Earl Oliver

Last updated

Earl Oliver
EarlOliver.png
Born (1948-06-23) June 23, 1948 (age 75)
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
OccupationWriter, musician, variety and street entertainer
Genre Professional wrestling
SpouseLonna Oliver (c. 1974–present)
Relatives wrestler Ray "Rip the Crippler" Oliver (uncle)
Website
earloliver.com

Earl Oliver (born June 23, 1948) is an American writer, musician, variety, street entertainer, and graphic artist. An accomplished blues and jazz guitarist and singer in Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, popularly known as the Walkin' Blues Man, he hosted a popular cable-access television program, "Earl Oliver & Friends: Live from LaVal's", later called "Live on Location", that aired in 16 stations throughout the region from 1992 to 1995. He has also been the lead vocalist for several California-based bands, most recently, the Groovinators.

Contents

From May, 2005 until August, 2013, Oliver was a regular performer on the Skunk Train, a heritage railway which runs daily from Fort Bragg and Willits, California, and at events such as the Palo Alto Art Walk and Project Read for the San Francisco Public Library. In 2001, he was called "one of San Francisco's undiscovered treasures" by San Francisco Arts Magazine.

The nephew of professional wrestler Ray "Rip the Crippler" Oliver, Oliver is a longtime wrestling columnist and historian. He is perhaps best known in the internet wrestling community as the founder of Solie's Vintage Wrestling, a historical professional wrestling website dedicated to the memory of announcer Gordon Solie, which is the oldest continually active pro wrestling website on the internet.

Biography

Early life and career

Earl Oliver was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, but later moved with his family to Southern California. At age 14, Oliver began playing as a professional musician and in 1969 moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he performed at local jazz and rock music night clubs such as The Melting Pot, La Bohème, The Vintner, Family Farmacy, and the Seventh Seal Coffee-House by the early-1970s. [1] While studying music, he was given singing lessons from one-time Metropolitan Opera diva Margo Weiss. [2] He also became involved in stage acting within a few years with memorable performances in Bye Bye Birdie , George M! and Don't Drink the Water at the Glendale Center, as well performing as a magician at The Magic Castle . In 1977, he portrayed the "evil sorcerer" in Aladdin at Pamela and Walter Gilmore's Golden Mall Playhouse. Around this time, he began producing a variety show, The Showcase, which included musicians, singers, comics, clowns, fire eaters, poetry readers and other entertainers. It was very successful on the night club circuit, being regularly featured at the Horn in Santa Monica, and received praise from the LA Weekly in July 1979. [3]

Music and television career

In the 1980s, Oliver returned to the music scene finding limited success with the bands JUMP CITY and The Sphere. He also entered the recording business producing radio advertisements for local camera stores and shoe emporiums, doing voice overs and writing advertising jingles. Also during this time, he began developing the stage persona of "a blues shouting, guitar playing" singer called the "Walkin' Blues Man". The character would become a familiar sight at countless parades, music and art festivals, county fairs, farmers markets and other outdoor events throughout the West Coast of the United States and in Canada for the next 20 years. [4]

By the end of the decade, Oliver had also developed a unique variety act by incorporating magic into his musical performances, such as draping a scarf over his guitar at the end of his set and making it disappear, which was favorably reviewed by the San Fernando Valley Daily News in October 1989. [2] In 1992, Oliver began producing a monthly cable-access television program, "Earl Oliver & Friends: Live from LaVal's", later called "Live on Location", which featured variety acts at La Val's Subterranean basement club. [5] The show became very popular in San Francisco and was eventually broadcast in 16 stations throughout the region until 1995.

Internet writing

Oliver held a number of entertainment and music-related occupations throughout his life including as a disk jockey, carnival barker, broadcast journalist, answering service operator, voice artist, and ring announcer. However, he was primarily employed as a graphic production artist and later, with rise of the internet during the 1990s, as a web designer and corporate trainer.

