Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
An advanced stylist on alto saxophone who vacillated throughout his career between jump blues and jazz, bald-pated Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (he lost his hair early on after a botched bout with a lye-based hair-straightener) also possessed a playfully distinctive vocal delivery that stood him in good stead with blues fans.
Vinson first picked up a horn while attending high school in Houston. During the late '30s, he was a member of an incredible horn section in Milton Larkins's orchestra, sitting next to Arnett Cobb and Illinois Jacquet. After exiting Larkins' employ in 1941, Vinson picked up a few vocal tricks while on tour with bluesman Big Bill Broonzy. Vinson joined the Cootie Williams Orchestra from 1942 to 1945. His vocals on trumpeter Williams' renditions of "Cherry Red" and "Somebody's Got to Go" were in large part responsible for their wartime hit status.
Vinson struck out on his own in 1945, forming his own large band, signing with Mercury, and enjoying a double-sided smash in 1947 with his romping R&B chart-topper "Old Maid Boogie" and the song that would prove his signature number, "Kidney Stew Blues" (both songs featured Vinson's instantly identifiable vocals). A 1949-1952 stint at King Records produced only one hit, the amusing sequel "Somebody Done Stole My Cherry Red," along with the classic blues "Person to Person" (later revived by another King artist, Little Willie John).
Vinson's jazz leanings were probably heightened during 1952-1953, when his band included a young John Coltrane. Somewhere along about here, Vinson wrote two Miles Davis classics, "Tune Up" and "Four." Vinson steadfastly kept one foot in the blues camp and the other in jazz, waxing jumping R&B for Mercury (in 1954) and Bethlehem (1957), jazz for Riverside in 1961 (with Cannonball Adderley), and blues for Blues Time and ABC-BluesWay. A 1969 set for Black & Blue, cut in France with pianist Jay McShann and tenor saxophonist Hal Singer, beautifully recounted Vinson's blues shouting heyday (it's available on Delmark as Old Kidney Stew Is Fine). A much later set for Muse teamed him with the sympathetic little big-band approach of Rhode Island-based Roomful of Blues. Vinson toured the States and Europe frequently prior to his 1988 death of a heart attack.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
Similar artists
-
Some Women Do
Blues - Released by Redwood Records on 21 Mar 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kidney Stew Blues
Blues - Released by Redwood Records on 25 Mar 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mr Cleanhead Blows His Greatest Hits (Selected Singles 1944-1950)
R&B - Released by Jasmine Records on 7 Jun 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sugar Mama (Blues Shouter - Recordings of 1953 - 1955)
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Doc Pomus, Big Joe Turner
Blues - Released by Blues Classics on 17 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gonna Send You Back
Jazz - Released by Redwood Records on 14 Apr 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Golden Jazz Oldies
Vocal Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 3 Jul 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Blues Anthology: Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Vol. 2
Blues - Released by Diamond Days on 12 Jan 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Blues Anthology: Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Vol. 1
Blues - Released by Diamond Days on 12 Jan 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson Selected Favorites
R&B - Released by Charly Records on 20 Jun 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
The Greatest Of Earl Bostic, Sil Austin & Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (All Tracks Remastered)
Earl Bostic, Sil Austin, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
Jazz - Released by Millennium Digital Remaster on 14 Jan 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Back Door Blues
Blues - Released by Milestones Records on 1 Jan 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo