Marty Grosz (born February 28, 1930)

Marty Grosz (born February 28, 1930) is an American jazz guitarist, banjoist, vocalist, composer and one of jazz music's great comedians (his spontaneous monologues are often hilarious). His chordal solos bring back the sound of Carl Kress and Dick McDonough of the 1930s, while his vocals are very much in the Fats Waller tradition. 

Martin Oliver Grosz was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of the artist George Grosz. Marty has been a resident of the USA since the age of three when his toes were tapping to radio songs in New York. His urge for musical expression manifested itself when he began strumming a ukelele at the age of eight. A few years later he heard a record that highlighted guitarist Bernard Addison's shuffle-beat behind Roy Eldridge's trumpet: Out went the uke and in came the guitar while still attending Columbia University. 

His musical inclinations were towards Dixieland jazz.  In 1950, Marty cut his first record with a band that included the young pianist, Dick Wellstood, and the veteran New Orleans bassist, Pops Foster. A visit to Chicago in 1954 turned into a twenty-year residency during which he recorded with Dave Remington, Art Hodes, and Albert Nicholas. He also led sessions of his own in 1957 and 1959 for Riverside and Audio Fidelity. He performed with Bob Wilber and wrote arrangements for him.he also played with many of Chicago’s jazz stars such as Albert Ammons, Floyd O'Brien, Art Hodes, and Jim Lannigan. 

Marty returned to New York in 1975 to join Bob Wilber and Kenny Davern's Soprano Summit. There followed a round of touring and recording with Soprano Summit; Dick Wellstood's Friends of Fats; Yank Lawson and Bob Haggart; and the New York Jazz Repertory Orchestra directed by Dick Hyman, an orchestra with which Grosz played at the White House. Grosz tried his best to coax  Jabbo Smith out of retirement with some of their rehearsals were later released on an obscure LP. 

In 1986 Grosz became a charter member of The Classic Jazz Quartet, along with Dick Wellstood, Joe Muranyi, and Dick Sudhalter. Besides playing and singing with the group, Marty wrote most of its arrangements and later heading the Orphan Newsboys, a superb quartet that also includes Peter Ecklund, Bobby Gordon, and bassist Greg Cohen. He has also performed at concerts with Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, and Charlie Byrd. He enjoys playing guitar duets and often works in a duet context with a violinist or saxophonist. 

                    

                Here’s “No Lovers Allowed” from above album.

According to the critics, Marty Grosz is today's foremost jazz rhythm guitarist and chord soloist. He is virtually the only major jazz guitarist who doesn't use an amplifier. This makes him either the last remaining proponent of the acoustic guitar tradition in jazz or the lone harbinger of a new non-electric movement. 

Marty sings, too. His vocals have become as much in demand at record sessions and jazz concerts as his driving guitar rhythm. They are delivered in styles ranging from barrelhouse abandon to whispered restraint, and are sometimes raucous, often mischievous, but almost always informed with a wry sense of the absurd. 

As a featured single, Marty has made guest appearances on Public Radio's A Prairie Home Companion and Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and on NBC's Today Show. He was spotlighted at Carnegie Hall during the Cool Jazz Festivals and, more recently, at New York City's prestigious 92nd St. Y concerts and at the Vineyard Theater in Manhattan. Marty  has recorded several delightful sets for Jazzology and Stomp Off. 

When he isn't on the road with his guitar, Marty and his wife like to spend afternoons on their patio in Piermont, New York, vodka in hand, watching the lazy Hudson drifting by. Grosz describes his health as good “for a cat my age.” Playing every day keeps his fingers nimble. “It’s how I get my exercise,” he said. “The bad thing is practically everybody I ever played with or knew for any length of time is...“  he gave the thumbs-down “... dead.” 

(Edited from All About Jazz, AllMusic Wikipedia & The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Gloria Scott born 26 February 1946

Gloria Scott (born February 26, 1946) is an American soul singer. 

Gloria Scott was born in Port Arthur, Texas, but was raised in the city of Houston, before moving with her family to northern California when in her early teens. Her aunt sang in a group with Sly Stone (then Sylvester Stewart), along with his sister Rose and cousin LaTanya. She first met Stone, three years her senior, during one of the group's rehearsals and then again a couple of years later at a high school dance. 

