Before his musical/medical retirement, due to incurable ill health...and his subsequent passing on 06 May 2020, Earl was a true troubadour and journeyman to live Blues music in the UK and throughout Europe.
I am his closest friend and trusted confidante for over 40 years ! So I was involved with him on so many musical journeys as a participant or as a sidekick / second opinion etc...and Earl always appreciated my view. ...We met when I was 17 and he was 26 and we had a great Blues Rock & Funky band 'Ardon' with original compositions back in the early 1970s that nearly made it...(See a previous post for details). We played in other bands together and apart but we were close friends and grew together.
In 1984 we formed The O T Band to play live Blues/Soul/R&B/Funk covers and originals and this lasted for over 30 years with only the drummer as a new recruit..Glen Lefleur (a legend on the muso scene ) So we were Tight...musically and as trusted friends...As in all bands that last...we laughed !!!
During this time Earl was free to go anywhere he wanted ...and Otis Grand played some gigs as a guest with us, liked what he heard and used Earl and Andy on T.sax for his first band and album. This led on to many other informal gigs with so many bands and jams...Many of the UK's successful Blues guys appreciate his friendship and authentic influence including... Paul Jones, who praised Earl's vocals on his radio shows, Paul Lamb (as part of his Band), Ian Siegal, Matt Schofield, Todd Sharpville, James Hunter, Lee Sankey, Jon T-Bone Taylor, Big Joe Louis, Frank Mead and many others and the soul sisters Ruby Turner, Taka Boom, Dana Gillespie, Deitra Farr and Connie Lush who shared vocal duets with Earl on Jon's album...(See Below) Earl's Blues Night Jams in N.London were great...Gwyn and I got to play with Dick Heckstall-Smith amongst others.
Amid his last years of performing he fronted 'The Right Time' and they played throughout the UK and Europe...and the OT's were friends ( see below for a good live recording of EG with The Right Time)
This is just a 'don't forget' gesture on my part as a tribute to a great UK Blues vocalist, (and there are few) humble guy and friend to many...When he sang...he mostly closed his eyes and always tried to sing with genuine feeling and enthusiasm...his vocal presence was there even in the solos...Listening to some of his recordings lately I've heard Sam Cooke's influence amongst others...He loved Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Jazz singers like Oscar Brown Jr, Jimmy Witherspoon and all the greats...and a myriad of others...
He was never interested in listening to anything by himself and when he got a copy of a CD where he was a guest etc...He'd give it to me !...But I would play him some on his many enjoyable social visits !
We both knew our limitations and never argued ...except for...'Who was the Best female Soul singer ?...Earl's choice...Gladys Knight...mine Aretha...but we laughed !
He can be heard on record with The Coloured Raisins from the late 1960's...He played with local bands Sweet Rain, Ardon, Baby Grand and others before becoming one of the founder members of The O T Band ( with Gwyn Hood Bass, Andy Dummett Tenor Sax, myself on guitar and Alan Hawkins later Glen LeFleur on drums) Plus a host of great players on many instruments who became part-time members or jammers...We had a ball ! ..
Earl can be heard on the following recordings (by no way complete) :
Earl Green solo albums : 'Feel The Fire', 'One Way' and 'A Different Picture'.
Earl Green & The Right Time - 'Live At Bronte Blues Club'.
Otis Grand - 'Always Hot' , 'He Knows The Blues' and 'In Grand Style-The Otis Grand Collection'.
Paul Lamb & The King Snakes - 'Take Your Time And Get It Right', 'Live At The 100 Club' and 'Harmonica Man - The Paul Lamb Anthology 1986-2002'.
And...'Jon T-Bone Taylor's Bop Brothers...and Sisters'... The Various Artists compilations : 'From Clarkesdale To Heaven - Remembering John Lee Hooker' with Jeff Beck supplying the lead guitar and 'Beatles Blues'. He can be heard as guest on many others...
See a great example of Earl with Paul Lamb & The Kingsnakes ( Johnny on guitar is great and a friend ) Here :
And here are some comments from the net :
Born in Jamaica he came to Britain on his thirteenth birthday. Raised in Lewisham he saw T Bone Walker and a host of blues giants in London’s clubs.
A founder member of Otis Grand and the Dance Kings he recorded two albums Always Hot and He Knows the Blues.
Earl Green is the premier blues voice in the UK. Digital Blues voted him best UK Male vocal in 2004.
He has been twice voted best vocalist by the British Blues Connection. Blues. DJ Paul Jones described him as delivering “GREAT VOCAL PERFORMANCES.”
Juke Blues magazine wrote - “There’s surely no more soulful singer than Earl Green in this country.”