As a young man, he developed an interest in professional wrestling, being the nephew of Rip "The Crippler" Oliver, and was especially a fan of famed Championship Wrestling from Florida play-by-play announcer Gordon Solie. In 1995, Oliver started a website in his honor, Solie's Vintage Wrestling, dedicated to the history of professional wrestling. [6] It was the first of its kind at the time of its opening and remains the oldest professional wrestling website still active. He was also the editor of the weekly Solie's Wrestling Newsletter from 1996 to 2003.

In addition to Solie's Vintage Wrestling, Oliver has also occasionally contributed to WrestlingClassics.com and was later interviewed in The Wrestling Channel Radio Network's first original production Jeremy Hartley's Up Close and Personal. [7] In 1999, he publicly criticized SLAM! Wrestling columnist Eric Benner for a controversial article on the Hart family following the ring death of Owen Hart. [8] He was occasionally in contact with Solie, who later endorsed the website, shortly before his death in 2000 and was quoted by both wrestling websites and the mainstream media upon the publishing of Solie's biography Gordon Solie: Something Left Behind five years later. [9]

Recent years

In 2001, he was called "one of San Francisco's undiscovered treasures" by San Francisco Arts Magazine. [10] In October 2003 he moved to Fort Bragg, California where Oliver and his wife Lonna settled in a 90-year-old farmhouse. After being laid off from IKON Office Solutions' Print on Demand Division in 2005, Oliver left the corporate world to become a full-time musician and writer. In his familiar "Walkin' Blues Man" act, he has appeared at such civic events such as the Palo Alto Art Walk and Project Read for the San Francisco Public Library. He has been a regular performer on the Skunk Train, a heritage railway running between Fort Bragg and Willits, California, [11] and was on hand with Greg Schindel, The Trainsinger and The Black Bart Gunfighters to celebrate its 120th anniversary. [12]

Oliver also formed a partnership with Mendocino Coast music legend, Butch Kwan, releasing the Skunk Train Blues album, and performed together for over two years appearing at the 2004 and 2006 Caspar World Folk Festival, "Art in the Gardens" at the North Coast Botanical Gardens, and headlined the 12th annual "Local Licks Live" concert sponsored by KOZT 95.3 FM. Beginning in 2005, they were regular performers at Fort Bragg's annual "World's Largest Salmon BarBQ". In recent years, he has revisited several of these events as the lead vocalist for The Groovinators. [13] [14]

On May 8, 2010, and again on May 26, 2012, Oliver sang with the Symphony of the Redwoods during their annual POPS Benefit Concerts. At the 2012 concert, Earl was asked to perform with the orchestra for the finale of the show, a "Tribute to Old Blues Eyes" medley of Frank Sinatra hits. [15] [16] [17]

Solie's Vintage Wrestling

Oliver launched Solie's Vintage Wrestling, a historical professional wrestling website, in 1995, named in honor of announcer Gordon Solie, and one of the earliest known pro wrestling website on the internet. It had a number of innovative features, most notably, the most extensive collection of wrestling title histories on the internet. It was also home to "Solie's Wrestling Newsletter", which Oliver edited, and all 753 editions were put online following the end of its run in November 2003. Solie.org is considered a valued reference among wrestling fans and the internet wrestling community. [18] As of 2010, it is the oldest continually active pro wrestling website on the internet.

Uncle Earl's Classic TV Channel

Oliver created Uncle Earl's Classic TV Channel in early 2010 in conjunction with his work at Mendocino Coast Television (MCTV), the cable access (PEG) TV station in Fort Bragg, CA. The Uncle Earl site is a free repository of streaming classic television programs and movies, organized in an easily navigated library format. [19]

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Bragg, California</span> City in California, United States

Fort Bragg is a city along the Pacific Coast of California along Shoreline Highway in Mendocino County. The city is 24 miles (39 km) west of Willits, at an elevation of 85 feet (26 m). Its population was 6,983 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Western Railroad</span> A heritage railroad in Mendocino County, California (USA), running from Fort Bragg to Willits

The California Western Railroad, AKA Mendocino Railway, popularly called the Skunk Train, is a rail freight and heritage railroad transport railway in Mendocino County, California, United States, running from the railroad's headquarters in the coastal town of Fort Bragg to the interchange with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at Willits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julio Dinero</span> American retired professional wrestler

