Amos Milburn (Born 01/04/1927, Died 03/01/1980)

After serving in the Navy and seeing overseas battle action in World War II, Milburn formed his own blues and R&B band in Houston - after playing locally and in the surrounding areas he finally secured a deal with Aladdin in 1946. His first date included the great 'Down the Road Apiece' and between 1946 and 1954 had a fantastic run of 19 consecutive top ten hits on the R&B charts. Included among them were four number ones ('Chicken Shack Boogie', 'A&M Blues', 'Bad, Bad Whiskey' and 'Roomin' House Boogie'). But Milburn was capable of crooning a fine mellow blues ballad as well, recording in a Charles Brown-influenced style (the two would later become close friends, playing together frequently) - 'Bewildered' was a great example of the cool after-hours side of Milburn. Most of his great recordings from this period could originally be found on "The Best Of Amos Milburn - Down The Road Apiece" on EMI. UK R&B fans may have to go to the States (try CDNow.com) to get a copy but its well worth it. But see below for new 2CD anthology!

He left Aladdin in 1956, never achieving anything like the same success again. Indeed, given the high number of drinking references in Milburn's repertoire, it was ironic that after leaving Aladdin alcoholism later brought the pianist down hard and led to his later generally poor health. Berry Gordy gave Milburn a comeback forum in 1962, issuing an album on Motown which although predominated by remakes of his old hits doesn't deserve the neglect it receives today. Nothing could jump-start the pianist's fading career by then though and throughout the 60s he resorted to playing local clubs in the Cincinatti and Cleveland area. His health deteriorated further and in 1970 he suffered the first of a series of strokes. By 1972 he had retired from the business and returned to his home town of Houston where he died eight years later - after his alcoholism had first induced epilepsy and a leg had to be amputated in April 1979.
A sad end to a life that produced so much joyous and good time music

Milburn was one of the great R&B pioneers and a tremendous influence on many who followed, including Fats Domino and Ivory Joe Hunter. He was a fine singer and even better pianist - he could bang out a mean boogie or tinkle the ivories in a light and jazzy style as the situation demanded. Largely forgotten outside the committed world of R&B afficionados, he helped set the stage for the joyous, soulful music of the later R&B and rock and roll eras - the Aladdin material found on "Down The Road Apiece" is well worth hearing. In the UK you should be able to get hold of a special edition "Down The Road" CD (through the Audio Book and Music Company), not necessarily in the mainstream shops but certainly though your friendly internet distributors. However, you can now get the 2CD retrospective "The Chicken Shack Boogie Man" on Proper Records; nicely annotated, it's a fine choice, as is the even better "Thinking & Drinking" compilation on Blue Orchid. Lovingly re-mastered, it covers a wider period in Milburn's recording career and is a truly excellent anthology - get it while you can!