After hearing Gloria Scott sing "Gee Whiz" by Carla Thomas, Stone formed a group with Scott as the lead, "Gloria Scott and the Tonettes." Her first 45 single  “I Taught Him” was written and produced by Stone in 1964.  Reminiscent of girl groups like Martha and the Vandellas, The Shirelles and The Ronettes, Warner Brothers picked up this single for distribution." In an interview with Christian John Wikane of Popmatters, Scott says : "Stone just kind of took me under his wing. I sang at the Cow Palace. Sly and his sister and his cousin LaTanya backed me up and they were called the Tonettes: Gloria Scott and the Tonettes." 

The group disbanded after recording a few sides but the young singer continued performing around the San Francisco Bay area as a solo act. Charles Sullivan, the owner of the Fillmore Auditorium, helped Gloria Scott land her next gig -- as a backup singer for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Tina Turner says in her autobiography: "After the Ikettes Robbie, Jessie and Venetta walked out, Ike had quickly scooped up two inexperienced L.A. girls, Maxine Smith and Pat 'P.P.' Arnold, and a young club singer from Palo Alto named Gloria Scott." 

Nevertheless, being a full-time Ikette proved to be a somewhat punishing schedule and after an altercation with Ike about money, she left to fend for herself. She began to set up her own solo gigs in both the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas, as well as fronting a variety of rock-orientated groups and, for a while, working with Johnny Otis. Having settled in Hollywood, she was about to embark on the next phase of her career. Barry White took an interest in Scott through the recommendation of her songwriting partner, Sonny Chaney. White signed the young singer to his Soul Unlimited Companyand landed a deal with Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records. White produced and arranged her only album, What Am I Gonna Do, which was released in the winter of 1974. 

                              

Two tracks were released as singles. The album is notable for being the second released on the Casablanca label. At that time Warner Brothers distributed the album, in multiple countries. A confluence of events, however, hindered the album's impact. First, Casablanca had yet to establish its identity in the marketplace. Because Scott's deal was with White's company directly and not Casablanca, she missed opportunities to build a rapport with executives at the label who might have lent more support. 

Second, Barry White had suddenly found phenomenal success with his own releases and did not accord Scott's career the same kind of attention. Casablanca released a non-album single, "Just as Long as We're Together (In My Life There Will Never Be Another)" which was also produced by Barry White. This song peaked at #14 on the Hot Dance charts, #16 on Billboard (Feb 22, 1975) Hot Soul Singles and on the U.S. R&B. It was played on the famous TV show Soul Train but a second album never materialized. 

Scott's contract with Barry White stipulated a seven-year commitment, yet White only delivered one album for her. Frustrated by the lack of direction, Scott requested a release from her contract during the sixth year. While Barry White scored hit after hit with his own singles and the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Gloria Scott found herself abandoned. She was however  credited as a backup singer on the 1979 self-titled album by Mary Wilson (of the Supremes), and in the late 1970s and early 1980s, also toured with Mary and fellow background singer, Karen Jackson after  which she lived in Guam for about eight years and did quite well. In the early nineties, Gloria returned to the recording studios for a one-off 12” release, ‘It’s So Wonderful’, issued on her own Glosco label but it would be her last release until 2009. 

Soul music lovers, however, did not abandon Gloria Scott. Vinyl copies of What Am I Gonna Do have traded hands upwards of $300 over the years and earned the singer a cult following in Europe. The album has been re-released at least three times on CD over the past 15 years and Gloria Scott even re-recorded some of the more popular cuts in Germany with the Baltic Soul Orchestra with which she has performed every year since 2008 at The Baltic Soul Weekender in Germany until Covid 19 stopped the festival. 

Before COVID-19, Scott had been singing at various music events in Lake County, California, where she presently lives, sitting in with top-shelf locals like Rob Watson and Howard Reggie Dawkins. 

(Edited from an article by C.J. Wikane @ Soul Tracks, Wikipedia & Lake County News)

Houston Wells born 25 February 1932

Houston Wells (25 February 1932 - 28 December 2013) was a British country singer. 

