Guitar Shorty
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Guitar Shorty | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | David William Kearney |
| Born | September 8, 1939 |
| Origin | Houston, Texas |
| Genre(s) | Blues |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1950s — present |
| Label(s) | Black Top Alligator Records |
| Website | http://www.guitarshorty.com |
Guitar Shorty (born David William Kearney, September 8, 1939, Houston, Texas) is an American blues guitarist. Due to both his musical talents and performing stage antics such as somersaults and back flips, he has been considered "among the leading live acts on the blues scene."[1][2]
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[edit] History
Shorty was born in Houston but grew up mainly in Kissimmee, Florida where be began playing the guitar at an early age and began heading a band not long after. During his time in Tampa Bay, Florida, he received his nickname, Guitar Shorty, when it mysteriously showed up on the marquee of the club he was playing as 'The Walter Johnson Band featuring Guitar Shorty.'[3] He steadily began to garner accloades from his peers and, at the age of 16, he joined the Ray Charles Band for a year.[3] He then recorded his first single in 1957, "You Don't Treat Me Right", under the direction of Willie Dixon when Dixon saw him playing with the Walter Johnson orchestra.[1] Eventually, he would join Guitar Slim's band and move to New Orleans, Louisiana.
While in New Orleans, Shorty also fronted his own band which played regularly at the Dew Drop Inn where he was joined by special guests such as T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner and Little Richard.[3] Not one to stay in one place long, Shorty next moved to the West Coast at 19 in order to play with Sam Cooke. He played up and down the west coast and Canada until he met his future wife, Marcia, in Seattle, Washington, D.C. His new wife turned out to be the half-sister of Jimi Hendrix, who attended several of Shorty's gigs and possibly being influenced by Shorty.[1][3][2]
The following years were both good and bad; to get by at one point even, Shorty made an appearance on Chuck Barris' Gong Show, winning first prize for performing the song "They Call Me Guitar Shorty" while balanced on his head.[2] Shorty and his wife eventually settled in Los Angeles, California.
In 1989, he released his first album On the Rampage on Olive Branch Records. He went on his tour to the UK in 1991, and there he recorded My Way or the Highway with Otis Grand which came out on JSP Records that year. This won him a W.C. Handy Award and garnering him interest from labels in the United States[1]. Shorty soon got a record deal with New Orleans based Black Top Records.
Topsy Turvy, his first on Black Top, came out in 1993. The album featured some fresh new songs as well as remakes of 3 classic numbers from his Pull days back in 1959. He released two more albums from the label in the 1990s. When Black Top folded in 1999, Shorty moved to Evidence Music, and released I Go Wild! in 2001.
In 2002, he featured on the Bo Diddley tribute album Hey Bo Diddley - A Tribute!, performing the song "Don't Let It Go (Hold On To What You Got)".
His 2004 album Watch Your Back and his 2006 album We the People have seen his best work yet with both charting on the Billboard Top Blues Albums at numbers eleven and twelve, respectively.
Another musician, John Henry Fortescue (1923–1976) was also called as Guitar Shorty.
[edit] Discography
- 1989 On the Rampage - Olive Branch
- 1991 My Way or the Highway - JSP
- 1993 Topsy Turvy - Black Top
- 1995 Get Wise to Yourself - Black Top
- 1996 Billie Jean Blues - Collectables
- 1998 Roll Over, Baby - Black Top
- 2001 I Go Wild! - Evidence
- 2004 Watch Your Back - Alligator Records
- 2006 We the People - Alligator Records
- 2006 The Best of Guitar Shorty: The Long and Short of It - Shout! Factory
