Kip Anderson born 24 January 1938

Kip Anderson (January 24, 1938 – August 29, 2007) was an American soul blues and R&B singer and songwriter. He is best known for his 1967 single, "A Knife and a Fork." He recorded for a plethora of record labels, worked as a radio DJ, and maintained a career lasting from the late 1950s to the 1990s, despite undertaking a decade long custodial sentence. At various times Anderson worked with Sam Cooke, The Drifters, Jerry Butler and Jackie Wilson.

He was born Kiphling Taquana Anderson in Starr, Anderson County, South Carolina.

 

Anderson had his first musical exposure in church, where he both sang and played the piano. After featuring in his high school band, Anderson met his future business partner, Charles Derrick, at Columbia's radio station, WOIC. In 1959, Anderson's debut single "I Wanna Be the Only One", was eventually released by Vee-Jay Records. His follow-up release "Oh My Linda," featured guitar work from Mickey Baker. Lack of commercial gains led to Anderson working as a disc jockey.

Everlast Records released Anderson's third single "I Will Cry" (1962), and "Here I Am, Try Me," and "That's When the Crying Begins" (1964) followed; the latter reaching #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. His stock rose further with "I'll Get Along," "Woman How Do You Make Me Love You Like I Do," and "Without a Woman" (1966).

 

In 1967, Anderson released "A Knife and a Fork" on Checker, which had been recorded at the Fame Studios in Alabama. "A Knife and a Fork" was a mid-tempo warning concerning his girlfriend's food consumption – "girl, you gonna let a knife and a fork dig your grave". The single entered the US Billboard R&B chart. A follow-up release, "You'll Lose a Good Thing", issued on Excello, also made the Top 40 in the same chart. "I Went Off and Cried" (1968) remains alongside "A Knife and a Fork" as his most fondly remembered output. " A Knife and a Fork" was covered by Rockpile on their 1980 album, Seconds of Pleasure.

A dependency on heroin started to affect his work by 1970, and Excello cancelled his recording contract. Despite continuing to both record and perform in the 1970s, a ten year jail sentence in 1974 for possession of heroin, halted his activities. Later, Anderson opined about that time, "It probably saved my life." While inside he formed a gospel group with other inmates, who performed under surveillance at local churches and community events.

On release Anderson recorded a gospel album, before issuing more soul based material via Ichiban. His career as a DJ was also revived when he moved back to Anderson County. He also hosted a gospel show on WRIX-FM, and served as vice president of Electric City Record's gospel division. In 1996, Anderson duetted with Nappy Brown on the Best of Both Worlds joint album.

Kip Anderson died in Anderson, South Carolina, in August 2007, at the age of 69.