Friday, August 24, 2012

August 24, 1956: Big Jay McNeely plays the first night in a week long residency at The Flame Show Bar, Detroit, Michigan, USA….



 



Tenor saxophonist Cecil "Big Jay" McNeely has been "the king of the honkers" for over 50 years, and he's still going strong…

 Born in Watts, California, on April 29, 1927, he formed his own band with jazz legends Sonny Criss (alto sax) and Hampton Hawes (piano) while still in high school…

 But in late 1948, when he was asked to record for Savoy Records, he abandoned jazz for something more raucous and struck paydirt when his second release, a honked-up instrumental called "Deacon's Hop" 
went to #1 on the national R'nB charts
in February 1949…

Deacon’s Hop:

 
 



According to The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, "Big Jay was famed for his playing-on-his-back acrobatics and his raw, hard-swinging playing”

 
Big Jay walked this bar while at Detroit's Flame Showbar
 During his act he'd leave the stage, walk across the top of the bar, and sometimes walk out the door of the club, often with a line of people following him…
 

Once, in San Diego, during one such "walk," he was arrested on the street for disturbing the peace; inside the club, his band kept playing until someone could rush down to the police station, post Big Jay's bail, and bring him back to finish his song…

In the early- to mid-fifties, Big Jay added vocal groups to his act, beginning with Four Dots and Dash, which included, at one time or another, 16-year-old Jesse Belvin, Marvin Phillips (later of Marvin and Johnny fame), Tony Allen and Mel Williams. In fact, Belvin made his first recordings with Big Jay, including 

"All That Wine Is Gone"



In 1959 Big Jay 
enjoyed his biggest hit, 
a blues ballad called 
"There Is Something on Your Mind," 
featuring 
Haywood "Little Sonny" Warner 
on vocals…

 The record stayed on the R'nB charts 
for six months and reached as high as
 #44 pop…

 The song was later a hit for
 Bobby Marchan...
Other artists who have recorded 
Big Jay's song include B.B. King, 
Etta James, Freddy Fender, 
The Hollywood Flames, Gene Vincent, 
Albert King and Professor Longhair…


Big Jay is also the subject of 
Jim Dawson's  
Nervous Man Nervous: 
Big Jay McNeely and the 
Rise of the Honking Tenor Saxophone 
(Big Nickel Press, 1995)
 

This is the only book ever written 
about the R'nB sax and its influences…










 Check out
 Cecil “Big Jay” McNeely’s 
Official Website   

 
THE USE OF ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IS USED UNDER THE GUIDELINES OF "FAIR USE" IN TITLE 17 & 107 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE. SUCH MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL HOLDER AND IS USED HERE FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, COMPARISON, AND CRITICISM ONLY. NO INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT IS INTENDED   

No comments: