Mose Allison
Encyclopedia
Mose John Allison, Jr. (born November 11, 1927, Tippo
, Tallahatchie County, Mississippi
, United States
) is an American
jazz blues pianist
and singer.
in grammar school and trumpet
in high school
. He went to college at the University of Mississippi
for a while, then enlisted in the U.S. Army for two years. Fresh out of the Army, he enrolled at Louisiana State University
, from which he was graduated in 1952 with a BA
in English
with a minor
in Philosophy
. It was at that point that he moved to New York City
and launched his jazz career performing with artists such as Stan Getz
, Gerry Mulligan
, Al Cohn
, Zoot Sims
, and Phil Woods
. His debut album, Back Country Suite was issued on the Prestige
label in 1957. He formed his own trio in 1958.
It was not until 1963 that his record label allowed him to release an album entirely of vocals. Titled "Mose Allison Sings, it was an inspired collection of songs that paid tribute to artists of the Mojo Triangle
: Sonny Boy Williamson
("Eyesight to the Blind"), Jimmie Rodgers ("That's All Right") and Willie Dixon ("The Seventh Son"). However, it was an original composition in the album that brought him the most attention, "Parchman Farm." For more than two decades, "Parchman Farm" was his most requested song. He dropped it from his playlist in the 1980s because some critics felt it was politically incorrect. Explained Allison to Nine-O-One Network Magazine
: "I don't do the cotton sack songs much anymore. You go to the Mississippi Delta and there are no cotton sacks. It's all machines and chemicals.".
His music has influenced many blues
and rock
artists, including Jimi Hendrix
, The Rolling Stones
, Tom Waits
, The Yardbirds
, John Mayall
, J. J. Cale, The Who
(who made "Young Man Blues" a staple of their live performances and used it to open their original Live at Leeds
album), and Georgie Fame
. Blue Cheer
also recorded a version of his song "Parchman Farm
" on their debut album. The Yardbirds
and The Misunderstood
both recorded versions of his song "I'm Not Talking".
His song "Look Here" was covered by The Clash
on their album Sandinista!
. Leon Russell
covered Allison's song "Smashed!" on his album Stop All That Jazz. Van Morrison
released an album of his songs entitled Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison
, and Elvis Costello
recorded "Everybody's Cryin' Mercy" on his album Kojak Variety
and "Your Mind Is On Vacation" on King of America
(Bonus Tracks). Frank Black
of the Pixies claims that the song "Allison" off the album Bossanova
is about Mose Allison. He also states this at the beginning of the video for the song. His song "Monsters of the Id" was recorded by Stan Ridgway on his 2004 album Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads And Fugitive Songs.
The film The Whole Nine Yards
begins with Mose Allison's song "I Don't Worry About A Thing" during the opening credits. Americana
singer-songwriter
Greg Brown wrote and performed the song "Mose Allison Played Here" on his 1997 album, Slant 6 Mind. Alternative rock
band Pixies wrote the song "Allison" as a tribute to Mose Allison. Eve 6
did a cover of "Allison" for Where Is My Mind? A Tribute to the Pixies.
Allison was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame
in 2006.
Allison has stated over the past few years that he would not be recording any new albums, but as of March 1, 2010, his website declared that his "new album, 'The Way of the World,' arrives March 23, 2010, marking his return to the recording studio after a 12-year absence."
Tippo, Mississippi
Tippo is an unincorporated community located in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, United States. Tippo is approximately from Swan Lake, northeast of Glendora and approximately from Charleston. Tippo is located at the intersection of Tippo Road and Sharkey Road.Although it is unincorporated,...
, Tallahatchie County, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz blues pianist
Jazz piano
Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities...
and singer.
Biography
Allison played pianoPiano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
in grammar school and trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. He went to college at the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
for a while, then enlisted in the U.S. Army for two years. Fresh out of the Army, he enrolled at Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
, from which he was graduated in 1952 with a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
with a minor
Academic minor
An academic minor is a college or university student's declared secondary field of study or specialization during his or her undergraduate studies. As with an academic major, the college or university in question lays out a framework of required classes or class types a student must complete to...
in Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. It was at that point that he moved to 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 launched his jazz career performing with artists such as Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
, Al Cohn
Al Cohn
Al Cohn was an American jazz saxophonist and arranger and composer.-Biography:Alvin Gilbert Cohn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was initially known in the 1940s for playing in Woody Herman's Second Herd as one of the Four Brothers, along with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Serge Chaloff...
, Zoot Sims
Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...
, and Phil Woods
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
. His debut album, Back Country Suite was issued on the Prestige
Prestige Records
Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
label in 1957. He formed his own trio in 1958.
