Barrelhouse Chuck

Biography

Barrelhouse Chuck (born Harvey Charles Goering; July 10, 1958 – December 12, 2016) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues pianist, keyboardist, singer, and songwriter.
He claimed to be the only Chicago blues pianist to have studied under Sunnyland Slim, Pinetop Perkins, Blind John Davis, Detroit Junior, and Little Brother Montgomery. His work appeared on sixteen albums.

Life and career

Goering was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, and learned to play the drums by the age of six. He later graduated to the piano. He relocated with his family to Gainesville, Florida, before he first heard a Muddy Waters record. It was by listening to blues records that Barrelhouse Chuck learned the techniques of blues piano playing. He formed his own bands in his teenage years, including the Red Rooster Band, Red House, and Barrelhouse Chuck & the Blue Lights, and followed Muddy Waters around the South, trying to pick up playing tips from Waters's pianist, Pinetop Perkins. In 1979, he drove from Florida to Chicago to introduce himself to Sunnyland Slim. Barrelhouse Chuck spent the next decade and a half studying his playing, along with that of other Chicago blues musicians, including Blind John Davis, Little Brother Montgomery, and Erwin Helfer. In the company of Montgomery for a long time, Barrelhouse Chuck later remarked, "Little Brother was like a grandfather to me".
Barrelhouse Chuck played or recorded with Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Hubert Sumlin, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, and Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers. For a time in the late 1990s he played with Mississippi Heat, and he undertook a tour with Nick Moss and the Flip Tops.
His debut album, Salute to Sunnyland Slim×Salute to Sunnyland Slim16 February 1999 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1On the House3:392Any Old Lonesome Day4:113Hangin' Round the House4:324Floral Park Boogie1:455Depression Blues #23:276Salute to Sunnyland Slim3:257Cool Disposition3:498Jack Knife2:449Everybody’s Got to Change Sometime4:4410Shake Dancer2:4811Going Back to Memphis3:1112Lonesome Child2:2213Pinetop’s Blue’s4:1314You Don't Love Me3:0015Walkin' the Ceiling3:0016Church Street Blues2:5117Wah Wah Blues5:0918[untitled]3:12, released by Blue Loon Records in 1999, contained supporting work from S.P. Leary, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. It was reissued in 2005. The follow-up was Prescription for the Blues (2002), with Erwin Helfer playing on three tracks. Barrelhouse Chuck released the album Got My Eyes on You×Got My Eyes On You8 August 2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Floyd's Blues3:292Call My Job2:533Got My Eyes On You4:034Mother Earth4:105Cleo's Mood5:216It's You Baby3:227School Days4:418The Bright Sounds of Big Moose3:209Just To Be With You4:0010Big Town Playboy4:1211Red River Rumba4:1012Mama You Don't Mean Me No Good3:1413Iza Mae1:31 in 2006, with Kim Wilson playing the harmonica.
In February 2008, Wilson asked Barrelhouse Chuck to assist in recording the soundtrack for the film Cadillac Records. His other credits include numerous appearances at the Chicago Blues Festival.
As at 2012, Barrelhouse Chuck maintained a full performance schedule in Chicago, around the United States, and occasionally abroad, including a regular solo appearance on Wednesday nights at the Barrelhouse Flat, a bar in Lincoln Park. On February 24, 2012, Barrelhouse Chuck played at the "Howlin' for Hubert" concert at the Apollo Theater.
In 2013 and 2014, Barrelhouse Chuck was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the category Pinetop Perkins Piano Player. In 2014 Drifting from Town to Town was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the category Traditional Blues Album of the Year.
On December 12, 2016, Barrelhouse Chuck died after a long battle with prostate cancer, at the age of 58.