Harrison Kennedy (born March 9, 1942) is a Black Canadian

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930 ...

, R&B, and

soul blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin African American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by ar ...

, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for being the lead vocalist on the

Chairmen of the Board Chairmen of the Board is an American-Canadian, Detroit, Michigan-based soul music group, who saw their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. Recording career General Johnson (1941–2010) had a hit as the lead singer of The Showmen in th ...

song, "Chairman of the Board", but has had a varied solo career since the mid-1970s. He was awarded the 2016 " Blues Album of the Year" Juno Award for his release, ''This Is From Here''. It was Kennedy's sixth nomination for that Award. He is also a Blues Music Award, and multiple Maple Blues Award nominee.

Life and career

Harrison Kennedy was born and raised in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

, Canada. His family had roots in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

,. Kennedy sang in the Stewart Memorial Church Choir as a boy, when childhood trips took him over the border to visit relations in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

Rogersville, Tennessee Rogersville is a town in, and the county seat of, Hawkins County, Tennessee, Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. It was settled in 1775 by the grandparents of Davy Crockett. It is named for its founder, Joseph Rogers (pioneer), Joseph Roger ...

, and Detroit, Illinois, United States, and all these experiences expanded his love of music. in 1974 Kennedy relocated to Detroit and joined the

in 1970, a group started as part of the then newly created

Holland–Dozier–Holland Holland–Dozier–Holland was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the Motown sound in the 1960s. Du ...

record labels,

Invictus Records Invictus Records was an American record label based in Detroit, Michigan. It was created by former top Motown producers Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, Jr. (known collectively as Holland–Dozier–Holland). It was the sister l ...

and

Hot Wax Records Hot Wax Records was a Detroit, Michigan-based record label, created by producers/songwriters Holland–Dozier–Holland (Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland) in 1968 when they left Motown. History Until 1967, Holland, Dozier, and Holl ...

. Kennedy played on the recording of Marvin Gaye's 1971 song, " What's Going On". Following a string of hit records with Chairmen of the Board, which included "

Give Me Just a Little More Time "Give Me Just a Little More Time" is the debut single by Chairmen of the Board, released in 1970 through Capitol Records on Holland–Dozier–Holland's Invictus Records label. "Give Me Just a Little More Time", backed with "Since the Days of ...

", "

(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String "(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String" is a 1970 soul music song by the Chairmen of the Board. The single reached No. 38 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100,Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004 No. 19 on the US '' Billboard' ...

", and "

Everything's Tuesday "Everything's Tuesday" is a song, written by Holland-Dozier-Holland (using the pseudonym Edyth Wayne) with Daphne Dumas and Ron Dunbar. When released as a single, performed by American group Chairmen of the Board and produced by Holland-Dozier-Ho ...

", Kennedy left in 1974 and set out on a solo career. Kennedy served as a corporal with the RHLI and later worked for

Allied Chemical Corporation Allied Corp. was a major American company with operations in the chemical, aerospace, automotive, oil and gas industries. It was initially formed in 1920 as the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation as an amalgamation of five chemical companies. In ...

. Over the years on a part-time basis he played a variety of musical genres including funk,

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

, R&B,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

, rock, and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

. Kennedy spent almost 30 years outside of the music industry, before returning as a blues singer and guitarist with 2003's ''Sweet Taste''. In 2007, Kennedy signed a new recording contract with

Electro-Fi Records Electro-Fi Records is a Canadian award-winning independent record label founded in 1996, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which specializes in the release of blues records. History Electro-Fi Records was founded in 1996 by Andrew Galloway, with a ...

and has since released a number of internationally acclaimed albums. In 2008, Kennedy was nominated for Best Blues Recording in Canada's Juno Awards. He separately achieved second place against 83 others in the solo/duo category at the 2011

International Blues Challenge The International Blues Challenge (IBC) is a music competition run by the Blues Foundation. Notable blues artists that have competed in the IBC over the years also includes Fiona Boyes, Eden Brent, Michael Burks, Tommy Castro, Sean Costello, Alb ...

. In 2013 he also overcame a spell of prostate cancer. In 2013 he released ''Soulscape'', on which he played a variety of instruments, which was followed by the Juno winning album, ''This Is From Here''. It featured

Colin Linden Colin Kendall Linden (born 16 April 1960) is a Canadian guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Linden plays acoustic and electric guitar, specializing in slide guitar, country blues, and ragtime fingerpicking. He frequently collaborates with ...

on several tracks, from a total of six of which Kennedy wrote. The album has also won the

Grand Prix du Disque for Blues The Grand Prix du Disque for Blues is awarded by l'Académie Charles Cros. Winners The following is a partial list of winners: * 2002 Mighty Mo Rodgers ''Red, White and Blues'' * 2003 Buddy Guy for ''Blues Singers'' * 2004 Doctor John for ''N'Awl ...

award from the

Académie Charles Cros The Académie Charles Cros (Charles Cros Academy) is an organization located in Chézy-sur-Marne, France, that acts as an intermediary between government cultural policy makers and professionals in music and the recording industry. The academy is ...

in France, as the 2015 Blues Album of the Year. Harrison toured in late 2014 with

Ruthie Foster Ruthie Cecelia Foster (born February 10, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter of blues and folk music. She mixes a wide palette of American song forms, from gospel and blues to jazz, folk and soul. She has often been compared to Bonnie Raitt ...

Eric Bibb Eric Charles Bibb (born August 16, 1951) is a Grammy-nominated American-born blues singer and songwriter. Biography Bibb's father, Leon, was a musical theatre singer, who made a name for himself as part of the 1960s New York folk scene; his ...

and Jerome Michael Brown. He also appeared as a guest performer on Bibb's 2014 album, ''Blues People''. He participated in 2018 with

Jean-Jacques Milteau Jean-Jacques Milteau (born 17 April 1950, Paris) is a French blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter, as well as radio presenter. Career Milteau became interested in the harmonica when he first heard folk and rock music (such as Bob D ...

and Vincent Segal on the recording of ''Crossborder Blues'', published by Naïve. In 2017, this group commenced a tour.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

*
Article including a 2013 interview with Kennedy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Harrison 1942 births Living people Canadian blues singers Canadian blues guitarists Canadian male guitarists Electric blues musicians Soul-blues musicians Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year winners 20th-century Black Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters

Life and career

Discography

Albums

See also

References

External links