Wynonie Harris

Wynonie Harris (August 24, 1915 – June 14, 1969) was an American blues shouter best remembered as a singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics.

Wynonie had no father figure in his family until 1920, when his mother married Luther Harris, fifteen years her senior.

Harris formed a dance team with Velda Shannon in the early 1930s.

In 1931, at age 16, Harris dropped out of high school in North Omaha.

The following year, his first child, a daughter, Micky, was born to Naomi Henderson.

Ten months later his son, Wesley, was born to Laura Devereaux.

Both children were raised by their mothers.

Wesley became a singer in the Five Echoes and in The Sultans, and later was a singer and guitarist in Preston Love's band.

They performed in North Omaha's flourishing entertainment community, and by 1934, were a regular attraction at the Ritz Theatre.

In 1935 Harris, age 20, started dating 16-year-old Olive E. (Ollie) Goodlow, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, who came to neighboring Omaha to watch him perform.

In 1935, Harris, having become a celebrity in Omaha, was able to earn a living as an entertainer, in the depths of the Great Depression.

While performing at Jim Bell's Club Harlem nightclub with Shannon, he began to sing the blues.

He began traveling frequently to Kansas City, where he paid close attention to blues shouters, including Jimmy Rushing and Big Joe Turner.

His break in Los Angeles was at a nightclub owned by Curtis Mosby.

It was here that Harris became known as "Mr. Blues".

On May 20, 1936, Ollie gave birth to a daughter, Adrianne Patricia (Pattie).

Harris and Ollie were married on December 11, 1936.

Later they lived in the Logan Fontenelle projects in North Omaha.

Ollie worked as a barmaid and nurse; Harris sang in clubs and took odd jobs.

His mother was Pattie's main caretaker.

In 1940, Wynonie and Ollie Harris moved to Los Angeles, California, leaving Pattie with her grandmother in Omaha.

During the 1942–44 musicians' strike, Harris was unable to pursue a recording career, relying instead on personal appearances.

Performing almost continuously, in late 1943 he appeared at the Rhumboogie Club in Chicago.

He was spotted by Lucky Millinder, who asked him to join his band on tour.

Harris joined on March 24, 1944, when the band was in the middle of a week-long residency at the Regal in Chicago.

They moved on to New York City, where on April 7 Harris took the stage with Millinder's band for his debut at the Apollo Theatre, in Harlem.

It was during this performance that Harris first publicly performed "Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well" (a song recorded two years earlier by Doc Wheeler's Sunset Orchestra).

After the band's stint at the Apollo, they moved on to their regular residency at the Savoy Ballroom, also in Harlem.

Here, Preston Love, Harris's childhood friend, joined Millinder's band, replacing the alto saxophonist Tab Smith.

On May 26, 1944, Harris made his recording debut with Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra.

Entering a recording studio for the first time, Harris sang on two of the five cuts recorded that day, "Hurry, Hurry" and "Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well", for Decca Records.

The embargo on shellac during World War II had not yet been rescinded, and release of the record was delayed.

Harris's success and popularity grew as Millinder's band toured the country, but he and Millinder had a falling out over money, and in September 1945, while playing in San Antonio, Texas, Harris quit the band.

He had fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952.

Harris is attributed by many music scholars to be one of the founding fathers of rock and roll.

His "Good Rocking Tonight" is mentioned at least as a precursor to rock and roll.

His dirty blues repertoire included "Lolly Pop Mama" (1948), "I Like My Baby's Pudding" (1950), "Sittin on It All the Time" (1950), "Keep On Churnin' (Till the Butter Comes)" (1952), and "Wasn't That Good" (1953).

Harris's mother, Mallie Hood Anderson, was fifteen and unmarried at the time of his birth.

His paternity is uncertain.

His wife, Olive E. Goodlow, and daughter, Patricia Vest, said that his father was a Native American named Blue Jay.