Alex "Easy Baby" Randle R.I.P.
Scott
recordings:
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Alex "Easy Baby" Randle, 1934-2009
Alex Randle, known to the world as Easy Baby, passed away Friday,
September 25, 2009 after suffering from pneumonia. He was 75 years old.
Services will be held at the New Paradise Baptist Church, 6645 S. Evans,
in Chicago, on Saturday, October 3rd. Visitation is from 10:00 to 11:00
a.m., and services are from 11:00 to noon.
Alex "Easy Baby" Randle was born in 1934 in Memphis, Tennessee. For the
first seven years of his life, he lived in Michigan City, Mississippi,
with his grandmother and uncle, before moving back to Memphis to start
school. Both his grandmother and uncle were harmonica players, so it was
natural for Easy Baby to pick up the harmonica himself. In the early
1950's, when Easy Baby was still a teenager, he began playing
professionally around Memphis while working a variety of odd jobs,
including installing floors and shining shoes. Playing in the juke joints
and gambling houses in Memphis, he befriended Howlin' Wolf, James Cotton,
and Joe Hill Louis, among others. In 1956, Easy Baby moved to Chicago to
make a change. Throughout the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's Easy Baby sang
and played all over Chicago, while working as a mechanic. In later years,
he performed sporadically. His most notable appearances were at the
Chicago Blues Festival in 1998, 2000, and 2003.
A discography of his recordings is here:
http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/easybaby.htm, but it omits his contribution
to "Low Blows : An Anthology Of Chicago Harmonica Blues" on Rooster.
For more information on Easy Baby's life, check out Living Blues #144,
which contains a lively interview.
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Some nice photos here:
http://www.sweethomechicago.net/Home
He was a nice guy, and a good bluesman. I'm generally not a big fan of
St. George / Barrelhouse productions, but the LP Easy Baby did for
Barrelhouse in the late '70s is a killer, an often overlooked gem.
Scott
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