Bob Gaddy and Friends - Bicycle Boogie

Artist: Bob Gaddy and Friends

Song: Bicycle Boogie

Album: Bob Gaddy & Friends

Also on album: VV. AA. – Let Him Have It (soundtrack 1992)

Or V. A.: New York Blues And R&B 1949-1954

Bob Gaddy was the son of a coal miner and was born among the mining country of West Virginia. At a young age he moved to North Carolina with his family and like so many others before him, gravitated toward music from the church. He began to learn the rudiments of the piano and continued to hone his musical skills during his teenaged years. Gaddy entered the military in 1944 and there came in contact with styles of the blues. He soon abandoned his reliance on gospel music and became an accomplished blues pianist. After his military discharge he thought about relocating to California, but making the rounds of night spots in Harlem soon put those plans on hold.

At a club in Harlem, Gaddy had the chance to sit in with budding blues great Champion Jack Dupree. He played an impressive set and this led to one booking after another in area clubs and soon Bob Gaddy was a mainstay on the New York City blues scene. Two of his long time partners in music are guitarists Larry Dale and Jimmy "Wildman" Spruill. He also played for a time with bassist Al Hall and drummer Gene Moore. Bob Gaddy and his combo did a lot of backup work in the late forties and early fifties for Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. In 1952 Gaddy had his first visit to the recording studio for the little known New York based Jackson label.The combo was labeled as Bob Gaddy & His Alley Cats and included McGhee and Terry. The songs were "I Believe You Got A Sidekick" and Bicycle Boogie" and released on Jackson # 2303. more

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