He was born Andrew Smith in 1932 in East Woodburn, a small village 40 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne. His mother’s family was Irish and he joined in family sing-songs, learning the traditional songs. He began work for the Forestry Commission, married and started a family and eventually joined the merchant navy. A stint on the SS Iberia eventually saw him living for a time in Canada, where by the late 1950s he had settled in Powell River, about one hundred miles North of Vancouver. There, he worked as a logger and developed his love of country music. The possessor of a rapidly maturing and tuneful voice, the young ex-seaman took to singing in bars whenever the opportunity arose.

Houston’s wife and children elected to stay in the UK when the Canadian period began. So, in 1959 Houston moved on, travelling around by Greyhound bus and initially stopping over with relatives in Detroit before sailing back to England on The Corinthia. The marriage did not last however and the young, newly single Andrew Smith settled in Wickford, Essex where his parents and brother were living. He began singing in Leigh-on-Sea, forming Andy Smith and the Marksmen. He acquired a manager, Terry McGrath, who placed him with the maverick producer Joe Meek. 

Wells with Jim Reeves 

Working as an independent, Meek leased his product to the major labels and although EMI was interested in Andy Smith, they didn’t care for the name. “They told me that there were too many Andys around,” said Wells, “They gave me a choice of Houston Wells or Chuck Wells, and I wasn’t having Chuck.” The transformation was complete: an American name, an American sound and the look of a riverboat gambler. 

                              

The first single, released on Parlophone in 1962, was “This Song Is Just For You”, and within the first 20 seconds there were echo-drenched guitars, changes in tempo, high notes and yodels. It was an impressive début. The follow-up “North Wind”, though not a big seller, sounded like Frankie Laine on speed with a rock backing. Wells made the Top 30 for the first and only time with his third Parlophone single, “Only The Heartaches”, but both that and “Above And Beyond” (1966) were Top 10 singles in Ireland, and Meek produced an album, Western Style (1964). “Joe was nuts about country music,” said Wells, “but we could hardly recognise ourselves. We sounded like the Chipmunks because he sped up the tracks and I could never understand why.” 

Houston Wells and the Marksmen were regularly on tour, firstly on beat shows and then working with such country legends such as Jim Reeves, Hank Locklin and Johnny Cash. Although Houston Wells and the Marksmen was the UK’s top country band it was not lucrative. The constant pressure for concerts, tours and recordings coupled with the equally constant lack of funds placed pressures on the group and in 1964 they split. Meek immediately replaced The Marksmen with The Outlaws  and as Houston Wells & The Outlaws they toured Ireland as well as returning to the studios to make more recordings, including Galway Bay and Wild Side Of Life. 

Wells with Hank Locklin

There followed a number of years during which Houston largely based himself in Ireland but toured not only the emerald isle but much further afield, working exhausting schedules across the UK, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and many other European countries as well as a tour in the USA. During these years Houston worked with different bands. Initially there was The Masters, then in 1966 when The Masters split, Houston joined forces with The Premier Aces. With both bands, Houston enjoyed the trappings of success for the first time. They earned good money for their personal appearances and enjoyed charting records in the Irish Charts. 

In 1968 Houston formed The Trident Showband, working 7 nights per week, travelling hundreds of miles on a regular basis, including touring with Hank Locklin, but the hours were crazy and members of the band began to yearn to spend more time with their families and loved ones. Thus in 1971, Houston resolved to bring the band to a close and they split amicably. Houston moved to New Zealand.” As none of his records had been released there he went back to logging and working with earth-moving machinery. 

Smith’s hobby was shooting and he was part of the New Zealand team for the World Sporting Championships in 1996. Smith considered his Houston Wells days were over. “When I left the music scene in the UK,” Wells told Spencer Leigh of the Independent in 2008, “I never dreamt that there would be much interest in what I had done. I certainly didn’t expect my old records to be reissued. I had never received any royalties and nobody told me that they were being reissued. I was surprised when my son Robert told me that they were out again in the UK.” As a result, Wells came out of retirement for a double CD, Then And Now: From Joe Meek To New Zealand. 

His final recording was a cover version of “Almost Persuaded” in 2012. Wells died after a long battle with cancer on 28 December 2013 in Taupo, New Zealand. 

(Edited from Paul Hazell’s bio, The Independent & echo-news.co.uk.)

