Larry Dale (born Ennis L. Lowery, January 7, 1923 – May 19, 2010) was an American

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 ...

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 ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

Life and career

He was born in Wharton,

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 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. During the early 1950s he took initial inspiration on

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

playing from

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 ...

, making his first

recordings 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 ...

as a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo o ...

for Paul Williams and his Orchestra (on Jax Records), and for Big Red McHouston & His Orchestra. Taking the name Larry Dale, he recorded for the

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

subsidiary

Groove Records Groove Records was a subsidiary of RCA Victor records, founded by ''Billboard'' writer Bob Rolontz in 1953 as a rhythm and blues label. The label tried hard to break into the R&B market. Piano Red had its first hit but Mickey & Sylvia was its fir ...

with a

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

that included

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 ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Champion Jack Dupree William Thomas "Champion Jack" Dupree (July 23, 1909 or July 4, 1910 – January 21, 1992) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer. His nickname was derived from his early career as a boxer. Biography Dupree was a New Orle ...

. He also wrote songs using the name Larry Dale Matthews. Dale performed on the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''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 and enterprises * ...

circuit with the pianist

Bob Gaddy Bob Gaddy (February 4, 1924 – July 24, 1997) was an American East Coast blues and rhythm-and-blues pianist, singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his recordings of "Operator" and "Rip and Run," and musical work he undertook wit ...

in the 1950s. He was also a frequent session guitarist in the New York

studios A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to Wiktionary:study, study or zeal. Types Art The studio o ...

, playing on all four of Dupree's 1956–58 sessions for RCA's

Groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station ...

and

Vik Vik or VIK may refer to: Places Finland * Viikki, a neighbourhood of Helsinki, known as Vik in Swedish Iceland * Vík í Mýrdal, a village in southern Iceland Iran * Vik, Iran, a village in Zanjan Province, Iran Norway *Vik, Buskerud, a vill ...

subsidiaries, and on the best known Dupree LP, 1958's ''

Blues from the Gutter ''Blues from the Gutter'' is the first album by blues musician Champion Jack Dupree. In addition to a four-star rating, ''The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings'' awarded the album a “crown”, indicating that the authors considered it an excep ...

'', for

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

. His playing on that album inspired

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. Dale made most of his best sides as a leader when the decade turned from the 1950s to the 1960s. For Glover Records he recorded the party blues "Let the Doorbell Ring" and "Big Muddy" in 1960, then revived

Stick McGhee Granville Henry "Stick" McGhee (March 23, 1918 – August 15, 1961) was an American jump blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known for his blues song " Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee", which he wrote with J. Mayo Williams. Note: Acco ...

's "Drinkin' Wine-Spo-Dee-O-Dee" in 1962 on Atlantic. He died in New York in May 2010, at the age of 87.

References

External links

* John Broven: "Larry Dale: The New York Houserocker".- ''

Juke Blues ''Juke Blues'' is a British magazine covering blues, R&B, gospel, soul, zydeco, and jazz. It was established in 1985 in London by Cilla Huggins, John Broven, and Bez Turner, and is now published in Bath, Somerset, England. Cilla Huggins has been ...

'' # 9 (summer 1987), p. 4-8
Illustrated Larry Dale discography

Larry Dale profile, Big Road Blues
1923 births 2010 deaths People from Wharton, Texas American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers East Coast blues musicians Groove Records artists RCA Victor artists Fire Records artists Atlantic Records artists 20th-century American guitarists African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers {{US-blues-musician-stub