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Pinkney
"Pink" Anderson Anderson attained legendary status with his Piedmont style of Blues. Quite a few of the songs Anderson wrote made reference to places in Spartanburg. "Forest Street Boogie" is such an example. Although countless musicians were influenced by him, one of the most lasting tributes was paid when the band Pink Floyd adopted his first name as part of their own. Today his blues tradition is being carried on by his son, Alvin "Little Pink" Anderson. |
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David
Ball Formerly with Uncle Walt's Band, a Spartanburg band, Ball is best-known for his single "Thinkin' Problem."
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Johnny
Blowers Blowers played drums on recordings for Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Maxine Sullivan among others. |
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Tim
Bryson International low brass soloist and lecturer, Tim Bryson has performed and recorded with numerous orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Maggio Musicale Orchestra in Florence, Italy, The Rome Opera Orchestra and The Munich Philharmonic. He can be seen and heard on the much acclaimed THREE TENORS Gala video and best-selling disc. Mr. Bryson has appeared on television and radio programs in Europe, the Americas and Africa. He is acclaimed for his musicianship, panache and sense of humor. |
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Marshall
Chapman Raised in Spartanburg, Chapman was once an unofficial member of Willie Nelson's and Waylon Jennings' "outlaw crowd". Her first critically acclaimed album, Me, I'm Feelin' Free, was soon followed by another, Jaded Virgin, which was produced by Al Kooper. Her songs have been recorded by Jimmy Buffet, Sawyer Brown, Tanya Tucker, and Emmylou Harris. Today Chapman writes and records in Nashville.
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Julius
"June" Cheeks Frequently cited as an inspiration to Sam Cooke and James Brown, Cheeks helped to develop the "hard gospel" sound that was so influential in rhythm & blues and rock & roll. Along with fellow Spartans Providence Thomas and Bill Woodruff, Cheeks sang with the group "The Sensational Nightingales."
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Charlie
Daniels Daniels attended Spartanburg's Jenkins Junior High School, and is best known for the hit "The Devil Went Down in Georgia." He toured with the Spartanburg group, the Marshall Tucker Band and referred to that band in the hit "The South's Gonna Do It Again."
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David
Daniels Considered to be one of the rising stars on the opera scene, countertenor Daniels regularly performs at New York's Lincoln Center and gave a spectacular performance with the New York City Opera in Handel's Xerxes. His performances have brought him critical acclaim. According to Time Magazine, Daniels " is racking up reviews that might make even Pavarotti envious." This Dorman High School graduate is the first countertenor to ever have a recital at Carnegie Hall.
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The
Dixie Hummingbirds The influence the Hummingbird's lead singer, Ira Tucker of Spartanburg, had on soul singers of 50's and 60's was profound. Hank Ballard, Clyde Mc Phatter, the Temptations' David Ruffin, and Jackie Wilson are but a few of the singers who fell under the Hummingbirds' magic. The Hummingbirds later backed Paul Simon on his hit, "Loves Me Like A Rock."
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Carlisle
Floyd Best known for his opera Susanna which is performed not only in this country, but throughout Europe, Floyd received his Masters in Music from Converse College. "[He is] the leading voice in 20th century American opera Opera is, for Floyd, universal themes embodied by ordinary characters moving in a musical plan that naturally absorbs opera's tradition of melody, arias, duets and coherent scenes focused on expressing emotion. As a result, Floyd, the South Carolina outsider, is suddenly having the kind of recognition Verdi enjoyed in mid-life." Philadelphia Enquirer
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Hank
Garland Garland is another guitarist whose influence spread far beyond the borders of this small city. Having Performed with Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline and The Everly Brothers, Garland is best known for his single "Sugarfoot Rag." |
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Walter
Hyatt & Uncle Walt's Band Perhaps Walter Hyatt's greatest achievement was his impact on the music of others. Although his band, Uncle Walt's Band, appeared on Austin City Limits in the early eighties, their music was too ecclectic for popular tastes, and they were largely regarded as a favorite band of other musicians. Lyle Lovett, David Ball, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Marshall Chapman, Hal Ketchum, and Junior Brown all fell under their influence. Hyatt's untimely death in 1996 on the Valuejet DC-9 in the Everglades brought musical tributes from Lovett, Brown, Victor Mecyssne, David Olney, Shawn Colvin, David Halley, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, David Ball, Champ Hood, Willis Alan Ramsey and Jerry Jeff Walker. BJ Thomas and Jerry Jeff Walker have recorded songs Hyatt wrote.