Johnny Carisi born 23 February 1922

John E. Carisi (February 23, 1922 – October 3, 1992) was an American trumpeter and composer. 

Johnny Carisi was born Hasbrouck Heights New Jersey. A self taught musician he began his career in the bands of Carl Hoff and Babe Russin. In late 1942 he  joined Glenn Miller's US Air Force band and significantly began to sit in at jam sessions held at Minton's night club. Minton's was regarded as the birthplace of be-bop, and musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke and Charlie Christian, all young innovators, were regular players in the sessions. 

Leaving the Miller band in 1946, Carisi concentrated on arranging, and his scores were used by the orchestras of Charlie Barnet and Ray McKinley. He played trumpet with Claude Thornhill's Orchestra during 1949-50.  In 1956 Carisi scored all the themes on an album by the trombonist Urbie Green's big band. The music was supposed to be aimed at dancers, but Carisi's scores and fine solos by Green, Al Cohn and Joe Wilder, turned it instead into a potent jazz collection. He followed Green's album in 1959 with the music for a set by Harry Galbraith's Guitar Choir and 10 years later with a distinctive collection for the trumpeter Marvin Stamm. 

Never a major soloist, Carisi His minor-blues composition "Israel" was quickly recognized as a unique jazz classic, after it was recorded by Miles Davis at the sessions which later became known as the Birth of the Cool. Other notable versions have been recorded by Bill Evans, and the Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band. Another well known Carisi piece, "Springsville", was recorded by Miles Davis, as arranged by Gil Evans on the album, Miles Ahead. 

                            

            Here's Johnny Carisi's Jazz Workshop - Israel

Although he worked fairly steadily as a writer, Johnny Carisi recorded only a few albums under his own name. He had an opportunity to remake "Israel" in 1956 for a Bluebird set not released until the CD era, and he utilized a "Guitar Choir" in an unusual reworking of the music from Showboat (playing trumpet on "Nobody Else But Me").

Carisi was one of the trumpeters on a 1960 State Department tour of South East Asia and the Middle East. His experiences on the tour, notably at the Taj Mahal, inspired his compositions for Into the Hot album which  he released in 1961 on Impulse with Cecil Taylor. 

In 1968 he wrote the arrangements for trumpeter Marvin Stamm's Machinations album. Perceptive listeners could hear Carisi between innings at Yankee Stadium, playing in the dixieland band, a form of employment that his contemporaries shunned but that he loved; he was a regular at Jimmy Ryan's club on West 52d Street, and performed with Jim Chapin's group, the Jazz Tree. He also performed with the band leader Loren Shoenberg and arranged for Mr. Roach. 

Carisi continued to bestride both jazz and classical fields, with occasional forays into ballet and pop music. He composed a quartet for saxophones and a concerto for tuba on the one hand and scored music for Jerry Lewis's television show on the other. He took advantage of a Guggenheim Fellowship to compose a suite and spent a good part of the 1970's teaching at the Manhattan School of Music, a department of the University of New York until 1984. 

Carisi had a warm, gorgeous sound. He was harmonically sophisticated, and his solos, with a tight vibrato, were unceasingly intelligent. He was playing and composing until two days before he entered the Mount Sinai Hosptal in New York for open-heart surgery, where he died on October 3, 1992, at the age of 70. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic, The Independent & Phi Schapp Jazz)

Mick Green born 22 February 1944

Michael Robert Green (22 February 1944 – 11 January 2010) was an English rock and roll guitarist who played with The Pirates (with and without Johnny Kidd), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers. Although he was never a household name he played a pivotal role in the development of British rock. His ability to play lead and rhythm guitar simultaneously was a key influence on guitarists from the Who's Pete Townshend to the Beatles' George Harrison. 

He was born Michael Robert Green, in Matlock, Derbyshire. Green grew up in the same block of flats in Wimbledon, south-west London, as the future Pirates. His father was a cabbie. He devoured skiffle and early rock'n'roll, and he formed his first band, the Wayfaring Strangers with his schoolmates Johnny Spence on bass and Frank Farley on drums. They came second in a battle of the bands competition to the Quarrymen, an early incarnation of the Beatles. After a stint as the Ramrods, the trio then backed the 1950s rockers Red E Lewis and Cuddly Duddly as the Redcaps. All three joined the Pirates (formed by Kidd during the 1950s) in 1962, just after the band had scored a huge hit with Shakin' All Over, with Joe Moretti on lead guitar. 

