By Michael Swanger michael@dmcityview.com

Guitar Shorty, the 65-year-old electrifying stuntman of the blues who for years made his way to the stage each night through a series of acrobatic somersaults without missing a note on his guitar and who influenced Jimi Hendrix, is turning handstands over the music he is making these days.

"It's been a dream to do something like this for a long time and finally have it come true," he says, talking about his recordings for Alligator Records. "I'm in with a good record company and I'm going to do some things I've been waiting my whole life to do."

Over the years, Shorty has endured hard knocks, but stayed true to his art. It was nearly 50 years ago when the singer-guitarist born in Texas and raised in Florida got his professional start at the age of 17. That same year, he earned his stage name (though he stands at 5-foot-10) and recorded his first single for Cobra Records (backed by Otis Rush on second guitar) after being discovered by Willie Dixon.

It seemed like Shorty's career was on the fast track when a year later he met one of his heroes, Guitar Slim, and began incorporating some of Slim's tricks into his live shows. His performances soon landed him a job with Ray Charles; but in 1959 he left Charles to join R&B singer Sam Cooke and recorded a handful of solo 45s for Pull Records in Los Angeles, including the hit "This is a Hard Life."

After Cooke's group disbanded, Shorty moved to Vancouver to avoid being "hog-tied" by a girl who wanted to get married. There, he continued to make a name working with T-Bone Walker and Little Milton. His high-energy music, driven by rugged vocals and experimental guitar sounds, earned him a loyal following, though mainstream success eluded him.

A few years later, he moved to Seattle, where he married Marsha Hendrix, Jimi's stepsister, in 1965. One year before their wedding, he met the relatively unknown left-handed guitarist at a family party where the young Hendrix confessed to stealing some of his licks and wildman antics.

"He told me he used to sneak out of his Army base [1961-62] to see me play," Shorty says. "He said 'Man, you're one of the most amazing guitar players I've ever seen. I borrowed a few things from you, I hope you don't mind.' I didn't mind because it was in the family."

When Shorty became the first black guitarist in Seattle to own a wah-wah pedal, he showed Hendrix how to use it, helping shape the icon's sound. Some of his trademark guitar runs, he says, can be heard on Hendrix classics like "Hey Joe," "Purple Haze" and "The Wind Cries Mary."

"Back in those days that was my style," he says. "It's nothing for me to learn one of his tunes and play it better than he did."

Like most blues players, Shorty's career wavered during the '70s and '80s as audiences transitioned from black to white and blues music struggled to compete with disco and R&B. Shorty, however, stayed true to the blues, hoping some day it would pay off.

"They been trying to kill the blues, but you can't kill the blues," Shorty says. "Blues is an American tradition."

In 1991, Shorty finally got the break he was looking for when the English record label JSP issued his debut full-length album, "My Way or the Highway ." From there, his recording career blossomed with a series of releases on Black Top and Evidence records to support his headlining status at clubs and festivals around the world.

Last year, Shorty's Alligator Records' debut "Watch Your Back" was nominated for two Blues Music Awards for Blues Album of the Year and Contemporary Blues Album of the Year. And if he gets his way, his next Alligator effort, due in stores this summer, will reveal a few tricks he's had up his sleeve for a number of years, including a country and western tune and a song sung in Spanish.

"I always play like it's my last time," Shorty says. "Now that I'm in the saddle I'm going to try to stay there as long as I can." CV

Sample Clips

My Way or the Highway
Let My Guitar Do The Talking
Right Tool For The Job

Comment on this story | Return to top