Elmore Nixon (November 17, 1933 – June 1975) was an American

jump blues Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s as ...

pianist and singer. His piano playing accompanied several artists on their recordings, including

Peppermint Harris Harrison Demotra Nelson, Jr. (July 17, 1925 – March 19, 1999), known as Peppermint Harris, was an American rhythm and blues and jump blues singer and guitarist. Originally from Texarkana, Texas, he first recorded in Houston, as Peppermint Ne ...

Clifton Chenier Clifton Chenier (June 25, 1925 – December 12, 1987), was an American Creole musician known as a pioneer of zydeco, a style of music which arose from Creole music, with rhythm and blues, R&B, blues, and Cajun music, Cajun influences. He sang a ...

and

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list o ...

, as well as releasing a number of singles under his own name. Details of his life outside of his recording career are sketchy.

Biography

He was born in

Crowley, Louisiana Crowley (Local pronunciation: ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Acadia Parish, Louisiana, Acadia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 United States census, Crowley had a population of 11,710. Crowley is the principal city of th ...

, United States. Little is known of his early life, although in 1939 his family relocated to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, where he grew up. He remained in Houston for the rest of his life. It is presumed that he learned to play the piano whilst undergoing training to join the church. In October 1947, at the age of 13, Nixon supplied piano accompaniment to Peppermint Nelson's recording of "Peppermith Boogie" for

Gold Star Records Gold Star Records is an American independent record label, which was founded in 1941. Gold Star Recording Company and Gold Star Sound Services Gold Star Recording Company originated as a recording studio in Houston, Texas, and was founded i ...

. It was the commencement of an almost decade long, continuous career, in the recording studio for Nixon, working with a number of record labels. He became a de facto member of Henry Hayes' Four Kings, who were also credited as Henry Hayes Orchestra and Henry Hayes Band. Apart from Hayes and Nixon, the ensemble regularly included Carl Campbell, Milton Willis, L.C. Williams, Hubert Robinson, Ivory Lee and

Hop Wilson Harding "Hop" Wilson (April 27, 1921 – August 27, 1975) was an American Texas blues steel guitar player. Wilson gained the nickname "Hop" as a devolution of "Harp" due to his constant playing of a harmonica as a child. His low sounding playing ...

. Nixon played predominately in a

style. Nixon's debut single release, "Foolish Love", was recorded in 1949 for the

Sittin' in With Sittin' in With (sometimes Sittin' in) was an American jazz and blues record label run by Bob Shad. It was active from 1948 to 1952. Shad and his brother Morty founded the label in 1948 in New York City, and released swing jazz, mainstream jazz, b ...

record label. Further single releases occurred over the next six years for labels including

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

, and

Post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

. His only commercial success came with the self-penned "Alabama Blues", which was later recorded by other musicians. Studio session work over the same period saw Nixon play piano accompaniment to

Lester Williams Lester Williams (January 19, 1959 – August 16, 2017) was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL), mainly for the New England Patriots, including the team's first Super Bowl appearance. He finished his career ...

, Hop Wilson,

Billy Bizor Billy Bizor (September 3, 1913 – April 5, 1969) was an American Texas blues harmonicist, singer and songwriter. He was musically associated with his cousin Lightnin' Hopkins, on some of whose 1960s albums Bizor played harmonica and sang backin ...

and

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (April 18, 1924 – September 10, 2005) was an American singer and multi-instrumentalist from Louisiana. He won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1983 for his album, ''Alright Again!''. Early life Br ...

. During the mid-1960s, Nixon recorded with

, on the latter's sessions for

Arhoolie Records Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was founded b ...

. He also supplied piano backing for

, when Hopkins recorded sides with Jewel Records. Apart from recording work, Nixon toured with his own band, performing largely in Texas and Louisiana. Also in the 1960s, Nixon enjoyed performing before Mexican audiences, making frequent trips across the border. Nixon underwent major surgery in 1970, which curtailed his activities and was in poor health until he died in June 1975, in Houston, Texas, U.S. at the age of 41.

Selected discography

Singles

Compilation albums

References

External links