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Difference between revisions of "Blind Orange Adams"
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| − | Fictional blues musician invented by ''Downbeat'' magazine writer Don DeMicheal in 1959 as a joke on Blind Lemon Jefferson, and DeMichael didn't expect his bosses to publish it. They thought it was funny | + | Fictional blues musician invented by ''Downbeat'' magazine writer Don DeMicheal in 1959 as a joke on Blind Lemon Jefferson, and DeMichael didn't expect his bosses to publish it. They did. And they thought it was funny afterwards and kept dropping references to Adams in subsequent issues here and there as an inside joke. Other editors adopted Adams, and began dropping references also. |
| − | + | Adams even made it into big time music magazines ''[https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_eQsEAAAAMBAJ#page/n9/mode/2up/search/%22Blind+Orange+Adams%22 Billboard]'' (March 16, 1963) and ''[https://archive.org/stream/cashbox25unse_35#page/42/mode/2up/search/%22Blind+Orange+Adams%22 Cash Box]'' (May 23, 1964). | |
| − | + | Eventually DeMichael and his boss Gene Lees were approached by a record label wanting to record and release an album by Adams. Lees and DeMichael came up with a plan where Adams would agree to record only if DeMichael and Lees produced the record and Adams never had to meet the record executives. Lees had let tenor saxophonist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Harris Eddie Harris] in on the gag, who would have been the voice of Adams. Unfortunately for fictional music history, the execs would not agree to a deal without meeting Adams. Lees and DeMichael considered killing off Adams in a car crash to avoid further complications; but instead "... let him drift into the obscurity from which he'd come." | |
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| + | The affair is mentioned in the 1990 book ''[https://archive.org/details/jazzanecdotes00crow Jazz Anecdotes]'' by Bill Crow. | ||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
Revision as of 13:11, 26 January 2021
Fictional blues musician invented by Downbeat magazine writer Don DeMicheal in 1959 as a joke on Blind Lemon Jefferson, and DeMichael didn't expect his bosses to publish it. They did. And they thought it was funny afterwards and kept dropping references to Adams in subsequent issues here and there as an inside joke. Other editors adopted Adams, and began dropping references also.
Adams even made it into big time music magazines Billboard (March 16, 1963) and Cash Box (May 23, 1964).
Eventually DeMichael and his boss Gene Lees were approached by a record label wanting to record and release an album by Adams. Lees and DeMichael came up with a plan where Adams would agree to record only if DeMichael and Lees produced the record and Adams never had to meet the record executives. Lees had let tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris in on the gag, who would have been the voice of Adams. Unfortunately for fictional music history, the execs would not agree to a deal without meeting Adams. Lees and DeMichael considered killing off Adams in a car crash to avoid further complications; but instead "... let him drift into the obscurity from which he'd come."
The affair is mentioned in the 1990 book Jazz Anecdotes by Bill Crow.
External Links
- Lees, Gene. "The Life and Times of Blind Orange Adams" High Fidelity, October 1969. p.126. https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-High-Fidelity/60s/High-Fidelity-1969-10.pdf
- https://dolphinshark.tumblr.com/post/12288388235/the-fake-life-of-blind-orange-adams-in
