Billy Preston (1946–2006) was an American R&B singer and keyboardist who released 24 albums between 1963 and 1986. After multiple teen-prodigy soul-jazz albums, his profile soared as a fifth Beatle on their 1969 hit “Get Back.” His fame peaked with the 1972–74 R&B crossover hits “Outa-Space,” “Will It Go Round in Circles,” “Space Race,” and […]
4th Cekcion was an American brass-rock band from Bellaire, Texas, that released a self-titled album on local-press Solar Records in 1970. Members: Greg Isaacs (vocals, keyboards), Stewart Rojo (guitar), Mike St. Clair (bass), Louie Broussard (percussion), Richard Cantu (woodwinds), Gary Weldon (brass) Background 4th Cekcion formed in Bellaire when brass player Gary Weldon and reedist […]
Ronnie Laws is an American jazz-funk flutist and saxophonist who played in the 1972/73 lineup of Earth, Wind & Fire. Between 1975 and 1981, he cut three albums each on Blue Note and UA/Liberty. His 1975 debut Pressure Sensitive produced “Always There,” while the 1977 album Friends and Strangers earned US gold certification. Laws placed […]
ZZ Top is an American hard-rock/blues trio from Houston that formed in 1969 and built its first run on five London albums issued between 1971 and 1976. The classic lineup paired guitarist-singer Billy Gibbons, bassist-singer Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard across ZZ Top’s First Album, Rio Grande Mud, Tres Hombres, Fandango!, and Tejas. That early […]
Leon Haywood (February 11, 1942 — April 5, 2016) was a Houston-born singer-keyboardist who moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s and worked with saxophonist Big Jay McNeely before he joined the Sam Cooke touring band. After early Fantasy and Fat Fish sides, Haywood reached the R&B chart with the Imperial single “She’s With […]
Archie Bell & The Drells were an American soul group from Houston that released three albums on Atlantic in 1968/69. After a pair of 1973 singles on T.K.-subsidiary Glades, the group released four albums on TSOP/PIR between 1975 and 1979. Bell formed the group with James Wise, Willie Parnell, and Billy Butler. The Drells broke […]
Oran “Juice” Jones is an American soul singer who made the 1986/87 Def Jam albums Juice and G.T.O.: Gangsters Takin’ Over. He scored an R&B No. 1 with “The Rain” and also charted with “Curiosity” and “Cold Spendin’ My $ Money.” Background Oran Edward Jones was born March 28, 1957, in Houston and grew up […]
Eloise Laws is an American soul singer who released four albums between 1977 and 1982, charting with “1,000 Laughs,” “Number One,” and “Strength of a Woman.” Background Lavern Eloise Laws was born on November 6, 1943, in Houston as the fourth of eight children of Miola Luverta Donahue and Hubert Laws Sr. She grew up […]
A-440 was an American rock band from Houston that released three local garage-psych singles in 1967/68 on Sona and Cinema. The group returned in 1978 with the double-album rock opera Ulysses: The Greek Suite, featuring singers Ted Neeley and Yvonne Iversen on 20th Century-Fox. Members: Ted Neeley (vocals), Carlos Luevano (guitar), Craig Meacham (bass), Ian Hoffman […]
Johnny “Guitar” Watson (Feb. 3, 1935 — May 17, 1996) was an American R&B guitarist, active as a sessionist from the early 1950s. Between 1973 and 1984, he released eleven jazz-funk albums on Fantasy, DJM, and Valley Vue. As a bandleader, he headed the Watsonian Institute for two albums during the late 1970s. Background Johnny […]
The Red Crayola was an American psychedelic rock band from Houston that released the experimental 1967/68 albums Parable of Arable Land and God Bless the Red Krayola, both on International Artists. Guitarist/singer Mayo Thompson cut a 1970 solo folk album, Corky’s Debt to His Father. Thompson reactivated Red Crayola for the 1979 Radar Records release […]
Gloria Scott is an American soul singer from Houston who released the 1974 Casablanca album What Am I Gonna Do. She first recorded with The Tonettes, a precursor to Sly & The Family Stone. Background Gloria Scott was born on February 26, 1946, in Port Arthur, Texas. Her family moved to Houston before her first […]
Fever Tree was an American psych-rock band from Houston that released three albums on Uni in 1968/69, followed by a fourth on Ampex in 1971. Their first album spawned the regional hit “San Francisco Girls (Return of the Native).” Members: Michael Knust (guitar), Rob Landes (keyboards, woodwind), John Tuttle (drums), EE Wolfe III (bass), Dennis […]
Lightmen Plus One were an American jazz-funk band that released the 1970/71 albums Free As You Wanna Be and Fancy Pants on Judnell, followed by Energy Control Center and Country Fried Chicken on Lightin’ Records, the label of bandleader Bubbha Thomas. Background The Lightmen formed in Houston in 1969 when drummer William George “Bubbha” Thomas […]
