Larry Garner
Larry Garner | |
|---|---|
 Garner in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Larry Garner July 8, 1952 New Orleans, Louisiana, United States |
| Genres | Louisiana blues, swamp blues |
| Occupations | Musician, singer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | Early 1980s–present |
| Labels | Several including JSP and Ruf |
Larry Garner (born July 8, 1952 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States)[1] is a Louisiana blues musician best known for his 1994 album Too Blues.[2]
Biography
[edit]Garner grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His first inspiration was the guitar-playing preacher Reverend Utah Smith. Garner made acquaintance with local musicians such as Lonesome Sundown, Silas Hogan, Guitar Kelley and Tabby Thomas.[3] His musical influences include Hogan, Clarence Edwards, Jimi Hendrix, and Henry Gray.[1][4] He was taught to play guitar by his uncle and two other elders. Garner completed military service in Korea and returned to Baton Rouge, working part-time in music and full-time at a Dow Chemical plant.[1]
Garner won the International Blues Challenge in 1988.[4] His first two albums, Double Dues and Too Blues, were released by the British JSP label. The latter album's title was in reply to a label executive who judged Garner's original demo to be "too blues".[1] Thomas's nightclub, Tabby's Blues Box, provided Garner with a playing base in the 1980s and gave him the subject matter for the song "No Free Rides" on Double Dues.[3]
He recorded the albums You Need to Live a Little (1994), Baton Rouge (1995), Standing Room Only (1998), and Once Upon the Blues (2000).[1] The song "Go to Baton Rouge", from the album Baton Rouge, offered a tourist's guide to Louisiana music spots.[3]
In 2008, Garner was treated for a serious illness that was the inspiration for his 2008 album, Here Today Gone Tomorrow.[4][5]
Discography
[edit]All thirteen of Garner's CDs have been released by labels in Britian, France, or Germany:[4]
- Double Dues (1993), JSP
- Too Blues (1994), JSP
- You Need to Live a Little (1994), Gitanes Jazz/Verve
- Baton Rouge (1995 [1999]), Gitanes Jazz/Verve; Evidence
- Standing Room Only (1998), Ruf
- Once Upon the Blues (2000), Ruf
- Embarrassment to the Blues (Live in Europe) (2002), Ruf
- Here Today Gone Tomorrow (2008), Dixiefrog
- Larry Garner with Norman Beaker & Friends: Live at the Tivoli (recorded at the Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne Minster, 8 October 2009) (2010), NLB CD001
- Blues for Sale (2012), Dixiefrog[6]
- Larry Garner & the Norman Beaker Band: Good Night in Vienna (2013), 405047
- Up Close and Personal with Michael Van Merwyk (2014), Dixiefrog
- Guilty Saints with Neal Black (2016), Dixiefrog
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Dahl, Bill. "Larry Garner: Artist Biography". AllMusic.com. Retrieved December 15, 2009.
- ↑ Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray (1st ed.). Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 4. ISBN 1-85868-255-X., quote: " One music journalist noted "If you define 'blues' by the rigid categories of structure rather than the flexible language of feeling allusion, Robert Cray... Larry Garner, Joe Louis Walker and James Armstrong are a new and uncategorizable breed, their music blues-like rather than blues, each of them blending ideas and devices from a variety of sources – soul, rock, jazz, gospel – with a sophistication beyond the reach of their forerunners".
- 1 2 3 Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 113. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- 1 2 3 4 Wirt, John (2008-08-15). "BR's Larry Garner Grateful to Be Here Today". The Advocate. p. 18FUN.
- ↑ "Larry Garner, Here Today Gone Tomorrow". Bluesweb.com. Retrieved December 15, 2009.
- ↑ "Larry Garner: Album Discography". AllMusic.com. 1952-07-08. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1952 births
- Living people
- Blues musicians from Louisiana
- American blues guitarists
- American male guitarists
- American blues singers
- Songwriters from Louisiana
- Blues musicians from New Orleans
- Louisiana blues musicians
- Swamp blues musicians
- Musicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Dow Chemical Company employees
- Singers from Louisiana
- Guitarists from Louisiana
- 20th-century American guitarists
- 20th-century American male musicians
- JSP Records artists
- Ruf Records artists
- PolyGram artists
- American male songwriters