Brian Wohl is an American retired professional wrestler, better known for his ring name Julio Dinero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Gordy</span> American professional wrestler

Terry Ray Gordy Sr. was an American professional wrestler. Gordy appeared in the United States with promotions such as Mid-South Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling and the Universal Wrestling Federation as a member of The Fabulous Freebirds. He also appeared in Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling as one-half of The Miracle Violence Connection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snot Dudley</span> American professional wrestler

Michael Deek is an American professional wrestler, currently wrestling on the independent circuit under the ring name Anthony Michaels. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling as a member of The Dudley Brothers under the ring name Snot Dudley in summer 1995. He is also known for his appearances with Smoky Mountain Wrestling in Tennessee and on the independent circuit in Florida and the northeastern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Solie</span> American wrestling announcer

Gordon Solie was an American Florida-based professional wrestling play-by-play announcer working for Georgia Championship Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, USA Championship Wrestling, Continental Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest and most influential wrestling announcers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Kelly (announcer)</span> American sportscaster

Kevin Foote is an American sportscaster, radio host, and professional wrestling color commentator, executive, manager, pundit, and former ring announcer, better known by his ring name Kevin Kelly. He works as a color commentator for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) for its Saturday Collision program. He previously worked for WWE from 1996 to 2003, Major League Wrestling in 2004, Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2010 to 2017, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) from 2015 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NWA Hall of Fame</span> Professional wrestling hall of fame

The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Hall of Fame is an American professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by the NWA. It was established in 2005 to honor select wrestling personalities, mostly alumni of the NWA. Inductees receive commemorative medals that have their names inscribed on it with the logo of the NWA.

Superstars of Wrestling is a nationally syndicated professional wrestling television program that aired throughout the United States from 1986 to 1992. Created and produced by Joe Pedicino, the series broadcast eight hours of wrestling from around the country and was the first to provide national coverage of both the National Wrestling Alliance and international promotions. It was also the earliest U.S. television show to regularly broadcast Japanese puroresu and joshi wrestling as part of the Fuji Television Network's efforts to develop a market in the American television industry.

Timothy Frank Fischer is an American musician, comedian, writer and professional wrestler, known by his ring name "The Real Deal" Damien Steele. Fisher competed in WWE, WCW, XPW, WWC and UPW between 1995 and 2007. Fischer held the XPW World Heavyweight Championship on two occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl McCready</span> Canadian wrestler (1905–1983)

Earl Gray McCready was a Canadian amateur and professional wrestler. McCready competed in the U.S. collegiately for Oklahoma A&M, where he was a three-time NCAA champion, the first wrestler ever to do so. As a freestyle wrestler, he competed for his native country of Canada in the 1928 Summer Olympics. In 1930, he won a gold medal in the heavyweight class at the British Empire Games. He soon turned pro shortly after and became a three-time NWA British Empire Heavyweight Champion. McCready was nicknamed 'The Moose' during his wrestling career.

Brendan Higgins, best known by his ring name Knuckles Nelson is a retired American professional wrestler, promoter and trainer who wrestled throughout the North American independent circuit during the 1990s and 2000s. He competed in several regional promotions such as the Century Wrestling Alliance, the National Wrestling Alliance and the United States Wrestling Association. He also briefly appeared in World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as well as touring Japan as Super Destroyer between 1997 and 1999.

Joe Pedicino was an American professional wrestling announcer, commentator, promoter, television and radio producer. He was a well-known on-air personality in regional territories of the Southern United States during the 1980s, being an announcer and commentator for Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling, and as host of the nationally syndicated Superstars of Wrestling with his wife Boni Blackstone and Gordon Solie from 1986 to 1992.

Mark Kevin Frear was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name A. C. Golden, who competed in Mid-Atlantic and Southern independent promotions during the late 1980s and 1990s. He was a longtime mainstay of the United States Wrestling Association in Memphis, Tennessee, where he and New Jack won the USWA Tag Team Championship in 1993, as well as in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation where he was a top contender for the MEWF Heavyweight Championship up until his retirement in 1998. He also made occasional appearances in the World Wrestling Federation early in his career.

