George Sluppick - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

George Peter Sluppick (born January 14, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

. to Mr. & Mrs. George S. Sluppick) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

touring drummer with more than 35 recording credits, best known for his association with bands such as The City Champs, Robert Walter

Robert Walter

Robert John Walter MP , is the Conservative Member of Parliament for North Dorset in south west England. He was re-elected for a fourth term in 2010 with a much increased majority.-Early life:...

's 20th Congress, Sha Na Na

Sha Na Na

Sha Na Na is an American rock and roll group. The name is taken from a part of the long series of nonsense syllables in the doo-wop hit song "Get a Job", originally recorded in 1957 by the Silhouettes....

, JJ Grey & Mofro

MOFRO

JJ Grey & MOFRO is a soul/funk/R&B/blues/southern rock band from Jacksonville, Florida composed of JJ Grey , Andrew Trube , Anthony Farrell , Anthony Cole and the "Hercules Horns" Dennis Marion , Art Edmaiston JJ Grey & MOFRO (formerly billed just as Mofro) is a soul/funk/R&B/blues/southern...

and The Chris Robinson Brotherhood.

Life and career

His father "Big George", a guitarist and bassist, bought him a drum set at age 4 and three years later, George made his first public performance at the Goodlett Elementary School carnival in Memphis. With the help of his father's tutelage and his mother's large record collection, he learned very quickly how to play with a band. During high school, George played in rock bands and cut his teeth playing blues on Beale Street

Beale Street

Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of the blues. Today, the blues clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are...

and sitting in with luminaries like B. B. King

B. B. King

Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...

. He graduated in 1986 from Overton High School

Overton High School (Memphis, Tennessee)

Watkins Overton High School is a secondary school for the Creative and Performing Arts located in Memphis, Tennessee.The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Memphis City Schools district....

in Memphis, where he sang second tenor in the concert choir and played drums for their award winning gospel choir. He joined Albert King

Albert King

Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...

's band the following year and toured with him for one month, opening shows for B. B. King

B. B. King

, Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings

Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...

and Carl Perkins

Carl Perkins

Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...

. From there he toured the southeast college circuit with rock-n-roll bands, Big Fish & the Crime for several years.

In 1991, George moved to San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

and while there played with Billy Bacon & The Forbidden Pigs, Robin Henkel, Eric Lieberman, Billy Watson, the cat Mary, Sha Na Na

Sha Na Na

& Robert Walter

Robert Walter

Robert John Walter MP , is the Conservative Member of Parliament for North Dorset in south west England. He was re-elected for a fourth term in 2010 with a much increased majority.-Early life:...

's 20th Congress, touring all over North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. With Sha Na Na

Sha Na Na

he recorded on two of their albums, Live in Japan (Sony Japan) and Rockin’ Christmas (The Gold Label). During this time, he also recorded with Robert Walter

Robert Walter

Robert John Walter MP , is the Conservative Member of Parliament for North Dorset in south west England. He was re-elected for a fourth term in 2010 with a much increased majority.-Early life:...

’s 20th Congress on Giving Up the Ghost (Magnatude Records), Gary Jules

Gary Jules

Gary Jules is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his cover of Tears for Fears' third single "Mad World", which he recorded together with friend Michael Andrews for the film Donnie Darko. It became the UK Christmas Number One single of 2003...

’ multi-platinum album Trading Snake Oil for Wolftickets (Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...

), and on a tune with singer Judith Owen

Judith Owen

Judith Owen is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her first North American album, Emotions on a Postcard, was released in 1996, and has since been followed by five additional releases...

for the soundtrack to the film, As Good as It Gets

As Good as It Gets

As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Laura Ziskin. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with an asthmatic son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was...

(Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

).

In 2003, George briefly lived in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

and played and toured with soul jazz guitarist Melvin Sparks

Melvin Sparks

Melvin Sparks was an American soul jazz, hard bop and jazz blues guitarist. He recorded a number of albums for Prestige Records, later recording for Savant Records...

.

In September 2003, George started playing with Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

.-based JJ Grey & Mofro

MOFRO

, a relationship that lasted for nearly five years. During his time with Mofro

MOFRO

, George recorded on three of the band’s albums and toured North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

& Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

George moved to New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

, in March 2005, but Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

forced him to move to Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

in September of that year. He stayed in Austin for 10 months, during which time he met Ruthie Foster

Ruthie Foster

Ruthie Foster is an American singer-songwriter of blues and folk music.Foster is from Gause, Texas and comes from a family of gospel singers. She studied music at McLennan Community College and then worked in the US Navy, where she started performing. Her debut was released in 1997 and she has...

and recorded on her album, The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster (Blue Corn), produced by Malcolm "Papa Mali

Papa Mali

Malcolm "Papa Mali" Welbourne is an American slide guitarist, singer, and songwriter who grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, and is based in Austin, Texas....

" Welbourne and which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Blues chart.

George came back to his hometown of Memphis in July 2006 and soon joined up with organist Al Gamble

Al Gamble

John Allen "Al" Gamble is a Memphis, Tennessee, studio and touring musician, playing Hammond B-3 organ and keyboards. He was born in Columbus, Ga., but his family moved to his parents' home town of Tuscumbia, Alabama, in the early 1970s where he was raised...

