Winwood was everything I wished I could be as a vocalist. This was a guy musically rooted in the soil that birthed Ray Charles, and with a voice so exquisite that Rolling Stone ranked him #33 on their Top 100 list of Great Singers of all time.
Almost as an aside, Bill adds historical perspective by telling us that Winwood and company were opening a new front called blue-eyed soul, carving musical space for future acts like Hall & Oates.
New author Bill King is also one ballsy dude. In that same tumultuous year of 1968, he went from riding high (a plum job as keyboardist and music director for yet another Janis Joplin band) to hitting bottom. After openly protesting the immorality of the Vietnam War and being charged as a draft resister, Bill was forced to serve in the army for ten months. When he received orders for Southeast Asia, at the 11th hour he and new wife Kris fled to Canada. (It happened to be October 16, the day when the biggest moratorium against the war was held.) With $85 to their name, the newlyweds hitched a ride north with a trucker hauling sauerkraut. Behind them, they left home, family, friends, connections, and careers.
As Bill puts it, "It was a monumental decision that cost dearly. Yet the rewards -- for both of us -- were even greater." Once in Canada, the Kings struggled to find their place in this new milieu: Kris as a photographer and record promoter who eventually formed her own company; and Bill, doing musical gigs as teacher, performer, record producer, composer, and radio show host, where in time he found a growing audience for his program, The Jazz Report.
Even though the Kings had left the U.S., Bill's musical reputation remained intact. In January 1977, after President Carter gave him and other anti-war resisters unconditional pardons, Bill went on tour as music director for Martha Reeves, the Pointer Sisters, and other musicians, followed by a fruitful period of recording with a wide variety of U.S. and world artists.
Another creative opportunity emerged from the friendship he developed with Greg Sutherland, a piano student of his. Drawn by common interests, in the late 1980s they created a jazz newsletter. Their bright idea coincided with Apple's creation of Pagemaker for publishing, allowing them to bypass traditional typesetting. By year three, they had a full-blown magazine on their hands, with Bill doing most of the artist interviews.
Quantities of high-quality images were needed for the magazine; luckily, serendipity knocked on the door. As Bill recalls, "Paul Hoeffler offered us his services. The man was a genius. A graduate of Eastman School of Photography, he also knew classical and jazz music like no other."
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
2
