Griffin Brothers

Last updated
The Griffin Brothers
Also known asThe Griffin Brothers Orchestra
Origin Norfolk, Virginia, US
Genres Rhythm and blues
Years active1940s–1954
Labels Ekko, Dot
Past membersJimmy Griffin
"Buddy" Griffin
Wilbur Dyer
Virgil Wilson
Jimmy Reeves
Emmett "Nab" Shields
Noble "Thin Man" Watts
Wilbur Little
Belton Evans

The Griffin Brothers were an American rhythm and blues band from Norfolk, Virginia, sometimes credited on record as the Griffin Brothers Orchestra. They made successful recordings with singer Margie Day, and had a no.1 hit on the Billboard R&B chart in 1951 with "Weepin' and Cryin'", featuring Tommy Brown.

Biography

The group was formed by brothers Jimmy (born James Rudolph Griffin, Norfolk, Virginia, November 26, 1921November 14, 2000) [1] and "Buddy" Griffin (born Edward Elijah Griffin, Elizabeth City, North Carolina, October 5, 1919October 22, 1981). [2]

By 1920, the family lived in Norfolk, Virginia. [2] Both Jimmy and Buddy studied music at the Juilliard School. Jimmy played trombone, and Buddy played piano. The band was completed by Wilbur Dyer (alto saxophone), Virgil Wilson (tenor saxophone), Jimmy Reeves (bass), and Emmett "Nab" Shields (drums). In the late 1940s they played local clubs in Washington, D.C., as well as Virginia and North Carolina, and added a singer, Margie Day. In early 1950 the band recorded as back-up to Roy Brown on the session for DeLuxe Records that yielded his no.1 R&B hit, "Hard Luck Blues". [3] [4]

Local music promoter Lillian Clairborne won them a recording contract with the newly formed Dot Records, established by Randy Wood. Their first record, credited to Margie Day with the Griffin Brothers Orchestra, "Street Walkin' Daddy" / "Riffin' With Griffin", became a no.7 hit on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1950, with sales reportedly reaching over 15 thousand a week. [5] [3] The follow-up record, "Little Red Rooster", not directly related to the Willie Dixon song but drawing on the same folk traditions, reached no.5 on the R&B chart in early 1951. Wilson, Reeves and Shields were replaced by Noble "Thin Man" Watts (tenor sax), Wilbur Little (bass), and Belton Evans (drums). [6] The Griffin Brothers toured widely in 1951 and 1952 with Amos Milburn, Paul Williams and others, and continued to record both with Margie Day, and with singer Tommy Brown. They had two R&B hits with Brown, "Tra-La-La" which reached no.7, and "Weepin' and Cryin'" which reached no.1 in January 1952. [6] [4]

Day left the band for a solo career in late 1952, and was replaced on some appearances by Claudia Swann (née Swanson). The Griffin Brothers continued to tour with such artistes as The Orioles, Chuck Willis, and Faye Adams, and recorded for the Dot label until early 1954 when their contract ended and Jimmy Griffin left to form his own band. [7] He later recorded briefly and unsuccessfully for Atco Records in New York. [3]

Buddy Griffin signed for Chess Records in Chicago, and had a minor R&B hit in 1955, "I Wanna Hug Ya, Kiss Ya, Squeeze Ya", with Claudia Swann, credited as Buddy & Claudia with the Buddy Griffin Orchestra. [8] The band members were "Silly Willie" Wilson (trombone), Chuck Reeves (alto and baritone saxes), Earl Swanson (tenor sax), Lawrence Burgan (bass), and Courtney Brooks (drums). Later recordings were credited to Buddy Griffin and Claudia Swann, and some featured The Moonglows as backing vocalists. [7] Buddy Griffin and his wife, Kaye worked in real estate in New York for thirty years before his death in 1981. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Original Dixieland Jass Band</span> American jazz band

The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the most famous being "Tiger Rag". In late 1917, the spelling of the band's name was changed to Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Count Basie</span> American jazz musician and composer (1904–1984)

William James "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, plunger trombonist Al Grey, and singers Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Witherspoon</span> American jump blues singer

James Witherspoon was an American jump blues singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monterey Jazz Festival</span> Annual music festival in California

The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz disc jockey Jimmy Lyons.

