WHO'S THE GREATEST SAXOPHONE PLAYER # 1 JUNIOR WALKER

In this Series of Posts, I will Writing about the Artist's who are in My "Who's the Greatest Saxophone Player" Poll. 

The Poll is over to the Right of this Blog, its been Running for a Couple of Week's, so if You Haven't already Voted, Please do so!

The Saxophonist's in the List are the One's Who have had Albums and Single's Released in Either The Soul, Funk, Dance or Commercial Jazz Sections of Music, I have not Included any Pure Jazz Musicians!

The Saxophone the Artists Play can be Anyone of the Following Tenor, Alto or Soprano or all of them of Course!

In these Post's, I will write a few Facts, Figures, Stats and Interesting Stuff on the Artist in Question, I will also include a Playlist of their Greatest Songs.

I will Write a Post on Each Artist, One Every Other Week!

ARTIST NUMBER 1..............JUNIOR WALKER 

Born Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr on 14th June 1931 in Blythville, Arkansas USA, but Grew Up in South Bend, Indiana, He is Better Known as Junior Walker! 

He Started His Own Band in 1945 when he was 14 Years Old, they were Named the "Jumping Jacks"

Around  the Same Time Period, Junior Walker's Long Time Friend "Billy Nichols" (A Drummer) Started his Own Band, and they were Named the "Rhythm Rockers"

From Time to Time both Friends would Help the other one out in their Respected Bands.

During the Mid 50's, "Billy Nichols" had Secured Permanent Work for his Band at the Local TV Station in South Bend and asked "Junior Walker" to Join him and his Keyboard Player "Fred Patten" which he (Junior Walker) did!

Eventually Billy Nichols was Draughted into the US Army, so Junior Walker took over as Leader of the Band, he then Convinced the Band Members to Move to Battle Creek, Michigan.

By the Late 50's there had been Several Changes to the Band Members and  they also Decided to have a Name change, so the Rhythm Rockers became "The All Stars"

During a Performance in the Early 60's the Band were Spotted by Johnny Bristol, who in Turn Recommended them to Record Label Boss "Harvey Fuqua" he eventually Signed them up in 1961 to his "Harvey Record Label"

By this time, Junior Walker had become the Focal Point of the Band, so another Change of Band Name came into Play, they were now Called "Junior Walker & The All Stars"

The Band did Release a Couple of Singles during the Early 60's on the "Harvey Label"!

But Sometime Around 1963/64 "Harvey Fuqua" Sold his Record Label to Berry Gordy , who was the Head of Tamla Motown Records, so Junior Walker & All Stars now had a New Label, but they didn't Record for the Tamla Record Label, they were Assigned to a Motown Subsidiary named "Soul Records"

During this Early Period on the New Record Label, the Line-Up was to Change Again, and then by 1965 "Junior Walker & The All Stars" Released their Debut Album on "Soul Records" it was Called "Shotgun" and the Single of the same Name was to  Turn out to be "Junior Walkers" Signature Tune!

More Great Tracks on the Album were to Follow as Singles, Including Shake & Fingerpop, Do The Boomerang, Cleo's Back and of course I'm A Roadrunner!

Shotgun was to Reach the Top of the US R&B Chart and Peaked at Number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

During the Rest of the 60's, Junior Walker & The All Stars were to Release a Further 6 Albums:

1966 : Soul Session and Road Runner
1967 : A Live Album
1969 : Home Cookin', What Does It Take To Win Your Love and These Eyes.

During his Entire Career, Between 1965 and 1983, Junior Walker would Release a Total of 22 Albums and a Total Of 24 Singles.

He had a Great Record for Single Chart Placements, Not Many can Better this, All his 24 Singles got into the US R&B Charts and Only 3 Singles Did Not Get into the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, he also had 6 Singles Placed in the UK Pop Charts!

In 1979 Junior Walker Disbanded the Band and Decided to go Solo, and Joined Norman Whitfield's Record Label for a Couple of Year's, Without too much Success, so by 1982 he had Reformed the Band, but Chart Success was Never again to Happen to Junior Walker & The All Stars.

In the Mid 90's, Junior Walker would  have to Battle Cancer and Eventually on 23rd November 1995, he would Die from this Disease, he was Aged 64 Year's Old. 

Please Read some of my Previous Posts on Junior Walker, as I have Mentioned Many Times Before in this Blog, Junior Walker was by Far my Favorite Saxophonist, I still Listen to his Music, Every Week, I also had the Pleasure of Seeing Him Live in Concert about 35 Years Ago, What a Great Night that was and Quite Possibly one of the Best Live Shows I have Ever Seen!