It was not until 1963 that his record label allowed him to release an album entirely of vocals. Titled "Mose Allison Sings, it was an inspired collection of songs that paid tribute to artists of the Mojo Triangle
Mojo Triangle
The Mojo Triangle, a geographical and cultural area located within a triangular connection between New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis, is the birthplace of country, blues, jazz, and rock 'n' roll...
: Sonny Boy Williamson
Sonny Boy Williamson
Sonny Boy Williamson may refer to either of two 20th-century American blues harmonica players, who both recorded in Chicago:*Sonny Boy Williamson I , John Lee Curtis Williamson, "The Original Sonny Boy Williamson", born in Tennessee and associated with Bluebird Records *Sonny Boy Williamson II ,...
("Eyesight to the Blind"), Jimmie Rodgers ("That's All Right") and Willie Dixon ("The Seventh Son"). However, it was an original composition in the album that brought him the most attention, "Parchman Farm." For more than two decades, "Parchman Farm" was his most requested song. He dropped it from his playlist in the 1980s because some critics felt it was politically incorrect. Explained Allison to Nine-O-One Network Magazine
Nine-O-One Network Magazine
Nine-O-One Network Magazine was a bi-monthly music magazine published in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1986 to 1989.-Beginnings:The magazine originated during the heralded 1986 “Class of '55” recording session in Memphis with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins. Producer Chips...
: "I don't do the cotton sack songs much anymore. You go to the Mississippi Delta and there are no cotton sacks. It's all machines and chemicals.".
His music has influenced many blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
artists, including Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
, John Mayall
John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...
, J. J. Cale, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
(who made "Young Man Blues" a staple of their live performances and used it to open their original Live at Leeds
Live at Leeds
Live at Leeds is The Who's first live album, and is the only live album that was released while the group were still recording and performing regularly. Initially released in the United States on 16 May 1970, by Decca and MCA and the United Kingdom on 23 May 1970, by Track and Polydor, the album...
album), and Georgie Fame
Georgie Fame
Georgie Fame is a British rhythm and blues and jazz singer and keyboard player. The one-time rock and roll tour musician, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still a popular performer, often working with contemporaries such as Van Morrison and Bill Wyman.-Early life:Fame took piano lessons from the...
. Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer was an American psychedelic blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009...
also recorded a version of his song "Parchman Farm
Parchman Farm (song)
"Parchman Farm" is the title of a number of songs about Mississippi State Penitentiary, known as Parchman Farm, a hard time prison because of the Trusty system which was later outlawed....
" on their debut album. The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
and The Misunderstood
The Misunderstood
The Misunderstood were a psychedelic rock band originating from Riverside, California in the mid-1960s. The band moved to London early in their career, and although they recorded only a handful of songs before being forced to disband, they are considered highly influential in the then-emerging...
both recorded versions of his song "I'm Not Talking".
His song "Look Here" was covered by The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
on their album Sandinista!
Sandinista!
Sandinista! is the fourth studio album by the English punk rock band the Clash. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side...
. Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Claude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
covered Allison's song "Smashed!" on his album Stop All That Jazz. Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
released an album of his songs entitled Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison
Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison
Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison is the twenty-fifth album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, Georgie Fame, Mose Allison and Ben Sidran, released in 1996. It charted at #1 on the Top Jazz Albums chart.-Recording history:...
, and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
recorded "Everybody's Cryin' Mercy" on his album Kojak Variety
Kojak Variety
Kojak Variety is a 1995 covers album by Elvis Costello. "Days" had previously appeared on the album Until the End of the World, the 1991 soundtrack to Wim Wenders' film of the same name.-Track listing:# "Strange" – 2:39...
and "Your Mind Is On Vacation" on King of America
King of America
King of America is the tenth studio album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1986 in the United Kingdom as F-Beat ZL 70946, and in the United States as Columbia JC 40173. It was billed as by "The Costello Show featuring the Attractions and Confederates" in the UK...
(Bonus Tracks). Frank Black
Frank Black
Black Francis is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black...
of the Pixies claims that the song "Allison" off the album Bossanova
Bossanova
Bossanova is the third album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in August 1990 on the English independent record label 4AD in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. All of Bossanovas original material was written by the band's frontman Black Francis; it...
is about Mose Allison. He also states this at the beginning of the video for the song. His song "Monsters of the Id" was recorded by Stan Ridgway on his 2004 album Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads And Fugitive Songs.