Bloontz was an American hard-rock band from Houston that released a 1973 self-titled album on Evolution Records. Members: Zenobia (choir), Tony Braunagel (drums), Andy Chapman (vocals), Jimmy Don (guitar), Margaret Dorn (choir), Mike Montgomery (keyboards), Terry Wilson (bass), Sharon Redd (choir), David L. Kealey (guitar), Steve Radney (guitar), Linda Lawley (choir) Background Bloontz formed in […]
Patti Dahlstrom is an American singer–songwriter who released a 1972 self-titled album on UNI Records, followed by the 1973–76 albums The Way I Am, Your Place or Mine, and Livin’ It Thru on 20th Century. She wrote “No One’s Gonna Be a Fool Forever,” a 1972 MoWest a-side by Thelma Houston, who also recorded Patti’s […]
Michael White (May 24, 1930 — Dec. 6, 2016) was an American violinist and composer from Houston. He established his recording career through work with John Handy, Pharoah Sanders, and Sun Ra, then joined Mike Nock, Ron McClure, and Eddie Marshall in the Fourth Way for a run of late-1960s electric jazz albums. White maintained […]
Relayer was an American symphonic-rock band that issued a 1979 eponymous album on self-press HSR. Members: Guy Schwartz (vocals, guitar, bass), Tim Munson (keyboards, vocals), Win Landureth (guitar), Michael Knust (guitar, percussion), Roger Tausz (bass), Link Davis, Jr (saxophone), Stievie Webb (saxophone), Mike Rayburn (drums, percussion) Background Relayer formed in May 1976 in Houston when […]
King’s X is an American hard-rock band that emerged with the 1988 album Out of the Silent Planet, followed with Gretchen Goes to Nebraska and four further titles on Atlantic. They reappeared on Metal Blade with the 1998 disc Tape Head and made six further albums through the 2022 Inside Out title Three Sides of […]
Debra Laws (born Sept. 10, 1956) is an American soul singer from Houston who released the album Very Special with accompanying singles on Elektra in 1981. She is the last-born in the musical Laws clan, which also includes flutist Hubert Laws, vocalist Eloise Laws, and saxophonist Ronnie Laws. Background Debra Renee Laws was born September […]
Hubert Laws (born Nov. 10, 1939) is an American flutist from Houston. He is the eldest of kin in the musical Laws family, which also includes saxophonist Ronnie Laws and vocalists Eloise and Debra Laws. Background Hubert Laws Jr. was born on November 10, 1939, in Houston, Texas. His mother, Miola Luverta Laws, played piano […]
Billy Harper (born Jan. 17, 1943) is an American post-bop tenor saxophonist and composer from Houston who emerged with Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Max Roach, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, then recorded Capra Black, Black Saint, and a series of leader albums for Denon. Background Billy Harper was born Jan. 17, 1943, in Houston, […]
Lionhart was an American hard-rock band from Houston that released a 1975 standalone single and a 1977 eponymous album, both on self-press Hutch Productions. Members: Craig Bransfield (electric and acoustic guitars, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Bill House (guitar, vocals), Jon Wesley (bass, electric guitar, synthesizer, vocals), Lee Hamilton (drums, percussion) Background Lionhart formed in Houston under […]
Kashmere Stage Band (KSB) was an American funk ensemble comprised of students from Kashmere High School in Houston. Their director, music teacher Conrad O. Johnson, led KSB through multiple iterations over a ten-year period. After their 1969 no-label release, five studio albums and two live discs appeared through 1975 on self-press Kram Records, each in […]
Horace Tapscott (April 6, 1934 — Feb. 27, 1999) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader from Houston who spent most of his career in Los Angeles. He founded the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and built a long-running South Los Angeles network around community performance, composition, and musician development. Tapscott recorded as a leader […]
Leon Spencer (Nov. 1, 1945 — March 11, 2012) was an American jazz-funk pianist and organist from Houstonwho cut four early-Seventies albums for Prestige and recorded with Lou Donaldson, Melvin Sparks, Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, and Rusty Bryant. Background Leon Spencer Jr. was born Nov. 1, 1945, in Houston, Texas. He began piano lessons as […]
Luis Gasca (born March 23, 1940) is an American Latin/spiritual-jazz trumpeter and fluegelhorn player from Houston. He played with Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Mongo Santamaría, Santana, and Malo across the 1960s and 1970s. As a leader, Gasca made the 1968–74 albums Little Giant, For Those Who Chant, Born to Love You, and Collage. Background Luis […]
