Peppermint Harris
The contemporary blues boom resuscitated the career of many a veteran blues artist who had been silent for ages. Take guitarist Peppermint Harris, who in 1951 topped the R&B charts with his classic booze ode "I Got Loaded." Nobody expected a new Peppermint Harris CD in 1995, but Home Cooking producer Roy C. Ames coaxed one out of old Pep for Collectables nonetheless. Texas on My Mind may not be as enthralling as Harris' early-'50s output, but it was nice to have him back in circulation. By the time he was in his early twenties, Harrison Nelson, Jr. was lucky enough to have found a mentor and friend on the Houston blues front: Lightnin' Hopkins took an interest in the young man's musical development. When Harris was deemed ready, Lightnin' accompanied him to Houston's Gold Star Records. Nothing came of that jaunt, but Harris eventually recorded his debut 78 for the company in 1948 (as Peppermint Nelson).
Bob Shad's Sittin' in With label was the vehicle that supplied Harris' early work to the masses -- especially his first major hit, "Raining in My Heart," in 1950. These weren't exactly formal sessions; one legend has it one took place in a Houston bordello. Nor was Shad too cognizant of Pep's surname; when he couldn't recall it, he simply renamed our man Harris.
Harris moved over to Eddie Mesner's Aladdin Records in 1951, cutting far tighter sides for the firm in Los Angeles (often with the ubiquitous Maxwell Davis serving as bandleader and saxist). After "I Got Loaded" lit up the charts in 1951, Harris indulged in one booze ode after another: "Have Another Drink and Talk to Me," "Right Back on It," "Three Sheets in the Wind." But try as they might, the bottle let Harris down as a lyrical launching pad after that.
He drifted from Money and Cash to RCA's short-lived subsidiary "X" and Don Robey's Duke logo (where he allegedly penned "As the Years Go Passing By" for Fenton Robinson) after that, but it wasn't until a long-lasting association with Stan Lewis' Shreveport, Louisiana-based Jewel Records commenced in 1965 that Harris landed for longer than a solitary single. Later, Harris worked various day jobs around Houston, including one at a record pressing plant, before moving to Sacramento, California, and then to New Jersey to be with his daughter.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
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Blues Legend
Blues - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 Jul 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Blues
Blues - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Talk About Love
Blues - Released by Memo Tutti Frutti on 31 Jul 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Got Loaded - The Best of Peppermint Harris
Soul - Released by Ap music on 3 Feb 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wait Until It Happens to You
Soul - Released by Jewel Records on 25 Sep 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Peppermint Harris Collection 1948-60
Soul - Released by ACROBAT on 2 Jul 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Got Loaded: The Very Best of 1948-59
Blues - Released by Jasmine Records on 3 Feb 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Little Girl / 24 Hours
Soul - Released by Jewel Records on 29 Sep 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bad Bad Whiskey / Lonesome as Can Be
Soul - Released by Jewel Records on 28 Sep 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Golden Selection (Remastered)
Blues - Released by Master Tape Records on 25 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Peppermint Harris - Music History
Soul - Released by Vintage Jukebox on 25 Mar 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Peppermint Harris - Always On the Go (Original Recordings)
Blues - Released by 2012 Carinco Neue Medien AG on 21 Feb 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ain't No Business
Blues - Released by The Entertainers on 1 Jan 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Greatest Blues Licks
Blues - Released by Burning Fire on 26 Aug 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Raining in My Heart
Pop - Released by Black Sheep Music on 16 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mabel Mabel
Jazz - Released by Black & Partner Licenses LLC on 24 Apr 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Markin' Time / Bad Bad Woman
Soul - Released by Jewel Records on 23 Sep 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sittin' In With Peppermint Harris
Blues - Released by Mainstream Records on 1 Jun 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -