GUS
JENKINS/ Complete Recordings
A la fin des années 40, Gus décide de faire une carrière
personnelle et s'installe à Chicago où il attire l'attention des frères Chess
pour lesquels il fait ses premiers enregistrements en 1953 (accompagné de Big
Walter Horton!) dans un style proche de celui de Walter Davis.
La fin de l'année 1953 le voit déjà à Los Angeles où il
trouve des engagements dans des clubs et enregistre à nouveau pour de nombreux
labels de la Côte Ouest comme Specialty, Combo, Cash et Flash. Il s'essaie à
divers styles de blues, imitant Howlin' Wolf (sous le nom de The Young Wolf!),
dans un style plus proche des pianistes comme Charles Brown en tant que Little
Temple ou Piano Bo et derrière sa femme Mamie Reed (Mamie Perry). Mais c'est
avec son instrumental Tricky, produit
par Charlie Reynolds en 1956 (sous le nom de Gus Jinkins!) qu'il obtient son premier
succès commercial. Les instrumentaux de plus en plus Funky (a la Ramsey Lewis)
où Gus joue du piano ou de l'orgue se succèdent alors (Spark Plug, Payday shuffle...)
sans renouveler le succès de Tricky.
Il fonde son propre label Pioneer en 1959, enregistre
plusieurs obscurs bluesmen californiens ainsi que lui-même abondamment, tentant
de suivre les courants de la musique noire. En 1964, il obtient un nouveau
succès local avec l'instrumental Chitlins
qui sera alors repris par Tower, une filiale de Capitol.
Malheureusement, Gus Jenkins (qui se fait désormais
appeler Jaarone
Pharaoh)
abandonne la musique à la fin des années 1960. Il décède, quasiment oublié de
tous le 22 décembre 1985 à Los Angeles, laissant une œuvre diverse et de
qualité.
Merci à tous ceux qui nous ont permis de rassembler les
enregistrements de Gus Jenkins. Merci aussi à ceux qui posséderaient ceux qui
manquent et souhaiteraient envoyer une copie .mp3 via mon mail.
Gérard
HERZHAFT
Born on 23d March 1932 in Birmingham (Alabama), Augustus D. "Gus"
Jenkins has learned to play piano at an early age under the tutelage of her
keyboard mother and the strong influence of Walter Davis' records. He started
to play in local clubs before joining, still a teenager, several itinerant
Shows, namely Atlanta's Sammy Green's Hot Harlem Review who also featured his fellow
Alabamian Big Mama Thornton.
At
the end of the 1940's, Gus came to Chicago to try his luck, played in several
clubs and even got a Chess recording session in 1953, backed by Big Walter
Horton. But feeling (rightly) that his own style was more suitable to West
Coast ears, he ended in Los Angeles where he found many opportunities in clubs,
lounges and recording sessions for several Californian labels (Specialty,
Combo, Cash, Flash). Seeking the success, he recorded on several blues or
R&B genres, mostly in a Charles Brown's style but also as a credible Howlin'
Wolf impersonator under the "Young Wolf" moniker as well as Little
Temple or Piano Bo! He also backed his wife Mamie Reed/ Mamie Perry on some
excellent records. Finally, this is with a pre-Funky instrumental (a la Ramsey
Lewis), Tricky, recorded for Charlie
Reynolds in 1956 that he got his first real hit. Henceforth, alongside with
blues and ballads, he waxed many instrumental of this kind, playing either
piano or organ (Spark plug, Payday shuffle) but without succeeding
commercially.
In
1959, Gus Jenkins founded his own Pioneer label, recording several excellent
obscure L.A. bluesmen as well as many tracks of his own. In 1964, another
instrumental named Chitlins created
some local stirs and, taken over by the Tower label (a Capitol subsidiary), it
became another last hit for Gus.
Unfortunately,
Gus Jenkins (who renamed himself Jaarone Pharaoh) gave up the music in the late
1960's and died in Los Angeles on 22nd December 1985, largely unknown outside a
small number of blues buffs around the world. He leaves us a diverse and mostly
very good works.
Thanks
a lot to all those who helped to gather those tracks and thanks by advance to
those willing to share (a .mp3 copy through my mailbox would be great!) the
still missing tracks.
Gérard
HERZHAFT
