| Little Milton |
Article Index for Little |
Website Links For Little |
Information AboutLittle Milton |
|
Little Milton ( September 17 , 1934 — August 4 , 2005 ) was the stage name for '''Milton Campbell, Jr.''', a Blues vocalist and guitarist best known his hits "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "We're Going to Make It." Most popular in The Sixties , he became one of the lesser known greats of the genre, combining traditional lyrical structure with smoother production. Born in the Mississippi Delta town of Mississippi and raised in Greenville by a farmer and local blues musician. By age twelve he had learned the guitar and was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker and his blues and rock-n-roll contemporaries. In 1952 , while still a teenager playing in local bars, he caught the attention of Ike Turner , who was at that time a talent scout for Sam Phillips ' Sun Records . He signed a contract with the iconic label and recorded a number of singles. None of them broke through onto radio or sold well at record stores, however, and Milton left the Sun label by 1955 . After transitioning from several labels without notable success, Milton set up the St. Louis Bobbin Records label, which ultimately scored a distribution deal with Leonard Chess ' Chess Records . As a record producer, Milton helped bring artists such as Albert King and popular R&B singer Fontella Bass to fame, while experiencing success for the first time. After a number of small format and regional hits, his 1962 single, "So Mean to Me," broke onto the Billboard Magazine R&B chart (then called the "Black Singles Chart"), eventually peaking at #14. After a short break to tour, manage other acts, and spend time recording new material, he returned to music in radio, a format then dominated largely by white artists. He followed the song with #4 R&B hit "Who's Cheating Who?" All three songs were featured on his breakthrough album ''We're Gonna Make It'', released that summer. Throughout the late sixties Milton released a number of moderately successful singles, but didn't release his second album, ''Grits Ain't Groceries'', until . After leaving Stax, Milton struggled to maintain a career, transitioning first to Evidence, then the MCA imprint Mobile Fidelity Records, before finding a home at the independent label, Malaco Records, where he remained for much of the remainder of his career. His last hit single, "Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number," was released in 1983 from the album of the same name. His most recent album, ''Think of Me'', was released in May of 2005 on the Telarc imprint. In 1988 , Little Milton was inducted into the Blues Hall Of Fame and won the prestigious W.C. Handy Award . He continued to tour and release new material until his death on August 4 , 2005 of a stroke. DISCOGRAPHY Albums
Singles ''Incomplete Listing''
Compilation Albums
|
|
|