Wynonie Harris
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Biography
Rowdy jump blues singer Wynonie Harris was the kind of double entendre-loving performer whose records shopkeepers might keep hidden behind the counter. His songs about sex, booze, and gambling landed him numerous chart hits during his life, and made great fodder for every â20 Dirtiest Blues Songsâ compilation in the decades after his death.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1915, Harris developed his musical acumen at home before making the move to Los Angeles, where his ability and charisma made him an easy fit as a nightclub emcee. After working with various ensembles around the area, he signed to Apollo Records in 1945 and delivered the hits âWynonieâs Bluesâ and âPlayful Babyâ. More singles and record labels followed, including a duet with genre-defining blues shouter Big Joe Turner, âBattle of the Bluesâ. From 1944 through 1952, Harris would appear on no fewer than 16 songs that landed on the R&B Top Ten, and two of his collaborations with bandleader Lucky Millinder crossed over to the pop chart. Though Millinder gave Harris his start, the two would split as Harrisâ star rose and Millinder blanched at his $100 nightly fee.
Harris found himself especially at home on King Records, the crucial R&B label, where he landed his biggest hits: âGood Rocking Tonightâ, a version of the Roy Brown song that Elvis would later release as his second single, and âAll She Wants to Do Is Rockâ, about a sex-crazed girlfriend, both of which hit Number 1 on the R&B chart. Songs like âI Like My Babyâs Puddingâ, âLollipop Mamaâ, and âI Want My Fanny Brownâ, which barely attempted to hide their sexual nature, became his stock in trade going forward. Eventually the well dried up by the mid 1950s, and after a scattered series of less-successful recordings for various labels, Harris died of esophageal cancer in 1969. But his ribald tales never fully fell out of favor, re-emerging on various platforms over the years. In 2015, Harris was introduced to a new generation when âGrandma Plays the Numbersâ was included on the retro-minded soundtrack for the hit video game Fallout 4, driving the track to become Harrisâ most popular in the digital age.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- I Like My Baby's Pudding
- I Want My Fanny Brown
- I'll Never Give Up (Theard-Glover)
- In The Evenin' Blues
- Just like Two Drops Of Water (Greene)
- Keep On Churnin' (Til The Butter Come)
- You Got To Play Your Hand by Wynonie Harris
- Lightnin' Struck The Poor House
- Lollipop Mama
- Lovin' Machine
- Luscious Woman
- Just A Dream
- Man , Have I Got Troubles
- Married Woman - Stay Married (Glover-Carson)
- Keep on Churnin'
- Mr. Blues Is Coming To Town
- Mr. Dollar
- My Baby's Barrel House
- My Playful Baby's Gone (Harris-Mann-Glover)
- Nearer My Love to Thee
- Night Train by Lucky Millinder
- Oh Babe
- Papa Tree Top
- Playful Baby