In 2000 Earl joined Paul Lamb and the King Snakes. Earl is a prolific and excellent songwriter. His debut solo album Feel the Fire
(Abacabe Records ABACA CD 002) featured WC Handy award winner Joe Louis Walker.(ShadesOfSoul)
Earl Green is a true anomaly in music -- a black British blues singer. There have been precious few of them across the decades, mostly thanks to an ironic convergence of twisting cultural currents and historical trails that left the African-descended population of the former empire far more cut off from this black American tradition than the white population of the British Isles.
Born in Jamaica, he came to England at age 13 well-versed in American-style R&B, and began his singing career soon after. That was in the 1970s, and in 1986 he became a founding member of Otis Grand & the DanceKings. In 1994, Green left Otis Grand and formed the Earl Green Band a year later, touring England and Ireland extensively. Green went on to win theBritish Blues Connection's Male Vocalist Award in 1996 and 1997, and the Blues in Britain Vocalist Award in 2000 and 2002. He remains a very active presence in British blues, coming up on his fourth decade as a musician. (Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club)
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Gus & Earl
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Winner of the Best UK Male Vocalist Award for 1996 and 1997 from the British Blues Connection, Earl Green is a rarity, a black British Blues singer.
Born in Jamaica, he came to Britain, on his thirteenth birthday, already into R&B music, and soon started a career as a vocalist which has spanned over twenty-five years.
He was a founder member of Otis Grand and the Dance Kings, in 1986, and until recently has been the lead vocalist in many line-ups with Otis, including the award winning Otis Grand Big Band. He sings on Otis's albums Always Hot and He Knows The Blues.
Earl founded The Earl Green Band in 1995 and they tour regularly in Britain and Ireland. Earl is also the featured vocalist in Bop Brothers, alongside ace guitarist Jon T-Bone Taylor and sax supremo Dick Heckstall-Smith.
Earl is a prolific and excellent songwriter. He has co-written songs with Otis Grand which are on He Knows The Blues, winner of the Best British Blues Album award in 1993. Earl's present writing partner is Jonathan Plotel, who is also the bass player in The Earl Green Band. The band's current set includes their songs from Earl's album.
Earl's solo debut album Feel The Fire (on Abacabe Records, ABACA CD 002), which was released on July 22nd 1996, is a collection of great Blues, Soul and R&B originals from Earl and his co-writers plus three excellent Blues standards. Guest artists include the W.C. Handy award winner Joe Louis Walker, UK guitarists Todd Sharpville and Pete Boss plus The Earl Green Band.
Earl has appeared at the Balgium R&B Festival; the Paleo Festival at Nyon; Lugano; Jazz Pamplona; XII Festival Internacional de Jazz de Granada; VII Festival Internacional Jazz en Escena, Malaga; Oldemzaal; Midzomer Blus Festival; Groningen; Nottoden Blues Festival; Cahors; Bayeux Blues Festival; Danish Blues Festival; Imatra Big Band Festival, Finland; The Great British R&B Festival; Farnham Maltings Blues Festival; Temple Bar Blues Festival; Cork Jazz Festival; Dublin Blues Festival; Dartmouth Blues Festival and many more. In the UK, he appears regularly at the top London Blues venue, The 100 Club as well as festivals and Blues clubs all over the country, fronting the Earl Green Band
In January 2000, Earl joined Paul Lamb & The King Snakes. The current schedule includes gigs in Britain, Ireland and all over Europe, see gig list
for details.
"Great vocal performance!" Paul Jones, Blues singer & DJ
"There's surely no more soulful singer in this country." Juke Blues
"Britain's best Blues vocalist with a range equalling the likes of Al Jarreau." Blueprint
(Historical Internet Source)
Feilimid O'Broin said...
Gus, I'm very sorry to hear about Earl Green. I would love to have seen him in concert. Please pass on to him that, although not especially noteworthy, he has one American fan who went so far as to order his several of his albums from England because they were not available here (the Internet is a wonderful invention, indeed, for those of us who obsess about and must own music) and who wishes him greatly improved health and a long life. As with so many artists he is yet again one of those artists whose music I did not discover until after he ended his performing career and whom wish I had discovered a lot sooner. That relaxed style of singing and honeyed voice are memorable and, if his performances on YouTube are an accurate reflection of his talent and charisma, he should have acquired some renown here. As much as I have loved reggae since I first heard the late Danny "The News Dissector's Shechter’s 1972 special broadcast, which was a spectacular introduction to the music and the culture that served as its parents, on WBCN, Boston, I am glad that, unlike many of his fellow Jamaican immigrants to England, Green chose the road less traveled by and it made all the difference (thanks for the phrase, Mr. Frost). But, also based on YouTube, I find his live performances superior to his studio albums even though I enjoy them greatly.
Your band and he did each other proud!!! In my uneducated musical opinion, if you look up the word ‘cool’ in the dictionary, at least in Oxford's, you should find a photograph of Earl Green.
August 5, 2015 at 9:43 PM
