Huary Perry "U.P." Wilson (September 4, 1934 – September 22, 2004) was an American

electric blues Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

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

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 ...

who performed

Texas blues Texas blues is blues music from Texas. As a regional style, its original form was characterized by jazz and swing influences. Later examples are often closer to blues rock and Southern rock. History Texas blues began to appear in the early 1900 ...

. He recorded five albums for

JSP Records JSP Records is a British record label, founded in 1978 by John Stedman (John Stedman Promotions), releasing recordings by blues musicians such as Professor Longhair, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Witherspoon, Louisiana Red, Deitra Farr, Charlie Sayles, ...

, the first being ''Boogie Boy! The Texas Guitar Tornado Returns!'' He was known for playing a style of deep Southern

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 ...

that was gospel inflected.

Biography

Wilson was born on a farm in

Caddo Parish Caddo Parish () () is a parish located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the parish had a population of 237,848. The parish seat and largest city is Shreveport, which developed al ...

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

, to Carrie Lee and Tommy Wilson, and was raised in

West Dallas West Dallas is an area consisting of many communities and neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas, Dallas, Texas, United States. West Dallas lies just west of Downtown Dallas, north of Oak Cliff, and east of Irving, Texas, Irving and Grand Prairie, Texas, ...

. He learned the blues from ZuZu Bollin, Cat Man Fleming, Frankie Lee Sims,

Mercy Baby Julius W. "Jimmy" Mullins (March 12, 1930 – September 10, 1977), who performed and recorded as Mercy Baby, was an American blues and rhythm and blues musician. A drummer, singer and songwriter, he recorded in the late 1950s. He was born near R ...

and Nappy "Chin" Evans. Wilson later relocated from Dallas to

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

and formed a duo, the Boogie Chillun Boys, with the

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

and

vocalist 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 ...

Robert Ealey. Later he worked with

Cornell Dupree Cornell Luther Dupree (December 19, 1942 – May 8, 2011) was an American jazz fusion and Rhythm and blues, R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis, and Steve Gadd, appeared on ''L ...

, until Dupree left to become a

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 ...

. The Boogie Chillun Boys provided inspiration to another Texan singer and guitarist,

Ray Sharpe Edward Ray Sharpe (born February 8, 1938) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His best-known single was "Linda Lu". Sharpe was described by one record producer as "the greatest white-sounding black dude ever". Background Born in ...

. Wilson was imprisoned in the John R. Lindsey State Jail, in Jacksboro, Texas, for six months in 1967 and 1968 on a conviction of possession of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

. Upon his release he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. From 1967 onward he raised his family and worked in Fort Worth during the day as a school janitor. At night, Wilson performed 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 ...

in local

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s. By the late 1970s, Wilson and Ealey played at a Fort Worth club named the New Bluebird, where they attracted crowds of Texas blues fans. By 1987, Wilson had begun solo recording and touring around Texas. However, he rejoined Ealey in his new band, the Lovers, the following year. The

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

Tony Russell noted that Wilson put on a show, playing one-handed while drinking, smoking and greeting his fans, but behind the tricks and the hyped language used in his billings ("Texas Tornado", "Atomic Guitar", etc.) Wilson was a musician with a talent for more than just getting boys to boogie down. His peculiar decision to sing in

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

flawed his 1995 release ''This Is U.P. Wilson'', but subsequent releases led to the rediscovery of his blend of Texas shuffles and low-down blues. ''

Blues & Rhythm ''Blues & Rhythm'' is a British music magazine dealing with all aspects of blues and gospel music. Founded in July 1984 it is - along with its American counterpart ''Living Blues'' - considered to be the premier magazine for all aspects of resear ...

'' magazine stated that Wilson's music was "superb Texas blues from one of the discoveries of the 80s". For most of the last decade of his life, Wilson toured the European blues circuit and throughout the

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 ...

. Among his activities were appearances at the

Chicago Blues Festival The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June, that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the Chicago, Illinois, City of Chicago Department of Cu ...

and accompanying

Albert Collins Albert Gene Collins (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993)Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. He was noted for his powerful playing ...

. Wilson went to a hospital in Paris for surgery and died there on September 22, 2004, at the age of 70. His wife, Rosie, had died earlier. He was survived by two daughters and a son.

Discography

*''On My Way'' (1988), Red Lightnin' (UK); 1999 reissue, Fedora (US) *''Wild Texas Guitar'' (1989), Double Trouble (Belgium) *''U.P. Wilson with Paul Orta & the Kingpins'' (1990), Red Lightnin' (UK) *''Attack of the Atomic Guitar'',

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

(1992), Red Lightnin' (UK) *''Boogie Boy! The Texas Guitar Tornado Returns!'' (1994), JSP (UK) *''Texas Blues Party, Vol. 1'' (1995), Wolf (Austria) *''This Is U.P. Wilson'' (1995), JSP (UK) *''Whirlwind'' (1996), JSP *''Good Bad Blues'' (1998), JSP *''Booting'' (1999), JSP

Quotations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, U.P. 1934 births 2004 deaths American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Songwriters from Louisiana Electric blues musicians Musicians from Shreveport, Louisiana Texas blues musicians 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Songwriters from Texas Singers from Louisiana Guitarists from Louisiana Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American male singers American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters

Biography

Discography

See also

Quotations

References