Evelyn "The Whip" Young (March 25, 1928 – October 2, 1990) was an American saxophonist from Memphis, Tennessee, United States.

Career

At age 14, Young began playing saxophone professionally at Beale Street

Chitlin' Circuit The Chitlin' Circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other enterta ...

clubs run by Sunbeam Mitchell, while still enrolled at Manassas High School. In 1952, she formed a touring band with Bill Harvey for B.B. King in 1952, which lasted for eight years. From 1960 onward, she performed regularly at Mitchell's Club Handy, directing a 21-piece band there, and recorded with

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Little Milton, Memphis Slim, and the Fieldstones.

Influence

Terry Johnson of the Stax session band the Mar-Keys recalls sneaking into Club Handy to hear Young play. In the documentary ''All Day and All Night: Memories from Beale Street Musicians'', Young recalls B.B. King telling her that "everything I played on the saxophone was what he wanted to play on the guitar." After her death, Fred Ford wrote that "She was as fine a musician as you'll ever hear . . . She never got the recognition she deserved in her lifetime, but she could sure play with anyone."

Selected recordings

Rufus Thomas Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. (March 26, 1917 – December 15, 2001) was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels, including Chess Rec ...

, "I'll Be a Good Boy" (1950) * B.B. King, "

3 O'Clock Blues "3 O'Clock Blues" or "Three O'Clock Blues" is a slow twelve-bar blues recorded by Lowell Fulson in 1946. When it was released in 1948, it became Fulson's first hit. When B.B. King recorded the song in 1951, it became his first hit as well as one o ...

" (1952)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Evelyn 1928 births 1990 deaths American blues saxophonists musicians from Memphis, Tennessee Musicians from Tennessee 20th-century American musicians 20th-century women musicians