"Mustang Sally" is a rhythm and blues (R&B) song written and first recorded by Mack Rice in 1965. It was released on the Blue Rock label (4014) in May 1965 with "Sir Mack Rice" as the artist. The song uses an AAB layout with a 24-bar structure.

Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul and funk musician. He is known for his precise musical time keeping and his signature use of triplets against a half-time backbeat: the "Purdie Shuffle." He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013.

The Long Beach Blues Festival, in Long Beach, California, United States, was established in full in 1980, and was one of the largest blues festivals and was the second oldest on the West Coast. It was held on Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend. For many years it was held on the athletic field on the California State University, Long Beach campus. The 2009 festival, the 30th annual, was held at Rainbow Lagoon in downtown Long Beach. The Festival went on hiatus in 2010, and has not been held since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Night Train (Jimmy Forrest composition)</span> 1951 blues record

"Night Train" is a twelve-bar blues instrumental standard first recorded by Jimmy Forrest in 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maxwell Davis</span> American songwriter

Thomas Maxwell Davis, Jr., was an American rhythm and blues saxophonist, arranger, bandleader and record producer.

Ernest Andrew Royal was a jazz trumpeter. His older brother was clarinetist and alto saxophonist Marshal Royal, with whom he appears on the classic Ray Charles big band recording The Genius of Ray Charles (1959).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herschel Evans</span> American saxophonist

Herschel "Tex" Evans was an American tenor saxophonist who was a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. He also worked with Lionel Hampton and Buck Clayton. He is also known for starting his cousin Joe McQueen's interest in the saxophone. Joe McQueen, living until 2019 at age 100, may well have been the last surviving person to have known Herschel during his lifetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Duvivier</span> American jazz double-bassist

George Duvivier was an American jazz double-bassist.

<i>Soul on Top</i> 1970 studio album by James Brown

Soul on Top is the 28th studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in April 1970, by King. Brown and saxophonist Maceo Parker worked with arranger/conductor Oliver Nelson to record a big band, funk and jazz vocal album. It was recorded with Louie Bellson and his 18-piece jazz orchestra at United Western Recorders in Hollywood, California in November 1969, and features jazz standards, show tunes, and middle of the road hits, as well as a new arrangement of Brown's funk hit "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag".

Thomas A. Brown, known as Tommy Brown was an American R&B singer who achieved most of his success in the early 1950s, particularly on records with The Griffin Brothers.

Noble "Thin Man" Watts was an American blues, jump blues and rhythm and blues saxophonist. He primarily played tenor saxophone. The AllMusic journalist, Bill Dahl, considered Watts "one of the most incendiary [...] fire-breathing tenor sax honkers" of the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ya Ya</span> 1961 Lee Dorsey song

"Ya Ya" is a song by Lee Dorsey. The song was written by Dorsey, C. L. Blast, Bobby Robinson, and Morris Levy. Levy's participation in the writing has been called into question; the Flashback release of the single lists only Dorsey and Blast as writers, as do the liner notes to the American Graffiti soundtrack.

Margie Day, later Margie Day Walker, was an American R&B singer who had success in the 1950s and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randy Wood (record producer)</span> Musical artist

Randolph Clay Wood was an American record producer and the founder of Nashville-based Dot Records, one of the most successful independent record labels of the 1950s and 1960s.

Frank Windsol Culley, sometimes credited as Frank "Floorshow" Culley, was an American R&B saxophonist and bandleader who recorded successfully from the 1940s and was the first leader of the Atlantic Records house band.

"We Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town" is a song originally recorded on September 3, 1936, by Piedmont blues musician Casey Bill Weldon. Weldon performed it as a solo piece, with vocals and acoustic guitar plus piano and double bass accompaniment.

References

  1. Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 338. ISBN   978-0313344237.
  2. 1 2 3 Eagle and Leblanc, Blues - A Regional Experience, p.331
  3. 1 2 3 Biography by Rovi at Allmusic.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013
  4. 1 2 J.C.Marion, Griffin Brothers. Retrieved 30 June 2013
  5. "Blues All Alone: Margie Day, by J.C. Marion, at JammUp #40". Archived from the original on 2013-10-13. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  6. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 177.
  7. 1 2 George R. White, Robert L. Campbell, and Tom Kelly, The Chess Label Part II (1953-1955). Campber.people.clemson.edu, Retrieved 30 June 2013
  8. Joel Whitburn, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004, p.57