HAVE ANOTHER LISTEN TO SOME OF THE GREAT TRACKS RECORDED BY JUNIOR WALKER & THE ALL STARS: 

                                   

                  

COOK-IN-CHARGE and JUNIOR WALKER

The Time was now December 1988, I had been in my New Job for about 2 Weeks, I was Called "Cook-In-Charge" I had a Small Kitchen to Look after and a Stores Room, and I had to Feed about 25 Clients and about 5 Staff Per Day!

As I said Previously the Clients at the Day Centre had Dementia, so this was Very Different for me, as I the Clients Walking in and Out of the Kitchen, so I had to Learn about "How To Deal with them" which was Quite Difficult!

Some of them you could have a Long Conversation with, but Others were the Complete Opposite and Could be Very Bolshy and at times a Bit Violent! 

As I said before, I was the First Male to Work Inside the Day Centre as well as the First Chef, so the Food they were Used to having, I Never Cooked, so I was Told by "The Boss" what they were Used to and What they Liked, it was was Very Plain Food, as you would Expect, so I Started Cooking a Load of Basic Stuff!

After the First Week, I Remember, I went to see "My Boss" and Asked her about the Food Situation, I asker her whether I could Start Cooking a bit more Adventurous Food for Everyone, to my Surprise, She Agreed!

So the Following Week, I Starting Cooking Different Types of Food, For Example, Sweet and Sour Chicken or Pork with Pasta, All Types of Meat in a Curry Sauce with Rice, Lasagne, Fish Pie, Chicken Chasseur Etc Etc.

I also Started Cooking Better Vegetables and Potatoes, I mean all they were Used to Before was Just Different Vegetables all Boiled Up to a Near Pulp, I Started Using Different Cooking Methods and Sauces with the Vegetables, and a Lot of Different Potatoes, Cooked in Different Styles, Not just Boiled or Roast!

I also had to Provide a Sweet/Pudding Every Day, this I did, Using all New Things (for the Day Centre) including Various Steamed Suet Puddings, Trifle's, Bread and Butter Pudding, Meringues Etc. 

Another Thing I had to Cook, Every Day, before I Clocked off Work, was a Piece Cake or Something Similar, for Everybody, the Types of thing I used to Cook were, Vanilla Slices, Scones, Fancy Cakes, Shortbread, Egg Custards, Etc Etc!

Something else I Cook, soon after Starting the New Job, was a Christmas Cake and Some Christmas Puddings, I Knew it was a bit Late, Normally but it was Better Late than Not Having Any at all!

All in All I was Enjoying my New Job and Looking Forward to Christmas, which was only a Couple of Weeks Away!

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Now for Some Music, Next Week I am starting a New Voting Poll, this Time its Going to Concern "Who's The Best Saxophone Player"
I have Picked 10 of The Best and will Feature Each One of them Every Other Week in My Posts! 

There will also be a Voting Section as there was for "The Best Soul Singer" and "The Best Funk Bass Player" 

I Artist I will Start the Posts with is "My Favorite All -Time Sax Player" The Man by the Name of "Autry DeWalt (Mixon) Jr" in Other Words The Great Junior Walker! 

He is a Long Time Favorite of Mine, Dating Back to the Very Early 70's, in Fact, Me and the Wife had the Privilege Back in the Early 80's to see him Live in Concert.

What a Fantastic Show he put on, in Fact it was One of the Best Live Shows I have Seen, Check My Previous Posts, (for the Artists I have Seen in Concert), in Fact the Reason for this Post is a Video I Found a Few Months Ago on YouTube!

This Video Reminded me a lot of the Time I saw "Junior Walker" and that's what gave me the Idea of the Up and Coming "Who's The Best Sax Player" Posts!

Just Watch the Video, it is Brilliant, you will Not See this Sort of Performance Anywhere Today, How Junior Walker Could Play the Sax Like that and Sing is Fantastic, also see his Great Backing Band The All-Stars!

The Actually Recording is from 1967 and was at The Ram Jam Club in Brixton London, it Lasts for about 7 Minutes!



              

6 DUCKS and JOHNNY BRISTOL

Working on the Rigs was a bit of an Eye Opener (for somebody who had been used to their Home Comforts and Dry Land) I remember one Incident that Happened during either My First or Second Trip!


I used to Cook all the Meals for about 25 Blokes at any one time, so I had to (obviously) get most Foodstuffs ready in advance.


So I got a Maintenance Man to put a Big Padlock on the Food Chiller/Fridge Door, as I had been told by the Previous Chef,  that the Contractors I was looking after, were a Bunch of Animals! 

