be the Only One" / "The Home Fires Are Brighter After All" (1959), Vee Jay *"I Wanna Be the Only One" / Making Tracks" (1959), Derrick Records *"Oh My Linda" / "'Til Your Love is Mine (1960), Sharp Records *"I Feel Good" / "I Will Cry" (1961), Everlast Records *"That's When the Crying Begins" / "I Done You Wrong" (1964),

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 ...

*"I Can't" / "I'll Get Along" (1965), Tomorrow Records *"Tell Her I Love Her" / "Woman How Do You Make Me Love You Like I Do" (1965),

Checker Records Checker Records is a defunct record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded T ...

*"I Get Carried Away" / "Here I Am, Try Me" (1965), Tomorrow Records *"If That Don't Make You Cry" / "Without a Woman" (1966), Checker *"Take It Like a Man" / "A Knife and a Fork" (1967), Checker *"

Blue Moon A blue moon refers either to the presence of a second full moon in a calendar month, to the third full moon in a season containing four, or to a moon that appears blue due to atmospheric effects. The calendrical meaning of "blue moon" is unc ...

" / "

Unchained Melody "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.Robert ...

" (1967), Concord *"You'll Lose a Good Thing" / "I'm Out of Love" (1967),

*"Letter From my Darling" / "Watch You Work it Out" (1968), Excello *"That's All I Can Do" / "I Went Off and Cried" (1968), Excello *"Frozen Heart" / "Abide in Me" (1969), Eydie *"Jesus Sings with Me (Part 1)" / "Jesus Sings with Me (Part 2)" (1988), Lorna *"I Could'a Been Sleepin'" / "He Never Left Me Alone" (1989), Lorna *"Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" / "A Dog Don't Wear No Shoes" (1992), Ichiban

References

External links