Down The Road A Piece: The Amos Milburn Story

 Amos Milburn was born in Houston and died there some 52 years later. During his lifetime he was a hugely popular artist pounding out some rollicking piano boogies regaling his audience with tales about women, whiskey and good times.

 Born in 1927, Amos Milburn started playing at age five, when his family heard him pick out "Jingle Bells" on the piano rented for an older sister's wedding. Mainly he learned by hanging around outside juke joints and listening to the popular records of the day. Milburn did a stint in the Navy before returning home to Houston. He formed a combo, and started playing local gigs. That led to a higher-paying engagement fronting the Slam Stewart Trio, where he gained fame for his boogie-woogie playing and singing.

 He moved to Los Angeles in 1946 and with the help of manager Lola Anne Cullum he soon landed a deal with Philo Records which later became Aladdin Records and where he would reside for the next 11 years. He immediately hit pay dirt with the thundering boogie of "Down the Road Apiece."

 The first of Milburn's 19 Top Ten R&B smashes came in 1948 with his classic "Chicken Shack Boogie," which gave his band the name the Aladdin Chickenshackers. His ballad "Bewildered" displayed Milburn's smooth after-hours side of persona but it was rollicking boogie-woogie material such as "Roomin' House Boogie" and "Sax Shack Boogie" that cemented Milburn's reputation. By 1949 he was Billboard's biggest-selling R&B artist.

 The hits continued in 1950 with "Bad Bad Whiskey" which purportedly hit the one hundred thousand sales mark in less than four weeks and all indications are that the record was the biggest seller in the history of the label. He had similar success throughout the 50's with such boozy titles as "Thinking and Drinking", "Let Me Go Home Whiskey" and "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer."

 Aladdin stuck with Milburn after the hits ceased sending him to New Orleans in 1956 to record at the famous Cosimo's studio. In 1957, he left Aladdin for good.

 Amos cut the fine Christmas tune in 1960, "Christmas (Comes but Once a Year)" for King. Berry Gordy gave Milburn a comeback forum in 1962, issuing an album on Motown predominated by remakes of his old hits

 The remaining years were not kind to Milburn. When he died in 1980, he was broke and had been paralyzed on one side after suffering a couple of strokes ten years earlier. They had tried amputating his left leg six months before his death, but it was too late. Songs such as "Bad, Bad Whiskey," "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer" and "Vicious, Vicious Vodka" tell the story- Milburn had enjoyed himself a little too much during the few years of his popularity, and paid for it during the years that followed.

Essential Listening

Best Of Amos Milburn- Down The Road Apiece (EMI): A fine 26 song, one disc anthology including classics like "Chickenshack Boogie," "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer," "Let's Have A Party," and "Bad, Bad Whiskey" as well as some lesser-known gems.

The Complete Aladdin Recordings Of Amos Milburn (Mosaic): Everything Milburn recorded for Aladdin, 145 tracks, is included in this lavish box set. The bad news is it's out of print except for a 10 LP version. If you've got the cash this is well worth hunting down.

Blues, Barrelhouse & Boogie Woogie: 1946-1955 (Capitol): A good choice between the Mosaic box and EMI's single disc set. This three-disc, 66-song collection has just about all his classics and fine less familiar material.