Guitar Shorty (David Kearney)

David William Kearney

b. September 8th, 1934 in Houston (Texas)

d. April 20th, 2022 in Los Angeles (California)

GOIN' DOWN TO ELI'S

Westside

1957

Né au Texas mais élevé en Floride, il apprend la guitare avec son oncle. Sa carrière semble démarrer rapidement. Shorty joue d'abord dans l'orchestre de Walter Johnson avant de rejoindre Ray Charles pour environ une année. Remarqué par Willie Dixon, il arrive à Chicago et enregistre un bon simple pour le label Cobra dans le style West Side Sound : "You don't treat me right" et "Irma Lee".

Born in Texas but raised in Florida, he learned guitar with his uncle. His career seemed to take off quickly. Shorty first played in Walter Johnson's band before joining Ray Charles for about a year. Spotted by Willie Dixon, he arrived in Chicago and recorded a good single for the Cobra label in the West Side Sound style : "You don't treat me right" and "Irma Lee".

JERICHO ALLEY BLUES FLASH vol.2

Diving Duck

P-Vine

1959

Rapidement, Guitar Shorty s'installe sur la Côte Ouest où il se fixe. En 1959, il enregistre six morceaux pour le label Pull (dirigé par Charles Reynolds) où il démontre son habileté à la guitare en particulier les excellents "Hard life", "Ways of a man" et "Love loves". A Seattle, il rencontre Marsha (une demi-soeur de Jimi Hendrix) avec laquelle il se marie en 1962. Bien qu'il reste toujours actif sur la scène musicale, il exerce le métier de mécanicien.

Guitar Shorty quickly moved to the West Coast where he settled. In 1959, he recorded six tracks for the Pull label (managed by Charles Reynolds), demonstrating his guitar skills, particularly the excellent "Hard life", "Ways of a man" and "Love loves". In Seattle, he met Marsha (Jimi Hendrix's stepsister) whom he married in 1962. Although he remained active in the music scene, he worked as a mechanic.

ON THE RAMPAGE

Olive Branch

1985 / 1989

Cet album qui marque le retour de Guitar Shorty après 30 ans d'absence discographique se révèle largement décevant. En dépit de quelques bons moments ("On the rampage", "Trouble maker"), il souffre d'un manque d'inspiration et de production.

This album, which marks Guitar Shorty's return after 30 years of discographical absence is largely disappointing. Despite a few good moments ("On the rampage", "Trouble maker"), it suffers from a lack of inspiration and production.

BILLIE JEAN BLUES

Collectables

1980's

Des bandes live capturées pendant les années 80 et éditées par le label Collectables. La set-list comporte des morceaux beaucoup trop longs (dépassant souvent les 10 minutes) qui finissent par ennuyer l'auditeur. Shorty mélange son blues à des éléments rock et au funk et enchaine les longs solos de guitare.

Live tapes captured during the 80's and released by the Collectables label. The set list features songs that are far too long (often exceeding 10 minutes) and end up boring the listener. Shorty mixes his blues with rock and funk elements and delivers long guitar solos.

THE BLUES IS ALL RIGHT

Collectables

1980's

MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY

JSP

May 1991

Finalement, malgré les parutions précédentes, c'est vraiment avec ce disque que Guitar Shorty put relancer efficacement sa carrière au début des années 90. Produit par Otis Grand et accompagné par le groupe de ce dernier, Shorty peut développer son jeu de guitare puissant et tranchant. Une belle tranche de Blues contemporain teinté de West Coast avec de beaux titres comme "No educated woman", "You gave me the blues baby", "It's too late", "Kick out".

Ultimately, despite previous releases, it was with this album that Guitar Shorty was able to effectively relaunch his career in the early 1990's. Produced by Otis Grand and accompanied by the latter's backing band, Shorty was able to develop his powerful and cutting guitar playing. A beautiful slice of contemporary blues with a West Coast tinge with nice tracks like "No educated woman", "You gave me the blues baby", "It's too late", "Kick out".

TOPSY TURVY

Black Top

April 1993

Après un bon disque chez JSP qui relança sa carrière, Guitar Shorty entama une fructueuse collaboration avec Black Top, le label de Nauman & Hammond Scott. Entouré de superbes musiciens (David Torkanowsky, Lee Allen Zeno, Herman V. Ernest, Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff parmi d'autres), Shorty délivre une belle tranche de blues contemporain constellée de moments intenses et excitants comme "I'm so glad I met you" (avec Carol Fran et Clarence Hollimon), "I just can't run away from the blues", "You confuse me" sans oublier les slow blues "Hard life" et "More than you'll ever know".

