Sugar Ray Norcia (born Raymond Alan Norcia, June 6, 1954, Stonington, Connecticut, United States) is an American

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described b ...

and

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 African American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by a ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

player. He is best known for his work with his backing band, The Bluetones, with whom he has released seven albums since 1980.

Biography

Norcia started to play his harmonica based blues at

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. Once Norcia had relocated to

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, he formed the Bluetones which secured a residence as the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

at a local

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

. They backed touring acts, such as Big Walter Horton,

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 ...

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American singer from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." His greatest fame was due t ...

and

Roosevelt Sykes Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906July 17, 1983) was an American blues musician, also known as "the Honeydripper". Career Sykes was born the son of a musician in Elmar, Arkansas. "Just a little old sawmill town", Sykes said of his birthplace. The ...

in nearby clubs. During the latter part of the 1970s, the band backed Ronnie Earl before he departed to join Roomful of Blues. Norcia's solo recordings included the

EPs EPS, EPs or Eps may refer to: Commerce and finance * Earnings per share * Electronic Payment Services, in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, China * Express Payment System, in the Philippines Education * Edmonton Public Schools, in Edmonton, ...

''Sugar Ray and the Bluetones'' (1979); ''Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters featuring the Sensational Sugar Ray'' (1982), plus a couple of releases on

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

, ''Knockout'' (1989) and ''Don't Stand In My Way'' (1991). ''Don't Stand In My Way'' was the first release by the Bullseye Blues label. The Bluetones also backed Miki Honeycutt on her initial

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''Soul Deep''. In 1991, Norcia himself joined Roomful of Blues as their lead vocalist. They issued three albums with Norcia and undertook extensive touring duties. Norcia also undertook work away from the group. He appeared on a Bullseye Blues album from trombonist Porky Cohen, ''Rhythm and Bones'', (1996) and on the LP ''Little Anthony and Sugar Ray: Take It From Me'', (1994). Also in 1994, Norcia appeared on Otis Grand's ''Nothing Else Matters'' album. In 1998, Norcia exited from Roomful of Blues, and issued ''Sweet & Swingin, which featured songs written by

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

Arthur Alexander Arthur Alexander (May 10, 1940 – June 9, 1993) was an American country soul songwriter and singer. Jason Ankeny, music critic for AllMusic, said Alexander was a "country-soul pioneer" and that, though largely unknown, "his music is the stuff ...

and Big Walter Horton; plus a guest appearance from

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Voca ...

. In 1999, Norcia participated with

James Cotton James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career. ...

, Billy Branch and

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal ...

, on the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nominated album, ''Superharps''. More recently, Norcia contributed his harmonica playing on records by

Pinetop Perkins Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins (July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011) was an American blues pianist. He played with some of the most influential blues and rock-and-roll performers of his time and received numerous honors, including a Grammy Lifet ...

and

Doug James Doug James (born July 17, 1962 in Louisville, Kentucky) is a former American football player for the University of Michigan Wolverines (1980–1984) under coach Bo Schembechler. In 1985, he began his career in broadcast media where he has worke ...

, in addition to touring along with the 'Sugar Ray Norcia Big Band'. In June 2007, Sugar Ray & the Bluetones released their seventh studio album, ''My Life, My Friends, My Music'' on Severn Records. Another Grammy nominated release followed in 2013 on Blind Pig Records', ''Remembering Little Walter'', with Charlie Musselwhite,

Billy Boy Arnold William "Billy Boy" Arnold (born September 16, 1935, Chicago, Illinois) AllMusic.html" ;"title="AllMusic">AllMusic biography/ref> is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. Arnold is a self-taught harmonica player and has worked ...

, Mark Hummel,

James Harman James Gary Harman (June 8, 1946 – May 23, 2021) was an American blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter. The music journalist Tony Russell described Harman as an "amusing songwriter and an excellent, unfussy blues harp player". Biogra ...

, which garnered two Blues Music Awards that year. in April 2016, Sugar Ray & the Bluetones were among the inductees who were brought into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame (RIMHOF). To date, Monster Mike Welch has played on five album releases by Sugar Ray & the Bluetones.

References

External links

Sugar Ray and the Bluetones official websitePhotographs at JT30.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norcia, Sugar Ray 1954 births Living people American blues singers American male singers Songwriters from Connecticut American blues harmonica players Electric blues musicians Harmonica blues musicians Singers from Connecticut Soul-blues musicians People from Stonington, Connecticut Songwriters from New York (state) Topic Records artists American male songwriters

Biography

See also

References

External links