, guitarist Joe Restivo and saxophonist Art Edmaiston to form the boogaloo

Boogaloo

Boogaloo or bugalú is a genre of Latin music and dance that was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City among teenage Cubans, Puerto Ricans and other groups. The style was a fusion of popular African American R&B and soul with mambo and son montuno...

instrumental band The Grip. The Grip recorded an EP for Archer Records titled Grab This Thing. Edmaiston joined JJ Grey & Mofro

MOFRO

and he and George toured together in the band for one year, until George left in March 2008. When Mofro

MOFRO

's touring schedule picked up, the three remaining members of The Grip changed the band’s name to The City Champs and played regular gigs around town, including The Buccaneer Lounge. The Tuesday night sessions caught the ear of Memphis producer Scott Bomar

Scott Bomar

Scott Bomar is a Memphis-based musician, Emmy Award winning film composer, Grammy nominated music producer, and recording engineer.-Early years:...

who decided to record the band and ultimately released their first album on his Electraphonic Records label. In 2008, working alongside Bomar, George and Al Gamble

Al Gamble

played on the score for the film, Gospel Hill

Gospel Hill

Gospel Hill is a 2008 film directed and produced by Giancarlo Esposito, who also stars in the film. The film was released on February 10, 2009 on DVD in the United States after being at numerous film festivals.-Plot:...

, which stars Angela Bassett

Angela Bassett

Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...

, Giancarlo Esposito

Giancarlo Esposito

Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-born American film and television actor and director.-Early life:Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. His mother was an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, who once appeared on the same...

, Danny Glover

Danny Glover

Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...

, Julia Stiles

Julia Stiles

Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...

and Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...

.

The City Champs' first album, The Safecracker, received rave reviews from critics worldwide. In February 2010, The City Champs were asked to join The North Mississippi Allstars on a U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

tour, during which the trio opened the shows and sat in with the band on their set. Also in 2010, The City Champs took part in the filming of a music documentary titled Memphis Revival. This Cody Dickinson and Martin Shore produced film showcases Memphis music legends recording with younger Memphis artists. The City Champs teamed up with Memphis harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite

Charlie Musselwhite

Charlie Musselwhite is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American heritage...

and renowned Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as The Swampers, are a group of American soul, R&B, and country studio musicians based in the town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama...

bassist, David Hood

David Hood

David Hood , is a bassist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also plays the trombone and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame....

to film a segment for this project. The movie is scheduled to be released in 2011.

In November 2010, The City Champs released their second album The Set-Up (Electraphonic). The Set-Up includes instrumental original music by the band, plus a cover of RJD2

RJD2

RJD2 is an American music producer, singer and musician. RJD2 was born in Eugene, Oregon, and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was signed to the Definitive Jux label where he released two largely instrumental hip hop albums and has produced tracks...

’s A Beautiful Mine (the theme to AMC TV’s Mad Men

Mad Men

Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...

). Some tracks on The Set-Up also include horn players Marc Franklin, Jim Spake, Kirk Smothers and Memphis percussionist, Felix Hernandez. Through the encouragement of the band, Bomar, a talented bassist, played bass on a tune and Motown legend Jack Ashford

Jack Ashford

Jack Ashford , known to his friends as Jashford, is an African-American musician, widely known as the percussionist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the 1960s and early 1970s. Ashford is most famous for playing the tambourine on hundreds of Motown recordings...

of The Funk Brothers

The Funk Brothers

The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...

, contributed tambourine

Tambourine

The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....

to the recording, as well. The Champs' music has been featured in the MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

series $5 Cover

$5 Cover

$5 Cover is an online series created by filmmaker Craig Brewer and produced by MTV and is a fictional series created to complement the documentary series "$5 Cover Amplified"...

and in the Emmy Award

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

-winning documentary film I Am a Man: From Memphis, A Lesson in Life.

In December 2010, George received a phone call from Black Crowes frontman, Chris Robinson, who asked him to come to Los Angeles and play drums with his new group, The Chris Robinson Brotherhood. Robinson had been given a copy of The Set-Up from Sluppick's longtime friend and Crowes' guitarist, Luther Dickinson

Luther Dickinson

Luther Dickinson is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the North Mississippi Allstars as well as lead guitarist for The Black Crowes...

. George began touring with the Brotherhood in March 2011 and currently resides in both Memphis and Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

Selected Discography

The Cat Mary, Her High, Lonesome Days (Orchard Music Group)

The Cat Mary, Postbellum Neighborhood (Swampland Records)

Jennifer Terran, Cruel (Grizelda Records)

Judith Owen, Emotions On A Postcard (Dram Records)

Soundtrack, As Good As It Gets (Sony)

Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Giving Up The Ghost (Magnatude Records)

Mofro, Blackwater (Alligator Records)

Mofro, Lochloosa (Alligator Records)

JJ Grey & Mofro, Country Ghetto (Alligator Records)

Billy Watson, And His International Silver String Submarine Band (Watson Records)

Billy Watson, Little Snick Meets Junior Mint (Watson Records)

Billy Watson, Absolutely Live At The Rhythm Cafe (Watson Records)

Billy Watson, Secret 8 (Watson Records)

Robin Henkel, 94 (Robin Henkel Records)

Robin Henkel, Highway (Robin Henkel Records)

Gary Jules, Trading Snake Oil For Wolftickets (Universal Records)

George Pajon Jr., Fried Plantain’s (Kufala Records)

Sha Na Na, Live In Japan (Sony)

MC Paul Barman, Paullelujah! (Coup D'État Records)

Will Conner, Southern Hemisphere (Pony Canyon)

Ruthie Foster, The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster (Blue Corn)

The Grip, Grab This Thing (Archer Records)

Jirka Hala, Make You Wanna Hala (Arta Records)

The City Champs, The Safecracker (Electraphonic Recordings)

The City Champs, The Set-Up (Electraphonic Recordings)

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Life and career

Selected Discography

External links