WYNONIE HARRIS
Wynonie Harris was born in Omaha
in 1920, and very little is known
about his early life. He actually
started his musical career as a dancer and
later joined the Lucky Millinder
band in the mid forties. His first
release was in 1944, "Who
Threw The Whiskey in the Well" on the Decca
Record Label, featuring a
young Preston Love on
sax. It quickly
climbed to #4 on the national
charts. During this time, Harris
performed with such greats
as Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, Charlie
Barnnet, and Cab Calloway.
In 1947, after years of recording
for Decca, Harris switched to Kin
Records and his career took
off like a rocket. "Good Rockin' Tonight" hit
the top of the charts and
was later recorded by Elvis Presley, which, by
the way, was Elvis' calling
card to fame. Harris' recording career holds
64 separate releases and ran
from 1944 to 1957. Most of his recordings
were stories of living it
up and turned into big hits for him: "Drinkin Wine
Spo-Dee-O-Dee," (also recorded
by Jerry Lee Lewis), "All She Wants To
Do Is Rock", "Bloodshot Eyes",
and "Good Morning Judge" just to name a few.
Wynonie eventually made his home
in Oakland, California where he tended
bar. When he found out he
was dying, he called all his friends together
for one last party. He died
in the summer of 1969
.