Big Chief Ellis

Thirkield Wilbert " Big Chief " Ellis ( born November 10, 1914 in Birmingham, Alabama, † December 20, 1977 ) was an American blues pianist and singer.

Life

Playing the piano, he taught himself at the age of 11 Jahren.Seinen nickname " Big Chief " he received in his childhood from a friend because his mother was a Black Creek Indian. In the late 1920s he played at local parties and dances. He left his hometown and moved around in the U.S., where he held odd jobs over water. Between 1939 and 1942 he served in the army. At the end of his service he moved to New York where he ran a bar, which was a meeting place for local blues musicians. One of them, Brownie McGhee, gave him the opportunity to establish panels, after hearing him for the first time at the piano. In the 1950s, some plates on and played at recordings, among other things, Brownie McGhee. Ellis became a fixture in the small New York blues scene.

Finally he gave up music because he believed his livelihood not being able to earn with it. In 1972 he moved to Washington, D.C. and bought a liquor business. After his return to the music business, a $ 75 check for a performance of 15 minutes had him convinced he founded with an unknown Piedmont guitarist named John Cephas the Barrelhouse Rockers. For the band included the harmonica player Phil Wiggins. In 1977 he went back to Alabama and died shortly before the start of his first European tour. John Cephas and Phil Wiggins worked as a duo on ( Cephas & Wiggins ).

Discography

• Big Chief Ellis Featuring Tarheel Slim, Brownie McGhee (1977 )