Amos Milburn

Biography

Joseph Amos Milburn (April 1, 1927 – January 3, 1980) was an American R&B singer and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. One commentator noted, "Milburn excelled at good-natured, upbeat romps about booze and partying, imbued with a vibrant sense of humour and double entendre, as well as vivid, down-home imagery in his lyrics."

Life and career

Milburn was born in Houston, one of 13 children. By the age of five, he was playing tunes on the piano. He enlisted in the United States Navy when he was aged 15. He returned to Houston and organized a 16-piece band playing in clubs in the city. He was managed by William and Geneva Church.
Milburn was a polished pianist and performer and, in 1946, attracted the attention of a woman who arranged a recording session with Aladdin Records in Los Angeles. Milburn's relationship with Aladdin lasted eight years, during which he recorded more than 75 sides. This included his cover version of "Down the Road a Piece" (1946), a blues song with a Texas boogie, that is similar in many respects to rock music. However, none of his recordings were popular until 1949, when seven of his singles got the attention of the R&B audience. "Hold Me Baby" and "Chicken Shack Boogie×Chicken Shack Boogie1998 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 24 tracks1Down the Road Apiece3:002My Baby's Boogying2:303After Midnite2:584Amos' Blues2:285Amos' Boogie2:236Operation Blues2:437Everything I Do Is Wrong2:438Money Hustlin' Woman2:279Blues at Sundown2:3510Sad and Blue3:0711Aladdin Boogie2:2212Real Gone3:0813Bye, Bye Boogie3:0814Train Time Blues3:0915Pot Luck Boogie2:4116Chicken Shack Boogie2:5017Hard Driving Blues2:4518Hold Me, Baby2:5019I Love Her2:4020Pool-Playing Blues2:4321Anybody's Blues2:5222It Took a Long Long Time2:3923Emptry Arms Blues2:5824Wolf on the River2:40" reached numbers eight and nine on Billboard's survey of 1949's R&B best-sellers.
He became one of the main performers associated with the Central Avenue music scene in Los Angeles. He was also a popular touring artist. He won awards from Down Beat magazine (Best Blues and Jazz Star) and Billboard magazine (Top R&B Artist). Among his best-known songs was "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer". In 1950 his recording of Maxwell Davis' "Bad, Bad Whiskey×Bad, Bad Whiskey1950 · ReleaseSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Bad, Bad Whiskey2I ’M Going To Tell My Mama", reached the top of the R&B record chart. It was the first of a series of drinking songs he recorded (none written by Milburn, but several composed by Rudy Toombs). However, there is no evidence that he had an alcohol problem.
Milburn recorded several more drinking songs through 1952 ("Thinking and Drinking", "Trouble in Mind") and was by then touring the country playing clubs. While touring the Midwest that summer, he announced that he would disband his combo and continue as a solo act. In autumn he joined Charles Brown for a concert tour of the South. For the next few years each of his tours was a series of one-nighters. After three years of solo performing, Milburn returned to Houston in 1956 to re-form his band. His releases for Aladdin Records in 1957 did not sell well, and the record company, having its own problems, terminated his contract. He tried to regain commercial success with a few more releases for Ace Records, but his time had passed. Radio airplay was directed at the teenage market.
Milburn contributed two songs to the R&B Yuletide canon: "Let's Make Christmas Merry, Baby", in 1949, for Aladdin Records, and "Christmas (Comes but Once a Year)", in 1960, for King Records. The latter was the B-side of Brown's holiday classic "Please Come Home for Christmas".
Milburn's final recording was for an album by Johnny Otis in 1977, after Milburn had been impaired by a stroke. Otis played the left-hand piano parts for his enfeebled old friend. Milburn had a second stroke, which caused circulatory problems resulting in the amputation of a leg. He died soon after, of a third stroke, at the age of 52. He was interred as Amos Milburn Jr. at Houston National Cemetery on January 7, 1980.
Another artist performing and recording as Amos Milburn Jr. in Texas in the 1960s was a different and unrelated person (James Thomas Russ Jr.).

Legacy

Milburn was an important performer of blues music in the years immediately after World War II.
He was one of the first performers to switch from sophisticated jazz arrangements to the louder jump blues style. He began to emphasize rhythm and technical qualities of voice and instrumentation second.
He was a commercial success for 11 years and influenced many performers. His energetic songs about getting "high" were admired by fellow musicians, such as Little Willie Littlefield, Floyd Dixon and Milburn's prime disciple, Fats Domino. Domino consistently credited Milburn as an influence on his music.

