Larry Garner (born July 8, 1952 in
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, United States)
is a
Louisiana blues musician best known for his 1994 album ''Too Blues''.
[, quote: "
One music journalist noted "If you define 'blues' by the rigid categories of structure rather than the flexible language of feeling allusion, Robert Cray... Larry Garner, Joe Louis Walker and James Armstrong are a new and uncategorizable breed, their music blues-like rather than blues, each of them blending ideas and devices from a variety of sources – soul, rock, jazz, gospel – with a sophistication beyond the reach of their forerunners".]
Biography
Garner grew up in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...
. His first inspiration was the guitar-playing preacher Reverend Utah Smith. Garner made acquaintance with local musicians such as
Lonesome Sundown,
Silas Hogan, Guitar Kelley and
Tabby Thomas.
His musical influences include Hogan,
Clarence Edwards,
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
, and
Henry Gray
Henry Gray (1827 – 13 June 1861) was a British anatomist and surgery, surgeon most notable for publishing the book ''Gray's Anatomy''. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) at the age of 25.
Biography
Gray was born ...
.
[ He was taught to play guitar by his uncle and two other elders. Garner completed military service in Korea and returned to Baton Rouge, working part-time in music and full-time at a ]Dow Chemical
The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., ...
plant.[ His first two albums, ''Double Dues'' and ''Too Blues'', were released by the British JSP label. The latter album's title was in reply to a label executive who judged Garner's original demo to be "too blues".]
Discography
All eight of Garner's CDs have been released by labels in Europe or Britain:[
*''Too Blues'' (1994), JSP
*''Double Dues'' (1995), JSP
*'' You Need to Live a Little'' (1995), Polygram
*''Standing Room Only'' (1998), Ruf
*''Baton Rouge'' (1995), Evidence
*''Once Upon the Blues'' (2000), Ruf
*''Embarrassment to the Blues?'', live album (2002), Ruf
*''Here Today Gone Tomorrow'' (2008), Dixiefrog
*''Larry Garner, Norman Beaker and Friends: Live at the Tivoli'', recorded at the Tivoli Theatre, ]Wimborne Minster
Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Pool ...
, 8 October 2009 (2010)
*''Blues for Sale'' (2012), Dixiefrog
See also
* Louisiana blues
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garner, Larry
1952 births
Living people
Blues musicians from Louisiana
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues singers
Songwriters from Louisiana
Blues musicians from New Orleans
Louisiana blues musicians
Swamp blues musicians
Musicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dow Chemical Company employees
Singers from Louisiana
Guitarists from Louisiana
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male musicians
JSP Records artists
Ruf Records artists
PolyGram artists
American male songwriters