Green's distinctive, staccato style and searing solos made him one of rock's first guitar heroes. When the Pirates' fortunes faded, he was recruited by Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas and was even sought out by Elvis Presley, although the Dakotas' management failed to pass the message on. Instead, when the Dakotas split, Green briefly played in a re-formed Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, continuing for a year after Kidd's death in 1966. 

His ability to play lead and rhythm guitar simultaneously influenced a number of British guitarists to follow, including Pete Townshend and Wilko Johnson, the original guitarist for Dr. Feelgood. Green's song "Oyeh!" was on Dr. Feelgood's debut album, Down by the Jetty; and a song he co-wrote, "Going Back Home" appeared on Dr. Feelgood's 1975 Malpractice and the live album, Stupidity (1976). 

Green's bulging CV subsequently included spells with the singers Cliff Bennett and Engelbert Humperdinck and a band called Shanghai which released two albums, in 1974 and 1976 and supported Status Quo on their Blue for You tour. Together with Quo member Alan Lancaster he wrote four songs recorded by Status Quo. But by the mid-1970s, the youngsters who had idolised him were forming their own bands. 

                 Here's "Painkiller" from above 1986 LP.

                             

Green reformed the Pirates with Farley and Spence in 1976 (Kidd having died in 1966). Over the next five years they became one of the hardest-gigging bands on the road and shared the bill with such bands as the Stranglers and the Saints. They released four albums: "Out of Their Skulls" (1977), "Skull Wars" (1978), "Happy Birthday Rock'n'Roll" (1979) and the ten-inch "A Fistful of Dubloons" (1981). 

Green played the Fender Telecaster Custom produced in 1972 as his main guitar. Other notable assignments included producing for Billy Fury in the early 1980s and recording with Fleetwood Mac's own legendary guitarist, Peter Green. 

In the 1980s and 1990s, Green played with, amongst others, Bryan Ferry, Van Morrison, Robert Plant and Lemmy, as well as the Pirates, with whom he continued to gig well into the 2000s. His other notable gigs included playing guitar for Van Morrison on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 2005, and with David Gilmour and Paul McCartney at the latter's return to the Cavern Club in support of his Run Devil Run album in 1999. In his spare time he taught guitar privately, as well as at various local schools. 

When McCartney sought a rawer sound for his 1999 rock'n'roll album Run Devil Run and a live return to the Cavern Club in Liverpool, he turned to Green. He also performed regularly with the Van Morrison band. He played guitar on 1999's Back on Top and he appeared on his other studio albums up until he was on five of the tracks on Van Morrison's 2008 album, Keep It Simple. The guitarist also played on Ferry's Frantic (2002) and Morrison's Keep It Simple (2008).

In February 2004, while on stage with Bryan Ferry in Auckland, New Zealand, Green suffered a cardiac arrest. His life was saved by two doctors in the crowd and following his return to England and recovery he carried on playing.

In 2007, he did a six track mini-album, Cutthroat and Dangerous in Finland with the Finnish rock'n'roll trio, Doctor's Order. He suffered kidney problems in February 2009, partly connected with his earlier heart problem. He continued to perform live, despite multiple health problems, with guest appearances with the Animals. Shortly before his death, he told the Guardian "When I look in the mirror, I see an old bloke. But as soon as I strap on a guitar, I feel 18 again." 

Mick Green died of heart failure on 11 January 2010 in King George Hospital, Ilford, Essex 

(Edited from  Guardian obit by Dave Simpson & Wikipedia)

Scrapper Blackwell born 21 February 1903

Francis Hillman "Scrapper" Blackwell (February 21, 1903 – October 7, 1962) was an American blues guitarist and singer, best known as half of the guitar-piano duo he formed with Leroy Carr in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was an acoustic single-note picker in the Chicago blues and Piedmont blues styles. Some critics have noted that he veered towards jazz. 

