Lowell Fulson Memorial

Memorial
Lowell Fulson
March 31, 1921 - March 6, 1999

Blues Legend Lowell Fulson Passes Away At Age Seventy-Seven. Born: March 31, 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma o Died: March 6, 1999 Los Angeles, California.

We sadly send news that American blues icon, Lowell Fulson, passed away on March 6, 1999 after a long fight with kidney disease, diabetes and congestive heart failure. He was 77.

Lowell Fulson's was best known for his song "Reconsider Baby". He is remembered as an originator of the California Blues sound and wrote many other blues standards recorded by everyone from The King himself, Elvis, who took Fulson's vocal phrasing and recorded what many consider one of Presley's best records ("Reconsider Baby"), to artists as diverse as Merle Travis ("Trouble, Trouble") and Lou Rawls ("Room With A View"). Rufus Thomas, Foghat, Freddie King and Eric Clapton are just a few of the wide ranging performers who have recorded, and continue to record, the great works of this California blues man.

Fulson lived in Los Angeles and, taking his cues from the Chicago blues men as well as the Delta giants, he forged an original style. His musical upbringing was in the Southwestern blues school pioneered by T-Bone Walker, a tradition where the guitar periodically stepped out to solo in front of a rollicking piano and scaled-down big band horn section that carried healthy portions of the melodic load. Rather than the standard Mississippi to Chicago blues migration pattern, Fulson hopped on the West Coast train that funneled Texas and Louisiana folk to California during World War II. That plugged him right into the West Coast jump blues style being formulated by the likes of Roy Milton, Roy Brown, Jimmy McCracklin and Johnny Otis.

Born in Oklahoma, Fulson replaced one Chester Burnett -- better known as Howlin' Wolf -- in the band of a regional bluesman named Texas Alexander around 1939. After the war, Fulson moved out to California and achieved enough success to put together a band of his own, one which included a certain "Ray Charles" for a period of time. He recorded for the first time around 1946, but a hot 1948 take of "3 O'Clock Blues" was his first taste of long-term success. Recording for the long-gone Swingtime label, he waxed the record, "Lonely Christmas," a song that still slows people down at Christmas parties, fifty years later.

Fulson was picked up by the Chess' "Checker" label in 1954, and soon afterward had a giant hit in "Reconsider Baby," still covered by bands today, followed by, "I'm Glad You Reconsidered,". Fulson stayed on Chess until 1963.

Fulson had a couple of big records in California in the mid-1960s on the Kent label, started by the Bihari family, who also owned Modern Records. One big one, Jimmy McCracklin's "Tramp," was covered later by Otis Redding. Fulson recorded in the nineties for Rounder Records and Bullseye. A few years ago he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and was nominated for a Grammy a year ago for Best Traditional Blues Album.

A Memorial Service will be held Friday, March 12th, at 6pm Angelus Funeral Home, 3875 S. Crenshaw Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, 90008 - Phone 323-296-6666

The Funeral will be held Saturday, March 13th, at 12pm Angelus Funeral Home, 3875 S. Crenshaw Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, 90008 - Phone 323-296-6666

* Flowers can be sent to:
Lowell Fulson, c/o Angelus Funeral Home, 3875 S. Crenshaw Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, 90008 - Phone 323-296-6666

AmericanLegends Music Organization - "ALMO"

"Promoting the Heritage, Art, Culture & Music of the Americas"

E-Mail: ALMO@AmericanLegends.org

Web-Site: http://www.AmericanLegends.org

E-mail Ray Stiles at: mnblues@aol.com

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