The film The Whole Nine Yards
The Whole Nine Yards (film)
The Whole Nine Yards is a 2000 American adventure crime comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, starring Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan and Natasha Henstridge. The title derives from a popular expression possibly dating from World War II naval aviation which means...
begins with Mose Allison's song "I Don't Worry About A Thing" during the opening credits. Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Greg Brown wrote and performed the song "Mose Allison Played Here" on his 1997 album, Slant 6 Mind. Alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Pixies wrote the song "Allison" as a tribute to Mose Allison. Eve 6
Eve 6
Eve 6 is an American rock band from Southern California, who are most well known for their hit singles "Inside Out", "Leech", and the slow anthem "Here's to the Night". They disbanded in 2004, returned in 2007 with a new lineup, and finally reunited with all three original members in March 2011...
did a cover of "Allison" for Where Is My Mind? A Tribute to the Pixies.
Allison was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame
Long Island Music Hall of Fame
The Long Island Music Hall of Fame is an organization whose office is located in Port Jefferson, New York. It was incorporated in July 2005 under the New York State Board of Regents as a non profit organization and holds a provisional charter to operate as a museum in the state of New York...
in 2006.
Allison has stated over the past few years that he would not be recording any new albums, but as of March 1, 2010, his website declared that his "new album, 'The Way of the World,' arrives March 23, 2010, marking his return to the recording studio after a 12-year absence."
Discography
- 1957 : Back Country Suite (Prestige 7091)
- 1957 : Local Color (Prestige 7121)
- 1958 : Young Man Mose (Prestige 7137)
- 1958 : Creek Bank (Prestige 7152)
- 1958 : Ramblin' with Mose (Prestige 7215)
- 1959 : Autumn Song (Prestige 7189)
- 1959 : A Modern Jazz Premiere (Columbia)
- 1959 : Transfiguration of Hiram Brown (Columbia/Legacy)
- 1960 : I Love the Life I Live (Columbia/Legacy)
- 1961 : V-8 Ford Blues (Epic/Legacy)
- 1961 : Take to the Hills (Epic)
- 1962 : That's Jazz (Atlantic)
- 1962 : I Don't Worry About a Thing (AtlanticAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
), (Rhino) - 1962 : Swingin' Machine (Atlantic)
- 1963 : Mose Allison Sings (Prestige 7279)
- 1964 : The Songs of Mose Allison (Atlantic)
- 1964 : The Word from Mose Allison (Atlantic)
- 1965 : Wild Man on the Loose (Atlantic)
- 1965 : Mose Alive! (Atlantic)
- 1965 : Down Home Piano (Prestige 7423)
- 1965 : Mose Allison Plays for Lovers (Prestige 7446)
- 1968 : I've Been Doin' Some Thinkin (Atlantic)
- 1969 : Hello There, Universe (Atlantic)
- 1971 : Western Man (Atlantic)
- 1972 : Mose in Your Ear [live] (Atlantic)
- 1972(?) : Retrospective (Columbia)
- 1975 : Creek Bank (1958 recordings from 2 different sessions) (Prestige RecordsPrestige RecordsPrestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
) - 1976 : Your Mind is on Vacation (Koch)
- 1978 : Pure Mose [live] (32 Jazz)
- 1979 : Ol' Devil Mose [compilation] (Prestige 24089)
- 1982 : Middle Class White Boy (Discovery)
- 1982 : Lessons in Living [live] (Elektra)
- 1987 : Ever Since the World Ended (Blue Note)
- 1988 : The Best of Mose AllisonThe Best of Mose AllisonThe Best of Mose Allison is a 1988 compilation album by the pianist/songwriter Mose Allison. In reality, a 'Best of Mose Allison on Atlantic Records', it draws from five of the artist's albums in the Atlantic library, covering most of Allison's better-known recordings from 1962-1972.-Track...
(AtlanticAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
) - 1989 : My Backyard (Blue Note)
- 1993 : The Earth Wants You [live] (Blue Note)
- 1994 : Allison Wonderland AnthologyAllison Wonderland AnthologyAllison Wonderland Anthology is a two disc compilation album by the jazz pianist and songwriter Mose Allison, released in 1994. Rhino sequenced the selected songs , and include all of his best-known songs chronologically. It's considered an excellent introduction to Mose Allison compositions.-Disc...
(Rhino Records) - 1996 : Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose AllisonTell Me Something: The Songs of Mose AllisonTell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison is the twenty-fifth album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, Georgie Fame, Mose Allison and Ben Sidran, released in 1996. It charted at #1 on the Top Jazz Albums chart.-Recording history:...
(Verve RecordsVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
) - 1997 : Gimcracks and Gewgaws (Blue Note)
- 2001 : The Mose Chronicles: Live in London, vol. 1 (Blue Note)
- 2002 : The Mose chronicles: live in London, vol. 2 (Blue Note)
- 2010 : The Way of the World (ANTI-ANTI-ANTI- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label of Epitaph Records.While Epitaph's focus has shifted over the last decade from mostly punk rock, nowadays ANTI- has a more diverse roster, ranging from country , hip hop , reggae , Soul , folk , rap-rock , indie rock...
)