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Freddie
"Careless" Love Between 1950 and 1955 Love was an international recording artist for Decca Records. As one of the lead singers with The Spade Cooley Band at the height of that group's popularity on the west coast (their television show once pulled over a fifty percent marketshare), Love appeared on the cover of TV Guide and performed on The Bob Hope Show.
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The
Marshall Tucker Band This local band rode the tide of Southern Rock in the mid-70's with hits such as "Can't You See," "Heard It In a Love Song" and "Fire On The Mountain."
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Edwin
McCain Friends with the Columbia-based band Hootie and the Blowfish, McCain appeared on the David Letterman Show in 1995.
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Carlos
Moseley An accomplished pianist, Carlos Moseley is a former president and chairman of the board for the New York Philharmonic. He is the only Philharmonic manager to have appeared in concert with the Orchestra as a soloist. Moseley received Honorary Membership in The Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, a distinction that fewer than 75 individuals have received since 1843. A Spartanburg native, he is widely credited for creating the idea for the free concerts in the park in New York City that attract several hundred thousand people. Joseph Hopkins, dean of Converse College's Petrie School of Music said that "for many decades [Moseley] has been one of the most influential musicians in the world." It was his decision to bring Leonard Bernstein to work with the Philharmonic.
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Don
Reno Considered by many to be among the greatest banjo players of all time, Don was the first to use a three-finger method of banjo picking. He directly influenced Earl Scruggs, another great banjo player from nearby town of Shelby, N.C. In the mid '50's Reno created a group with Red Smiley which was among the most popular bluegrass bands for a number of years.
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Daryle
Ryce Born and raised in Spartanburg, Ryce has developed a national and international fan base. According to Fred Goodman of Rolling Stone magazine, Ryce is "a distinctive and uniquely American artist...an outstanding pianist and guitarist, equally comfortable playing bluegrass, country, swing, jazz, bossa nova and folk." Her admirers include Chet Atkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich and Pat Boone. She performed with Pat Boone for Pinochet at the Chilean presidential palace, has been interviewed by Linda Wortheimer for National Public Radio, and once took part in a guitar picking session with Jerry Reed, Glen Campbell, Roy Clark and Johnny Cash.
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Gianna
Rolandi Among the most prominent sopranos in the world, Rolandi has performed with Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavoratti and Beverly Sills. In 1984 Rolandi appeared in the film version of Strauss' opera Arabella.
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Arthur
Smith Best known for co-writing "Feudin' Banjos (usually called Dueling Banjos)," which was used as the theme to the movie "Deliverance," Arthur Smith and the Crackerjacks had a popular radio on WSPA in Spartanburg. |
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Joe
Bennett and the Sparkletones During the year of 1957, the Sparkletones made the national charts with their Top Ten hit "Black Slacks," a song featured in the Disney film The Rescuers Down Under. The Sparkletones performed twice on the Ed Sullivan Show and three times on American Bandstand. Later, while he was in the Air Force, Bennett started a new band, Joe and the Jaguars. The drummer for that group was Mickey Hart, who before joining that group had been a world champion drummer in the Drum and Bugle Corp. After cutting his Rock and Roll teeth with the Jaguars, Hart would become the percussionist for the Grateful Dead.
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Bobby
Thompson One of the developers of the melodic style of banjo playing, Thompson is credited by master picker Tony Trishcka as being a towering figure who "re-thought the instrument." Although Bill Keith is usually credited with creating this style of play, Thompson was using it in the mid-fifties after hearing Western North Carolinian Carol Best play a melodic style. Thompson was important in the history of the instrument's development for yet another reason: he was first to play the blues on the banjo.
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Jennings
Thompson, Jr. The son of a former Spartanburg mayor, the Converse College graduate co-wrote Once Upon A Mattress. Julie Andrews sang "Jimmy" one of his songs which appeared in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. |
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Aaron
Tippin Tippin hit the charts in the 90's with his songs "Blue Angel," "Working Man's Ph.D.," "There Ain't Nothin' Wrong with the Radio" and "You've Got to Stand For Something."
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Buck
Trent In front of a national audience on the Porter Waggoner Show, Trent played the world's first electric banjo.
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William
"Singin' Billy" Walker In the early 1800's, "Singin' Billy" Walker created a system of shaped notes that allowed rural folks who had little formal music education sing songs from a hymnbook. Before that, hymn tunes were learned and committed to memory later to be sung to text in a hymnal. The publication of "Southern Harmony" in 1835 sold over 600,000 copies and not only revolutionized church singing in the rural south, but helped to preserve hymns that might otherwise have been lost. Walker's partner, Benjamin Franklin White, moved to Georgia and wrote a competing shaped note hymnal, "Sacred Harp" which overtook "Southern Harmony in popularity and influence.
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