Selected recordings

"After Midnite", 1946
"Amos Blues", 1946
"Down the Road a Piece", 1947
"Chicken Shack Boogie×Chicken Shack Boogie1998 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 24 tracks1Down the Road Apiece3:002My Baby's Boogying2:303After Midnite2:584Amos' Blues2:285Amos' Boogie2:236Operation Blues2:437Everything I Do Is Wrong2:438Money Hustlin' Woman2:279Blues at Sundown2:3510Sad and Blue3:0711Aladdin Boogie2:2212Real Gone3:0813Bye, Bye Boogie3:0814Train Time Blues3:0915Pot Luck Boogie2:4116Chicken Shack Boogie2:5017Hard Driving Blues2:4518Hold Me, Baby2:5019I Love Her2:4020Pool-Playing Blues2:4321Anybody's Blues2:5222It Took a Long Long Time2:3923Emptry Arms Blues2:5824Wolf on the River2:40", 1948
"Bewildered×Bewildered1 January 2000 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks1My Baby’s Booging2:292Darling How Long3:083After Midnite2:574Amos’ Blues2:275Down the Road Apiece2:596Don’t Beg Me2:497Money Hustlin’ Woman2:348Real Gone!3:089Operation Blues2:4310Cinch Blues2:4211Bewildered2:5912A and M Blues2:5613It Took a Long, Long Time2:3914Chicken‐Shack Boogie2:5015I Still Love You2:3816Pool‐Playing Blues2:4217Jitterbug Parade2:3018Hold Me Baby2:4919Roomin’ House Boogie2:4620Empty Arms Blues2:58", 1948
"A and M Blues", 1948
"Hold Me Baby", 1949
"In the Middle of the Night", 1949
"Roomin' House Boogie", 1949
"Let's Make Christmas Merry, Baby", 1949
"Sax Shack Boogie", 1950
"Bad, Bad Whiskey×Bad, Bad Whiskey1950 · ReleaseSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Bad, Bad Whiskey2I ’M Going To Tell My Mama", 1950
"Let's Rock A While", 1951
"Trouble in Mind", 1952
"Thinking and Drinking", 1952 (written by Rudy Toombs)
"Let Me Go Home, Whiskey", 1953 (written by Shifty Henry)
"One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer", 1953 (written by Rudy Toombs)
"Good, Good Whiskey", 1953
"Let's Have a Party×Let's Have a Party10 January 2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks1One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer2:532House Party (Tonight)2:273Let's Have a Party2:354Good Good Whiskey3:025My Happiness Depends On You2:116Let's Rock a While2:427Put Something In My Hand (I Know You Love Me Baby)3:028How Could You Hurt Me2:549Baby Baby All the Time3:0710I Done Done It (Don't Do It)2:3411Roll Mr. Jelly2:4212Thinking and Drinking2:2413Vicious Vicious Vodka2:5714Walking Blues2:5915Bad Bad Whiskey2:5716Let Me Go Home Whiskey2:4917Boo Hoo2:2818Tears Tears Tears (Tears In My Eyes)2:4619Milk and Water3:1020Soft Pillow2:16", 1953
"Vicious, Vicious Vodka", 1954

LPs

Rockin' the Boogie, 1952, Aladdin Records [10-inch LP]
Let's Have a Party, 1957, Score Records
Million Sellers, 1962, Imperial Records
The Return of the Blues Boss, 1963, Motown Records
Great Rhythm & Blues Oldies, Volume 10: Amos Milburn, 1977, Blues Spectrum

Compilation albums

The Best of Amos Milburn: Down the Road Apiece, CD, 1993, EMI America Records
The Complete Aladdin Recordings of Amos Milburn, 7-CD box set, 1994, Mosaic Records
Blues, Barrelhouse & Boogie Woogie: The Best of Amos Milburn 1946-1955, 3-CD box set, 1996, Capitol Records
The Best of Amos Milburn, CD, 2001, EMI-Capitol Special Markets
The Original Blues Sound of Charles Brown & Amos Milburn, with Jackie Shane, and Bob Marshall & the Crystals, LP, 1965, (Pickwick/Grand Prix Series, Pickwick International)