Robert Ward (October 15, 1938 – December 25, 2008) was an Americanblues and soulguitarist. He was known for founding the Ohio Untouchables, the band that later would become the Ohio Players. He played the guitar with a unique tone soaked in vibrato coming from the Magnatone amplifier.
(You Make My) Blood Run Cold
Born Robert Jeryl Ward in Luthersville, Georgia, he moved to Dayton, Ohio in 1960 and formed the Ohio Untouchables. The group released series of singles from LuPine label[including "Your Love Is Amazing" which would become one of Ward's signature songs. Ward left the group in 1965.[2]
Then he moved to the Detroit
area, actually residing in Toledo, Ohio and released some single under
his name in the late 60's. He disappeared from the music scene sometime
in the 70's after working as a session player for Motown.
Forgive Me Darling
It was in the early 1990s that he came back into the spotlight. He was "rediscovered" by Black Top Records and released his first full-length album Fear No Evil
in 1991. He released two more albums in the next four years for the
label. In the mid-1990s he did limited touring, including a date in
Minneapolis with Curtis Obeda and "The Butanes", and several dates in
Michigan including Kalamazoo, Three Rivers and Grand Rapids. After the
label folded in the late 1990s, WRKR Kalamazoo blues DJ Marty Spaulding, who Robert had appointed his manager, arranged a recording contract with Delmark Records to release New Role Soul
in 2000. In his last years he faced a series of health problems,
including two strokes, which prevented him from performing or recording.
He died at his home in Dry Branch, Georgia, about six miles from Macon, on December 25, 2008
Ohio Untouchables - Forgive Me Darling/Your Love Is Amazing (1962)
Alan "Blind Owl" Christie Wilson (July 4, 1943 – September 3, 1970) was the leader, singer, and primary composer in the Americanblues band Canned Heat. He played guitar and harmonica, and wrote several songs for the band.
On the Road Again
Wilson was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in the Boston suburb of Arlington, Massachusetts. He majored in music at Boston University
and often played the Cambridge coffeehouse folk-blues circuit. He
acquired the nickname "Blind Owl" owing to his extreme nearsightedness;
in one instance when he was playing at a wedding, he laid his guitar on
the wedding cake because he did not see it. As Canned Heat's drummer,
Fito de la Parra, wrote in his book: "Without the glasses, Alan
literally could not recognize the people he played with at two feet,
that's how blind the 'Blind Owl' was."
Rollin & Tumbling
With Canned Heat, Wilson performed at two prominent concerts of the 1960s era, the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and Woodstock in 1969. Canned Heat appeared in the film Woodstock, and the band's "Going Up the Country," which Wilson sang, has been referred to as the festival's unofficial theme song.[1] Wilson also wrote "On the Road Again," arguably Canned Heat's second-most familiar song.
Turpentine Moan/On The Road Again
Wilson was a passionate conservationist who loved reading books on botany and ecology.
He often slept outdoors to be closer to nature. In 1969, he wrote and
recorded a song, "Poor Moon", which expressed concern over potential
pollution of the moon. He wrote an essay called 'Grim Harvest', about
the coastal redwood forests of California, which was printed as the
liner notes to the Future Bluesalbum by Canned Heat.
After Eddie 'Son' House's
'rediscovery' in 1964, Wilson taught him how to play again the songs
House had recorded in 1930 and 1942 (which he had forgotten over a long
absence from music); House recorded for Columbia in 1965 and two of
three selections featuring Wilson on harmonica and guitar appeared on
the set. On the double album Hooker 'N Heat (1970), John Lee Hooker
is heard wondering how Wilson is capable of following Hooker's guitar
playing so well. Hooker was known to be a difficult performer to
accompany, partly because of his disregard of song form.
Yet Wilson seemed to have no trouble at all following him on this
album. Hooker concludes that "you [Wilson] musta been listenin' to my
records all your life". Hooker is also known to have stated "Wilson is
the greatest harmonica player ever" Stephen Stills' song "Blues Man" from the album Manassas is dedicated to Wilson, along with Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman.
Canned Heat (feat. Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, Bob "The Bear" Hite, Harvey
"The Snake" Mandel, Larry "The Mole" Taylor, Adolfo "Fito" de la Parra)
Wilson died in Topanga Canyon, California of a drug overdose at age 27. Although Wilson had reportedly attempted suicide twice before and his death is sometimes reported as a suicide, this is not clearly established and he left no note.
Eric Burdon - Hilton Valentine-Alan Price- Chas Chandler
Boom Boom Boom
One of the most important bands originating from England's R&B scene during the early '60s, the Animals were second only to the Rolling Stones
in influence among R&B-based bands in the first wave of the British
Invasion. The Animals had their origins in a Newcastle-based group
called the Kansas City Five, whose membership included pianist Alan Price, drummer John Steel, and vocalist Eric Burdon. Price exited to join the Kontours in 1962, while Burdon went off to London.
John Steel
Don,t Let It Be Miss Understood
The Kontours, whose membership included Bryan "Chas" Chandler, eventually were transmuted into the Alan Price R&B Combo, with John Steel joining on drums. Burdon's return to Newcastle in early 1963 heralded his return to the lineup. The final member of the combo, guitarist Hilton Valentine, joined just in time for the recording of a self-produced EP under the band's new name, the Animals. That record alerted Graham Bond to the Animals; he was likely responsible for pointing impresario Giorgio Gomelsky to the group
Talkin About You
In May of 1965, immediately after recording "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place," Alan Price
left the band, citing fear of flying as the reason; subsequent
biographies of the band have indicated that the reasons were less
psychological.
The lineup shifts continued, however: Steel exited in 1966, after recording Animalisms, and was replaced by Barry Jenkins, formerly of the Nashville Teens. Chandler left in mid-1966 after recording "Don't Bring Me Down," and Valentine remained until the end of 1966, but essentially "Don't Bring Me Down" marked the end of the original Animals.
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