So one day, I thought  I would Cook about 6 Ducks for the next day and cook them Duck "A La Orange" for Dinner, after these were Cooked and Cooled off, they were put in the Chiller overnight (with the door Locked of course)!


The Kitchen area was left Unlocked at Night Times, for the Workers to get a Snack or Drink, I also used to leave a Tray of items in the Fridge, which were always Eaten by the next day!

Next Morning I went to Work, I could not believe what I saw, I put the Kitchen Lights on and there in front of me was the Big Chiller in the corner with both Doors hanging off!


Someone had been in the Kitchen during the Night before and took my Big Meat Cleaver out of the drawer and smashed off the Lock and both of the Fridge Doors, to get to the Food inside!

The 6 Cooked Ducks were all Half Eaten and all the Bones etc were thrown back into the Fridge, the previous Chef was right, these contractors were a bunch of Animals!


Of course Nobody ever owned up to Breaking into the Fridge or Eating the Ducks, but what did Happen was I Never Locked the Fridge at Night Times Anymore, nor did I ever leave them any more Treats (when I was off Duty) and I never  Cooked anything in Advance again, everything was Cooked and Served on the Day, and all Meals were Quick and Simple to Prepare (nothing to elaborate)!


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As for some  Music, in 1974 one of my Favorite All-Time Soul Tracks was released "Hang On In There Baby" by Songwriter, Producer and Singer "Johnny Bristol"


That was a Great Track, I remember this being played on the radio, the Year before I left School, it was taken from the Album of the same name, it turned out to be Johnny Bristol's Best Chart Placing Single and Album Ever!


The Single Charted in the US Pop Chart at Number 8, in the US R&B Chart at Number 2 and in the UK Pop Chart, it got to Number 3, the Albums Highest Placing was Number 7 in the US R&B Chart.


Johnny Bristol Re-recorded the Song in 1990 for Ian Levine's Record Label, have a look on the Page for a In- Depth Bio. incidentally, where the Video was Filmed, was in my Home Town! 

Johnny Bristol had a Great Voice, I'm Surprised He never Recorded more Albums than he did, only 6.


In the Mid Sixties he Worked for Motown as an In-House Writer and Producer, he Worked with some of the Top Acts at Motown, including Marvin Gaye, Junior Walker, Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson. 


Around 1973 he left Motown to work as a Producer for CBS, where He Worked with amongst others: Randy Crawford, Marlena Shaw, Tavares and even Tom Jones!  


Get The Album Here

BANDS & SINGERS I'VE SEEN IN CONCERT! part 1

Over the years I have seen several different Bands and Singers in Concert, one of the first Acts I saw was Junior Walker & the All Star's I think it was the late 70's or the early 80's, I have done several searches on the Web, but cant find anything relating to the Tour!

I went with my Wife and Brother in law to Tiffany's Night Club In Great Yarmouth UK, as I remember it was a Great Concert and Junior Walker sounded as Good Live as he does on Record!

His Great Saxophone playing was something great to hear Live!

Some other older acts I seen are The Temptations, this was the early to mid 80's, this was around the "Treat her like a Lady" period, they were very Good as well, in fact all the Artist's I've seen Live have been Great, apart from probably one or two, more of that later!

I also saw The Supremes featuring Mary Wilson, that was in the 80's, around that same period I saw, the Drifters featuring Johnny Moore, they as I remember, put on a very long Show!

I've seen more of the newer Acts as well, I say "Newer" I mean 70's and 80's, more of that next time!

MOTOWN BEGINS!

Around 1972/73, me and my Best friend at that time started working for a local Fast Food Outlet in the Summertime in our Town, This was my first Full Time job so being young, all my money I earned, I spent! And what I spent it on was Music Cassettes, as I had just got a Portable Cassette Recorder, (what at that time was a hip item!) I needed Tapes to play on it.

By this time I was tired of the Pop Music I had been listening to, so as I said before I had heard a bit of Motown around a friends house and other places, so I started buying Motown Tapes and I brought plenty, I can recall firstly buying Diana ross and the Supremes, Junior Walker and the All Stars, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and so on! I still have a couple of Diana Ross Tapes in my loft!

During that Summer of work, every opportunity I had I went to our Town Centre and purchased Music Tapes, by the end of the Summer Season, I think I had about 50 different Tapes, aswell as Motown, I brought tapes by other Artists including The Three Degrees, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Stylistics etc.

At that time (early to mid 70's) there was'nt that much stuff available in our small Town, I suppose if I was older there might have been! ie going further afield to find it or Mail Order, (I always remember in the summer of 1974, during the Summer months, "Rock your baby" by George Mcrae, was number 1 in the Pop Charts for weeks!) so around that period until the time I left School (1975) Motown was the only type of Music I brought!