|
 INTERVIEW WITH
SIDNEY BARNES
BY NORMAN DARWEN
AT BAND ON THE WALL,
MANCHESTER ON 27th APRIL 2003
|
 Soul singer Sidney Barnes was born in West Virginia in 1941; like so many others, he began singing in church, going on to work with doo-wop and R’n’B groups. He made his own debut recording for Newark based Gemini Records in 1960, starting a career which has seen his name appear on such legendary labels as Sue, Red Bird, and Chess. He has also been involved as a writer and producer, and, with the famed Minnie Ripperton, was a member of the Marshall Chess project Rotary Connection in the late sixties. On 27th April 2003 he put on a stunningly good show for a sold out crowd at Manchester’s Band On The Wall, backed by phenomenal local outfit the Atlanta Soul Band; before the show I had a quick chat with him:
I wanted to ask you about your blues connections...
Well, there’s a few, yeah
Particularly the Muddy Waters one...
Yeah, Muddy Waters, Louisiana Red and B.B. King. O.K. Muddy Waters, “Electric Mud”, ‘Herbert Harper’s Free Press News’, I wrote that at Chess. Actually, one of the big disappointments of my life was that I was asked by Billy Davis, who was A&R at Chess records at the time to produce an album on Muddy and I didn’t do it because I really didn’t understand the blues like I should have. I wanted to be more progressive and I had only just got Rotary Connection together. I could kick myself right now because I didn’t do that, because I understand now what he was and what Muddy meant. So I rushed the tune into one of the albums he did do, that was a thrill.
How did you write it?
 How? I was with Rotary Connection at the time. There was a lot of rock music at the time that was all going on and I was into Dylan, like the whole works I was into, and Rotary was getting quite big. So when they asked for like a psychedelic kind of tune on Muddy, I thought of who I always think of - the Beatles - because Lennon and McCartney as writers, they inspired me as a writer. I got in Rotary Connection with a tune called ‘Turn Me On’ and I got to Muddy when I said, ‘Herbert Harper’s Free Press’. It was just what they were wanting, I figured it was because there was a lot of things going on in the world and there was a lot of free press that were really starting to tell the truth to the people and ‘Free Press News’ meant a lot to a lot of underground people who understood what that really was. It was just saying that there’s a truth out there.
OK. Louisiana Red?
Louisiana Red, oh, old freckled Louisiana Red. A good blues man. I played drums on a couple of his sessions in New York City back in 1966, with Herb Abramson - Herb Abramson, A-1 Studio. I can’t remember what tunes they were but the drummer didn’t turn up and I sat in and played drums. I played drums. I played drums on my records, ‘Shindig’ and ‘New York City’. So yeah, I do play drums a bit. I got a big kick out of it; I kind of get that Motown sound.
Did you ever meet Tommy Tucker while you were at A-1?
Tommy Tucker and I were very good friends. Well, first of all, Herb Abramson was like my godfather to me in the music business. I loved him very dearly and he was a great man and a good man. Yeah, really, I was around the A-1 Studio when Tommy did ‘Hi-Heel Sneakers’ and a lot of those things. Weird the way he died, and he was such a good little guy - too bad he couldn’t hang around for some more music, but I’m glad for the time he was here he had something to enjoy.
Did you ever run into Titus Turner there?
I didn’t really know Titus. Titus was of the little older school than myself and around New York, where I used to hang around when I first got there, which was in the late fifties, he was one of the main guys around Music Row writing songs. I mean, he was a tremendous artist, he was a tremendous writer. I’m glad you remember him - a great artist.
And you’ve worked with B.B. King?
I did a lot of gigging with B.B. King, with Rotary Connection. We did a lot of festivals, which meant we got the chance to sit around with him and talk with him. He’d play and we’d laugh and things. He’s a gentleman and he’s a scholar and he’s a damn good guitar player (laughs) and a great musician. I love him very dearly. We played a lot of festivals, a lot of shows. He recorded something of mine, I can’t recall what the title is. See, I have written so many songs that I don’t know what they are any more! I’ve got to look on the Internet to find out what I wrote. But that’s what I remember about B.B. King - a great man!
You also worked with Leiber and Stoller at Red Bird - how was that?
It was one of the most fantastic experiences of my life because I had admired them as writers. I guess I’m more of a writer than anything else. As a writer, when I walked in their office and looked on their wall and saw who they really were - I knew who they were but I saw who they really were, I said, “What!” I had been a big fan of theirs as songwriters for a long time. They welcomed me with open arms; they were great guys to work with. I learned from everybody that hired me, a lot, and I learned a lot from them. J.J. Jackson and I had some success over there and I cut some good stuff. So I always have fond memories of that company and those people who were very, very nice people.
OK, thank you, Sidney.
Norman Darwen
|
 ..............................................................................................
|
|
|