Detroits Chicago Pete dies
Twist Turner
so here goes.
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Mail message from
<robinba...@hotmail.com>
BTW, I'm not sure if anyone in Chicago has yet heard... my dear friend
and mentor, Detroit's Chicago Pete, AKA Soul City Pete (Alford Harrell),
passed away this morning around 5:00 am. His family called me at 9:00
this morning. He was apparently sick with pnemonia... Today I mourn for
him.
Here's a bit of his bio if you want to post it to Blues-L,assuming
you're still on...
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Born in 1931 in rural Tennesee, Alford Harrell (better known as Chicago
Pete) has the history of the archetypal
bluesman right up to the point of actually having learned to sing on the
cotton field and in the church.
Raised up in a religious home, gospel and spirituals were Pete's roots.
Deep roots indeed, as Pete has been singing
from his soul for as long as he can remember.
His mother was a "sweet singer" who taught the kids all kinds of music.
"There were no labels back then - just
music," says Pete. And young Alford was brought up with his mother's
encouragement to reap the full potential of his talents.
Knowing well himself what his talent was, Pete's early years were spent
singing in groups like his uncle's Heavenly Harmonizers.
After serving in the Korean War, Pete found himself in Detroit. From '54
until he moved to Chicago in'59 he
performed in gospel vocal groups The Songs of Zion and The Golden
Harmoneers. That same year he took up
guitar briefly before settling on the bass, under the tutelage of a
musician named Robert Bester.
"The Fender bass was real popular," says Pete. It was a fine time to
start into the blues, as Chicago through the
fifties and sixties was rife with clubs and musicians, and as time wore
on, Pete got in there like a dirty shirt.
By the late sixties, Pete had played with many of the hallmark names of
Chicago blues of that era - Earl Hooker,
Willie Mabon, Junior Wells, and many others - but he got especially
close to Jimmy Dawkins, working much of the
time with him. They played alot at a little after hours club called the
Squeeze.
Appropriately named for its size, The Squeeze was a popular spot among
musicaians, and surely many graced the
small stage. Other memorable gigs were at the Peacock, where Pete was a
member of the house band; and a place
called the Bossa Nova Club. The proprietor there told Pete "As long as
you can keep up with that juke-box, the
stage is yours", and so Pete with his own group, the Live Wires, covered
all the popular styles, and subsequently
held down a second house gig.
Pete left the band and the Bossa Nova behind when he hooked up with
Junior Parker, the man who was perhaps
Pete's single biggest influence. He worked with Junior on the road all
over the country for three or four years until
just before Parker's death in '71.
Pete moved back up to Detroit in the early seventies and soon fell in
love with the scene there which included
people like Little Mack Collins, Alberta Adams, Little Sonny, and Mr.
Bo. On a friend's advice that since he spent
all those years in Chicago, he should start calling himself CHICAGO
PETE, and his new band "The Detroiters,"
Pete picked up a new handle and a hot new band.
The Detroiters were an eight-piece band (or more) outfit with a
four-piece horn section, and the big band for nearly
the next twenty years was what you could expect to see when you heard
the name Chicago Pete. He always had
heavy players in the section, and the detroiters could swing hard.
The band covered a number of styles: primarily uptown blues a la Little
Milton, and including interpretations of
R&B and Motown standards. True to his roots, Pete clearly wasn't limited
to musical boundaries. He'd throw in all
these different ingredients and just COOK. Combining egual parts
intensity, charm and showmanship, the unifying
flavour was Pete's powerful gospel drenched voice.
When Pete eventually relinquished the bass chair to move up front, he'd
get way up front - out into the audience
and preach to the crowd. His shows could be likened to revival meetings,
with rooms of people standing there,
shaking and waving their hands in the air, with Pete all up in the
middle testifying and shouting "Blues Power!"
"Do you feel alright?"
Needles to say, Chicago Pete and the Detroiters were a popular regional
act: their longevity alone is testament to
that. They worked in their own backyard, forgoing national recognition,
and released only two recordings: THE
GIFT recorded in Lansing Michigan, MI in '84 on the Stormy Monday Label;
and a 45, I'm Begging You from near
the same time on Pete's wife Valerie Records.
All the bet to you Twist... love and respect...
RB$
Twist Turner
http://members.tripod.com/~Twist_Turner/index.html
Dave Ruthenberg
and most gentle of persons. He was a true professional in every sense and a
wonderful family man. It's a shame that more people did not get to know this
fine vocalist/musician.
He granted me one of my first interviews when I was free-lancing. He made me
and my photographer completely at home in his house and told endless stories
of his blues career. He shared with me one of the most tragic stories I ever
heard: the death of his son in a silly traffic altercation in Detroit. I
will never forget the anguish in his voice and the hurt on his face as he
told this story....and now, I am sure, he is reunited with the son he loved
so much.
God bless you Chicago Pete...the world is a little worse off today without
your presence.
Dave Ruthenberg
Brian Slack
It was with great sadness that I learned that Chicago Pete had passed
Wednesday from pneumonia. I have had the pleasure of knowing and working
with Chicago Pete over the past five years and would have to say that he was
truly the gentleman of the blues. He always went out of his way to make sure
everybody was happy, signed every autograph and gave of his time without
hesitation. One of my fondest memories was having a limousine bring Chicago
Pete to the outdoor stage in Victoriaville this past summer, splitting the
crowd, a royal treatment that he rightly deserved. I owe a great deal to
Chris Murphy for having introduced me to Chicago Pete, it was a blues
friendship that I will never forget.
Blues power to you, Pete.