After a successful album on JSP that relaunched his career, Guitar Shorty began a fruitful collaboration with Black Top, the label of Nauman & Hammond Scott. Surrounded by superb musicians (David Torkanowsky, Lee Allen Zeno, Herman V. Ernest, Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff among others), Shorty delivers a beautiful slice of contemporary blues studded with intense and exciting moments like "I'm so glad I met you" (with Carol Fran and Clarence Hollimon), "I just can't run away from the blues", "You confuse me" not to mention the slow blues "Hard life" and "More than you'll ever know".

GET WISE TO YOURSELF

Black Top

August - September 1995

Pour son second opus chez Black Top, Shorty est secondé par les mêmes musiciens (ou presque) et producteurs que précédemment. Encore une fois très inspiré, il propose une tracklist puissante et variée : "I'm the clean up man", "You better get wise to yourself", "You left me dreaming", "She's built, she's built to kill", "The blues done got me", "Ways of man", "Smells good".

For his second album on Black Top, Shorty is supported by the same musicians (or almost) and producers as before. Once again highly inspired, he offers a powerful and varied tracklist : "I'm the clean up man", "You better get wise to yourself", "You left me dreaming", "She's built, she's built to kill", "The blues done got me", "Ways of man", "Smells good".

ROLL OVER BABY

Black Top

April - May 1998

Pour ce troisième et dernier album avec Black Top, Shorty opte pour un son de guitare plus électrifié et délivre un puissant disque de Blues contemporain avec de remarquables musiciens autour de lui. Comme d'habitude, le programme se révèle intense avec "I want to report a crime", "Roll over baby", "Sugar wugar", "Let's get close", "I wonder who's sleeping in my bed", "I'm going back to Houston". En revanche sa reprise de "Hey Joe" n'est guère convaincante.

For this third and final album with Black Top, Shorty opts for a more electrified guitar sound and delivers a powerful contemporary blues album with remarkable musicians around him. As usual, the program is intense with "I want to report a crime", "Roll over baby", "Sugar wugar", "Let's get close", "I wonder who's sleeping in my bed", "I'm going back to Houston". However, his cover of "Hey Joe" is hardly convincing.

I GO WILD

Evidence

April 2001

HEY BO DIDDLEY - A TRIBUTE

Evidence

Blues Boulevard - Music Avenue

2002

WATCH YOUR BACK

Alligator

2004

Arrivé chez Alligator et placé sous la supervision des producteurs Jesse Harms et Brian Brinkerhoff, Guitar Shorty propose ici un album de Blues-Rock lourd et suramplifié. On est loin des excitantes compositions personnelles de l'époque Black Top car ici il n'y en a aucune.

Joining Alligator and working under the supervision of producers Jesse Harms and Brian Brinkerhoff, Guitar Shorty delivers a heavy and over-amplified Blues-Rock album. This is a far cry from the exciting original compositions of the Black Top era as none are to be found here.

WE THE PEOPLE

Alligator

2006

Ce second opus est produit par Jerry "Wyzard" Seay (ancien bassiste de Mother's Finest et Blackfoot) et Brian Brinkerhoff. On conserve ce même son Blues-Rock suramplifié ennuyeux et sans aucune subtilité.

This second album is produced by Jerry "Wyzard" Seay (former bassist of Mother's Finest and Blackfoot) and Brian Brinkerhoff. It retains the same boring, over-amplified Blues-Rock sound without any subtlety.

BARE KNUCKLE

Alligator

2010

Ce troisième album pour Alligator place à nouveau Shorty sous la supervision du producteur Wyzard. Un son Blues-Rock un peu moins lourd que sur les deux opus précédents est à signaler. Certains morceaux sortent un peu du lot comme "Please Mr President", "Texas women", "Neverland", "Temporary man" mais l'ensemble reste décevant.

This third album for Alligator once again places Shorty under the supervision of producer Wyzard. A slightly less heavy blues-rock sound than on the two previous albums is noteworthy. Some tracks stand out such as "Please Mr President", "Texas women", "Neverland", "Temporary man" but the overall result remains disappointing.

TRYING TO FIND MY WAY BACK

SDEG

2019

Voici un double CD autoproduit vraiment curieux conçu sous l'égide de Swamp Dogg (alias Jerry Williams) et MoogStar (alias Larry Clemons). Chant trafiqué au Vocoder, batterie pachydermique, cordes et cuivres synthétisés, morceaux et programme généralement trop longs, rien ne fonctionne vraiment dans ce pensum. On trouve à certains moments un peu de guitare (quelques notes rarement mises en avant). A titre d'example, "Wonna get layed" est simplement abominable.

This is a truly curious self-produced double CD, conceived under the aegis of Swamp Dogg (aka Jerry Williams) and MoogStar (aka Larry Clemons). Vocoder-tweaked vocals, pachyderm drums, synthesized strings and horns, generally overlong tracks and program, nothing really works in this tedious endeavor. There are occasional moments of a bit of guitar (a few rarely featured notes). For example, "Wonna get layed" is simply abominable.