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EDDIE KIRKLAND
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EDDIE KIRKLAND
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How many Jamaican-born
bluesmen have recorded with John Lee Hooker and toured with Otis
Redding? It's a safe bet there's only one: Eddie Kirkland, who's engaged
in some astonishing onstage acrobatics over the decades (like standing
on his head while playing guitar on TV's Don Kirshner's Rock Concert).
But you won't find any ersatz reggae grooves cluttering Kirkland's work.
He was brought up around Dothan, AL, before heading north to Detroit in
1943. There he hooked up with Hooker five years later, recording with
him for several firms as well as under his own name for RPM in 1952,
King in 1953, and Fortune in 1959. Tru-Sound Records, a Prestige
subsidiary, invited Kirkland to Englewood Cliffs, NJ, in 1961-62 to wax
his first album, It's the Blues Man! The polished R&B band of saxist
King Curtis crashed head on into Kirkland's intense vocals, raucous
guitar and harmonica throughout the exciting set. Exiting the Motor City
for Macon, GA, in 1962, Kirkland signed on with Otis Redding as a
sideman and show opener not long thereafter. Redding introduced Kirkland
to Stax/Volt co-owner Jim Stewart, who flipped over Eddie's primal dance
workout "The Hawg." It was issued on Volt in 1963, billed to Eddie Kirk.
By the dawn of the 1970s, Kirkland was recording for Pete Lowry's Trix
label; he also waxed several CDs for Deluge in the '90s. — Bill Dahl, All Music Guide |
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Booking
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| JUNE | 2 | Berlin Music Fest | Berlin, CT |
| 10 | Art in the Park Festival | Lincoln, MA | |
| SEPT | 7-8 | Pineapple Willy's | Panama City Beach, FL |
| 21 | Fiery Ron's | Charleston, SC | |
| 28 | Conine's Clubhouse Grille | Hollywood, FL | |
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2005
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