Blackwell was born in Syracuse, South Carolina, one of sixteen children of Payton and Elizabeth Blackwell. He identified as being of Cherokee descent.. He grew up in and spent most of his life in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he first relocated to at the age of three. He was given the nickname "Scrapper" by his grandmother, because of his fiery nature. His father played the fiddle, but Blackwell was a self-taught guitarist, building his first guitar out of a cigar box, wood and wire. He also learned to play the piano, occasionally performing professionally. 

By his teens, Blackwell was a part-time musician, travelling as far as Chicago. He was known for being withdrawn and hard to work with, but he established a rapport with the pianist Leroy Carr, whom he met in Indianapolis in the mid-1920s, and they had a productive working relationship. 

Carr convinced Blackwell to record with him for Vocalion Records in 1928; the result was "How Long, How Long Blues", the biggest blues hit of that year. Blackwell also made solo recordings for Vocalion, including "Kokomo Blues", which was transformed into "Old Kokomo Blues" by Kokomo Arnold and later reworked as "Sweet Home Chicago" by Robert Johnson. Blackwell and Carr toured throughout the American Midwest and South between 1928 and 1935 as stars of the blues circuit, recording over 100 sides. "Prison Bound Blues" (1928), "Mean Mistreater Mama" (1934), and "Blues Before Sunrise" (1934) were popular tracks. 

                              

Blackwell made several solo excursions. A 1931 visit to Richmond, Indiana, to record at Gennett studios is noteworthy. Blackwell was dissatisfied with the lack of credit given his contributions with Carr; the situation was remedied by Vocalion's Mayo Williams after his 1931 breakaway: in all future recordings, Blackwell and Carr received equal songwriting credits and equal status in recording contracts. Blackwell's last recording session with Carr was in February 1935, for Bluebird Records. The session ended bitterly, as both musicians left the studio mid-session and on bad terms, stemming from payment disputes. 

Blackwell with Brooks Berry

Two months later Blackwell received a phone call informing him of Carr's death due to heavy drinking and nephritis. Blackwell was devastated and soon recorded a tribute to his musical partner of seven years ("My Old Pal Blues"). After the death of Carr, Blackwell did a few recordings with piano player Dot Rice, without much success; the song "No Good Woman Blues" shows Blackwell as the singer. A short time later Blackwell retired from the music industry, choosing the anonymity of a job in an asphalt factory. 

The first great blues revival of the late 1950s gradually coaxed him back into performing. He was recorded by Colin C. Pomroy in June 1958. Soon afterwards he was recorded by Duncan P. Schiedt for Doug Dobell's 77 Records. Blackwell was then recorded in 1961, in Indianapolis, by the young Art Rosenbaum for the Prestige/Bluesville Records label. It was released in 1962 and Blackwell was ready to resume his blues career but had little time to enjoy its success. On October 7th, 1962, Blackwell was shot and killed in an alleyway near his house. There had evidentially been a fight with a neighbour, probably encouraged by the moonshine the two men were drinking. Blackwell’s neighbour was sentenced to ten years in prison, but was granted parole and released in 1964. Blackwells death came just as a new generation of blues and folk performers began to recognize his accomplishments. He is buried in New Crown Cemetery, in Indianapolis. 

There is no doubt that Scrapper Blackwell was one of the most important guitar players of the '20s and early '30s, with a clean, dazzlingly articulate style that anticipated the kind of prominent solo work that would emerge in Chicago as electric blues in the '40s and '50s, in the persons of Robert Nighthawk and the young Muddy Waters. His "string-snapping" solos transcend musical genres and defy the limitations of his period. Although Blackwell's recordings were done entirely on acoustic guitar, the playing on virtually every extant track is -- and this is no joke -- electrifying in its clarity and intensity. Along with Tampa Red (who also had some respect in jazz circles, and who was a more derivative figure, especially as a singer), Blackwell was one of a handful of pre-war blues guitarists whose work should be known by every kid who thinks it all started with Chuck Berry or even Muddy Waters. 

Among his fans was Bob Dylan, who observed, "There is a strong line in all our music that can be traced back directly to Scrapper Blackwell. He was a truly great musician who did deserve more than was ever given him". 

(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic & Document Records)

Gayle Caldwell born 20 February 1941

Gayle Caldwell (20 February 1941 - 14 April 2009) was an American singer musician and songwriter. 

