| Genres: |
Country & Bluegrass
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Pop / Rock
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| Descriptive "tags": |
country • blues • soul • americana • 20th century • rhythm and blues • country-western • colorized country • singer-songwriter • rock and roll • southern soul • 5 stars • chess • chess records • black country musicians
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| Decades Active: |
1970s
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1980s
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1990s
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2000s
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| Links online: |
Wikipedia
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Biography
9 January 1940, Lenapah, Oklahoma, USA, d. 4 July 2005, Leicester, Massachusetts, USA. Downing was exposed to both R&B and country music as a boy, and taught himself piano on an instrument that he found on a rubbish dump. In 1958 he took the then unusual step of joining a white group, the Rhythm Rockers, led by Bobby Brant. Changing their name to the Poe-Kats, they recorded the regionally successful ‘Down On The Farm’ for Lelan Rogers’ White Rock label in Dallas: leased to the larger Challenge label, it narrowly missed the national charts but has become an acknowledged rock ‘n’ roll classic (as well as one of the shortest rock ‘n’ roll records, at one minute 31 seconds). Later sessions up to 1964 featured Downing’s thumping piano and his deep voice, with its Fats Domino overtones, on such excellent rockers as ‘Yes, I’m Loving You’ and ‘Georgia Slop’. During this period he recorded duets with...
Read the Full Biography of Big Al Downing
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