William Perry Blake III, better known by the ring name "Hard Rock" Ricky Blues, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and trainer who competed in the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent circuit during the 1990s and 2000s. He is regarded as a pioneering cruiserweight wrestler and dominated the Baltimore-area, especially in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation and Maryland Championship Wrestling, in the early to mid-1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord James Blears</span> British-American professional wrestler

Lord Blears was a British-American professional wrestler, ring announcer, promoter, actor, mariner, and surfing personality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pro Wrestling eXpress</span> Professional wrestling promotion

Pro Wrestling eXpress is a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in North Versailles, Pennsylvania in 1994 by Jim Miller and Sean "Shocker" Evans. It is the longest-running promotion in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. PWX was the main rival of Steel City Wrestling during the 1990s and was an affiliate of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1997 to 2012. PWX held a prominent role in the organization during this period. It was part in the annual NWA Anniversary Shows from 1998 to 2000 and brought national and world NWA champions to audiences in the East Coast of the United States. The promotion also collaborated with non-NWA members on the local independent circuit holding several interpromotional shows with Chris Lash's Allied Powers Wrestling Federation and participated in Deaf Wrestlefest (2010).

Larry Matysik was an American professional wrestling commentator, promoter and author best known for his commentary on Wrestling at the Chase.

References

  1. ↑ "Jazz, Rock This Weekend". San Francisco Chronicle . November 2, 1973. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  2. 1 2 Blake, Bill (October 2, 1989). "Night Out". San Fernando Valley Daily News. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  3. ↑ Lenow, Mark (July 22, 1979). "Earl Oliver's Showcase A Hit". LA Weekly .
  4. ↑ Carl Kress (September 20, 1993). "The Walkin' Blues Man lights up the parade!". Orinda Post. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Night Life: Dancing/Clubs/Comedy". Express. April 2, 1993. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  6. ↑ Gotlieb, Andy (May 29, 1997). "Pro Wrestling's Heart and Solie The voice of Florida wrestling, Gordon Solie, takes the Internet to the mat, and vice versa". Tampa Tribune . Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  7. ↑ "The Wrestling Channel Radio Network!". The WAWLI Papers No. 202. WrestlingClassics.com. 1998. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  8. ↑ Benner, Eric (June 9, 1998). "SLAM! Wrestling: Responding to the Owen email". And Nothing But The Truth. SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ↑ Hardison, Jeff M. (April 13, 2005). "Gordon Solie book captures announcer's voice". Largo Leader. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  10. ↑ Jasai (December 2001). "Rue De Nouveau, Music Info from the Streets of the Bay Area". San Francisco Arts Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 12. Sheilah Boothby. Archived from the original on April 19, 2002.
  11. ↑ "Skunk Train at Fort Bragg, CA". Carl's TrainWeb Reports and Travelogues. TrainWeb.org. June 2005. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  12. ↑ Hartzell, Frank (July 1, 2005). "Skunk Train celebrates 120th anniversary". Fort Bragg Advocate-News.
  13. ↑ Dowd, Harvey (July 11, 2009). "Those who came had fun, fish, fireworks and fog". Fort Bragg Advocate. TheSeaOkies.com. Retrieved September 28, 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. ↑ DeMatteo, Pattie, ed. (2010). "The Groovinators". Music. MendocinoStories.com. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  15. ↑ Symphony of the Redwoods. "Symphony of the Redwoods 2012 Schedule" . Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  16. ↑ Jump City Productions. "Streaming Audio Recording of Earl Oliver with the Symphony of the Redwoods" . Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  17. ↑ Symphony of the Redwoods. "Symphony of the Redwoods 2011 Schedule" . Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  18. ↑ Latham, Nick. "Solie's Get's a Platinum Review". Review. Pro Wrestling Hardcore. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  19. ↑ Abrahamson, Brent. "Columnist". The Massachusetts Observer. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.