ROY GAINES

artists:

1. ROY GAINES
   Skippy Is A Sissy (2:17)
   (Roy Gaines)
2. ROY GAINES
   Isabella (2:34)
   (Roy Tan)
3. ROY GAINES
   You're Right I'm Left (2:03)
   (Paul Gayten - F. Mendelsohn)
4. ROY GAINES
   Gainesville (2:59)
   (Roy Gaines)
5. ROY GAINES
   Annabelle (2:55)
   (Roy Gaines)
6. BROWNIE McGHEE
   Be My Friend (2:29)
   (Brownie McGhee)
7. JIMMY LEWIS
   Last Night (2:31)
   (Jimmy Lewis)
8. DOSSIE TERRY
   Didn't I Satisfy You (2:18)
   (Thomas - Biggs)
9. CURLEY HAMNER
   Air-Raid (2:34)
   (Harold Ousley)

1. H-BOMB FERGUSON
   Mary Little Mary (2:28)
   (A. Schubert)
2. BROWNIE McGHEE
   Heartache Blues (2:37)
   (Vediagella McGhee)
3. LITTLE EDDIE MINT
   Two More Days (1:45)
   (A. Johnson)
4. JACK DUPREE
   Heartbreaking Woman (2:48)
   (Lucille Dalton)
5. BILLY HOPE
   Bad Times (2:20)
   (Martin - Siega - Cadena)
6. MIKE GORDON
   Why Don't You Do Right (2:39)
   (McCoy - Mayfair - Ascap)
7. DOSSIE TERRY
   Skinny Ginny (2:30)
   (Gray - Terry)
8. BROWNIE McGHEE
   I'm 10.000 Years Old (2:28)
   (B. McGhee - Ellen)
9. MIKE GORDON
   You Got To Give (2:13)
   (Mike Gordon)

recorded in New York City, February 13, 1957

Roy Gaines - vocal, guitar
Joe Evans - alto sax
Count Hastings - tenor sax
Clifford Scott - tenor sax
Leslie Johnson - bariton sax
Kelly Owens - piano
Leonard Gaskin - bass
Dave Bailey - drums
unknown girl (Isabella???) at the start of the song

Roy Gaines was born August 12, 1937 in Waskom, Texas. His family moved to Houston when he was six. He is the brother of Grady Gaines, once saxophone player in Little Richard's backup band The Upsetters. At an early age Gaines first began playing piano in the style of Nat King Cole. He became friendly with other local musicians such as Clarence Hollimon and Johnny Copeland. In his teens he switched to the guitar and became an admirer of T-Bone Walker, another Texan. Roy soon began playing clubs throughout the Houston area. He met his hero in 1951, and even backed T-Bone on stage when he was fourteen.

By the 1950's Gaines had moved to Los Angeles. There he joined Roy Milton's band. He was only sixteen and learning quickly. Soon he took his new skills back to Houston. This period saw Gaines sitting in on many recording sessions with the legendary Peacock Studios He made his solo debut with an obscure release on Chart Records out of Miami. But it was when he came to the attention of Bill Harvey that his career stated to take off. Harvey was the leader of Duke and Peacock Record's house band. With that band Gaines was featured on various releases by Big Mama Thorton, Jr. Parker ("Driving Me Mad") and Bobby "Blue" Bland ("It's My Life Baby" & "Woke Up Screaming") in 1955. Other early sessions included "Essential Jimmy Rushing" in 1954. And 1957's "Blues Wail: Coleman Hawkins Plays the Blues". He also worked with the Jazz Crudaders (later known simply as the Crusaders) appearing on two LPs in 1961. In 1966 Gaines returned to Los Angeles and joined the Ray Charles big band. While with the band he wrote "No Use Cryin'" for Ray's hit album "Crying Time".

Another R&B artist became impressed with the guitarist, and Roy began working with Chuck Willis (King of the Stroll). He moved to New York City and recorded with Willis for Atlantic Records. During this time he signed, under his own name, with RCA Victor's Groove subsidiary label. With Groove Gaines released two albums in 1956. Then came a chaotic period when he was going from label to label. In 1957 it was Deluxe Records. Back to RCA in 1958. And the sixties saw only two releases on the small Del-Fi and Uni labels. Chuck Willis died in 1958 and Roy continued his session work.

By the seventies Gaines was again in demand, making many public appearances either solo or with the Crusaders (1978). He continued as session musician working with artists like Aretha Franlin, Della Reese, the Supremes. He was featured on Stevie Wonder's landmark album album "My Cherie Amour", Milt Buckner's "Green Onions" (1975) and Albert King's "Albert" (1976). He also continued to work with T-Bone Walker until Walker's death in 1975. Roy was part of Harry Belafonte's Las Vegas show in 1976. He toured Central and South America with the Supremes in 1976, and the U.S. with Diana Ross in 1977. When Gaines returned to L.A. he was once more in constant demand. This included movie and television work with Quincy Jones. Roy wrote "Don't Make Me No Never Mind" for the movie "The Color Purple" (1985), played on the session, and had a cameo role in the film itself.

But it wasn't until 1981 that he recorded solo again. Gaines signed with Red Lightin' Record and, in 1982, released "Gainelining" a very fine and critically acclaimed album. No other albums were released in the 80's. But the next decade included four - "Lucille Work fo Me" (1996), "Bluesman for Life" (1998), "I Got the T-Bone Walker Blues" (1999), and "New Frontier Lover" (2000). While on tour in Tokyo Roy found time to record with Japan's Mitsuyoshi Azuma on "Guitar Clashers from Gainesville, Tokyo" (P-Vine Records, March 25, 2000).

1. Skippy Is A Sissy
2. Isabella
3. You're Right, I'm Left
4. Gainesville
5. Oh Annabella
6. Loud Mouth Lucy
7. Dee Dat Dee Dum Dum
8. Right Now Baby
9. All Of My Life
10. I'm Going To Set You Free
11. Worried 'Bout You Baby
12. Stolen Moments
13. Night Beat
14. Black Gal

Roy Gaines hails from the Lone Star state of Texas where he was born in 1937. He and his brother, the famed sax player and former Little Richard sideman Grady Gaines, performed together in the early years, gaining experience on Houston's jumping blues scene, Roy paying particular attention to his first guitar hero, T-Bone Walker. Roy eventually followed his mentor T-Bone to California, relocating there as a teenager. Before he was old enough to buy his own beer, Roy was playing with the biggest names in blues, becoming a member of Roy Milton's band, and spending time in the bands of Chick Willis, Ray Charles, and in trips back to the Houston area, doing sessions for the legendary Duke/Peacock labels with Bobby "Blue" Bland, Junior Parker, Big Mama Thornton and others. A voracious student of the guitar, Roy continued to expand his vocabulary on the instrument, and became a highly sought after session player (in addition to his burgeoning career leading his own band, resulting in a catalog of fine recordings beginning in the mid - ' 50s.) His dazzling and sophisticated guitar talents resulted in sessions with Jimmy Rushing, Coleman Hawkins, The (Jazz) Crusaders, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and many others, in addition to the more down-home blues he's been playing since the late '40s.

Roy stayed busy with session work and touring as a sideman with some of the biggest names in the business for the next 30 years, in addition to running his own nightclub and recording studio, temporarily moving his own career as a bandleader to the back burner. He was also involved in some high-profile Hollywood projects, including writing music for the file "The Color Purple" and working with acclaimed composer and producer Quincy Jones. But the deep blues was never far from the surface, and in the early '80s he once again began stepping out as a front man and solo recording artist. In recent years he's released a series of excellent and widely varied blues recordings for a series of labels, showcasing his fluency in all the shades of blues expression, from gut-bucket juke joint stomps, to fleet-fingered jazz, to raucous rock influenced sounds, and of course his deep-rooted mastery of the guitar style of T-Bone Walker, which first caught his ear as a teenager.