Mose Allison

Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter.

He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano.

However, an original composition, with no connection other than the same title to "Bukka" White's 1940 "Parchman Farm", on the album brought him the most attention: "Parchman Farm".

For more than two decades, "Parchman Farm" was his most requested song.

Shortly after mustering out, he enrolled at Louisiana State University (LSU), from which he graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in philosophy.

After moving to New York in 1956, he worked primarily in jazz settings, playing with jazz musicians like Stan Getz, Al Cohn, and Zoot Sims, along with producing numerous recordings.

He is described as having been "one of the finest songwriters in 20th-century blues."

His songs were strongly dependent on evoking moods, with his individualistic, "quirky", and subtle ironic humor.

In 1956, Allison moved to New York City and launched his jazz career, performing with artists such as Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, and Phil Woods.

His debut album, Back Country Suite, was issued by Prestige in 1957.

He formed his own trio in 1958, with Addison Farmer on bass and Nick Stabulas on drums.

In 1959, he released a single "The Seventh Son" on one side and "Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me" on the other side.

It was not until 1963 that his record label allowed him to release an album entirely of vocals.

Entitled Mose Allison Sings, it was a compilation of songs from his previous Prestige albums that paid tribute to artists, including Willie Dixon ("The Seventh Son", the first track the album), the Mojo Triangle: Sonny Boy Williamson ("Eyesight to the Blind"), and Jimmy Rogers ("That's All Right").

His writing influence on R&B had well-known fans recording his songs, among them Pete Townshend, who recorded his "Young Man Blues" for the Who's Live at Leeds album in 1970.

John Mayall was one of dozens who recorded his classic, "Parchman Farm", and Georgie Fame used many of Allison's songs.

Others who recorded his songs included Leon Russell ("I'm Smashed"), The Clash ("Look Here"), and Bonnie Raitt ("Everybody's Cryin' Mercy").

The 1980s saw an increase in his popularity with new fans drawn to his unique blend of modern jazz.

He dropped it from his playlist in the 1980s partly because some critics felt it was politically incorrect, but also, he specified, because, "You go to the Mississippi Delta and there are no cotton sacks. It's all machines and chemicals."

Prestige tried to market Allison as a pop star, but Columbia and later Atlantic tried to market him as a blues artist.

Because he sang blues, Jet magazine thought that he was black and wanted to interview him.

In the 1990s he began recording more consistently.

Van Morrison, Georgie Fame and Ben Sidran collaborated with him on a tribute album, Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison.

The Pixies wrote the song "Allison" as a tribute.

Allison's music had an important influence on other artists, such as Jimi Hendrix, J. J. Cale, the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, Tom Waits, and Pete Townshend.

He was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006.

Allison was born in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi on his grandfather's farm (known as "the Island"), located outside the small unincorporated community of Tippo.

The farm got the name, according to Allison, "because Tippo Bayou encircles it."

He took piano lessons at 5, picked cotton, played piano in grammar school and trumpet in high school, and wrote his first song at 13.

Allison attended the University of Mississippi for a while and then enlisted in the U.S. Army for two years.

Allison received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from LSU in 2008.

His album The Way of the World, released in March 2010, was his first after a 12-year absence from the recording studio.

In 2012, Allison was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in his hometown of Tippo.

On January 14, 2013, he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation's highest honor in jazz, in a ceremony at Lincoln Center in New York.

Allison wrote some 150 songs.

His performances were described as being "delivered in a casual conversational way with a melodic southern accented tone that has a pitch and range ideally suited to his idiosyncratic phrasing, laconic approach and ironic sense of humour."

It was said that Allison was a social critic before Bob Dylan and a music satirist before Randy Newman.

His music influenced many blues and rock artists, including Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Tom Waits, the Yardbirds, John Mayall, J. J. Cale, the Who (who made "Young Man Blues" a staple of their live performances), and Georgie Fame, who described him as "more important than Bob Dylan".

Blue Cheer recorded a version of his song "Parchman Farm" on their debut album, as did Cactus.

The Yardbirds and the Misunderstood both recorded versions of his song "I'm Not Talking".