The first of six daughters, Judith Gayle Geddes was born in Eugene, Oregon to Paul and Esther Geddes who first met when he was the church choir director and she was the organist. Gayle”s precocious talents surfaced early. As a young teenager, she worked playing for churches, restaurants, etc. and could read, transpose or play by ear nearly any song someone came up with. She performed her first original piano compositions at about the age of six. 

She bloomed into a a superb, versatile singer, with both a crystalline, shimmering soprano sound and a sultry, textured alto range. In 1958 her talents were awarded with a scholarship for a major in music at USC, where she sang in the madrigal choir as a coloratura soprano. That year, she also met and married percussionist Russ Caldwell. 

Though only a 17-year-old freshman, Gayle”s talent was noticed and she was hired to perform with the prestigious Roger Wagner Chorale. Thrilled with the opportunity, she quit school and went on tour where she performed meticulously arranged, challenging music in upscale venues. As evidence of her perfect pitch, in concert at Carnegie Hall, she was asked to vocally cue the other singers of their starting note for the next piece while the audience was applauding. This note had to originate from her ear, not from a pitch pipe. With the birth her first daughter Michelle, Gayle wanted to stay close to home in Los Angeles and retired from the Chorale. 

In 1962 Gayle was hired to be a featured soloist in an “off-Broadway” musical comedy revue at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles. After the show, one of the managers of the New Christy Minstrels came back stage and asked her to audition for the group. Gayle had not heard of them at that time. The “Christies,” brainchild of folksinger Randy Sparks, were an innovative ensemble of 10 distinctly talented performers — eight men and two women who were then taking the music business by storm. Gayle fit well in with the Christy team and her talents brought much to the group’s sound and they performed weekly as regulars on NBC”s Andy Williams Show. 

The group's career continued its amazing trajectory and, within a few months, Gayle had attracted her own loyal following among the group's burgeoning audience of fans. In 1963, they recorded four albums; among them was Ramblin” which earned a gold record and has become a pop folk classic. By the close of the year, they were full-fledged stars. One of Gayle's last major appearances with the group was at the White House. At the point managers decided to take the group off television and put them on the more lucrative concert trail, there was a good-natured family joke that she was making more money as a musician than her father was as a lawyer. 

In order to spend more time with her daughter, Gayle stopped touring and formed a duo with her close friend Jackie, the other female in the Christys. Between 1964 and 1967, Jackie and Gayle released several singles for Capitol, co-starred in two teen-oriented movie musicals — Wild On the Beach and Wild, Wild Winter ? and appeared on numerous TV variety shows. Her second husband, film and television stuntman Dick Ziker, inspired her to take a role on two episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies where she learned firsthand what it was like to do her own stunts. 

                              Here’s “Cycles” from above LP.

                              

When not performing, Gayle composed and arranged music, and in 1968 her composition “Cycles” became a significant comeback hit for Frank Sinatra and the title cut for his next album. She landed a contract with A&M Records and recorded an album of her own compositions, “Celebration of Life.” Her compositions have been recorded by a wide spectrum of artists — Astrud Gilberto, Robert Goulet, Howard Keel, O.C. Smith, Oscar Peterson, The Mystic Moods Orchestra, Rod McKuen and, more recently, Ricki Lee Jones and Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy.) 

In 1991, Gayle moved to Fort Bragg to fulfill a vision she had of growing roses by the sea. She had many private piano and voice students and often spoke of how much happiness she got from helping people express themselves musically. She served as organist and choral director for the Presbyterian and Catholic churches, was musical director for several of the “Gloriana Opera Company” musical productions, as well as for the Mendocino Art Center, where she produced occasional Sunday afternoon concerts that displayed her eclectic musical tastes — everything from classical to ethnic folk. 

In 2008 her last major project was a CD entitled “All is One.” The album is classic Caldwell — haunting melodies, poetic lyrics of human insight and honesty — all sung in Gayle”s rich, expressive voice and featuring Norton Bufflo, Paul McCandles and Alex de Grassi, among others. Through the winter months of early 2009, Gayle experienced a succession of draining setbacks, she died on April 14th in Fort Bragg, Mendocino County, California, USA at the age of 68. 

(Edited from The Mendocino Beacon obit)