Eddie 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
Discography
13 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
Roomful With Vinson And Turner
Joe Turner, Eddie Vinson, Roomful Of Blues
Jazz - Released by Savoy on 28 Jul 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cleanhead's Back in Town (2013 Remastered Version)
Jazz - Released by Bethlehem Records on 1 Sep 1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
1945-1947
Blues - Released by Classics Blues & Rhythm Series on 4 Aug 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
1947-1949
Blues - Released by Classics Blues & Rhythm Series on 10 Jun 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eddie Vinson Selected Favorites
R&B - Released by Charly Records on 20 Jun 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eddie Vinson Selected Favorites
R&B - Released by Charly Records on 20 Jun 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Cleanhead's Back In Town
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mr. Cleanhead Steps Out
Blues - Released by A.P. Zircon on 7 Sep 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cleanhead Blues (Hq remastered 2022)
Jazz - Released by Vintage Recordings on 12 Dec 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Clean Head's Back in Town (Eddie Vinson Sings)
Blues - Released by Ancien Prodige on 10 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo