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In Mississippi, Alexander worked as a porter in a hotel laundry room and later as a bicycle technician.<ref name="Interview"/> In 1959, he pawned his first guitar to help pay his way to Chicago<ref name="Linsey Alexander"/> by [[Greyhound lines|Greyhound bus]], following a girl he had met in Memphis. In Chicago, he had a series of jobs, working for a car dealer, at a gas station, and as a cook and busboy. He received a pension after he was wounded while working for the Chicago Police Department.<ref name="Interview"/>
In Mississippi, Alexander worked as a porter in a hotel laundry room and later as a bicycle technician.<ref name="Interview"/> In 1959, he pawned his first guitar to help pay his way to Chicago<ref name="Linsey Alexander"/> by [[Greyhound lines|Greyhound bus]], following a girl he had met in Memphis. In Chicago, he had a series of jobs, working for a car dealer, at a gas station, and as a cook and busboy. He received a pension after he was wounded while working for the Chicago Police Department.<ref name="Interview"/>


Alexander was pulled into the Chicago South Side music scene, where he heard soul artists like [[McKinley Mitchell]] and [[Bobby Day]] and bluesman [[Howlin' Wolf]]. His first guitar was never recovered from the pawnshop,<ref name="Linsey Alexander"/> but he bought another guitar and formed a band, the Hot Tomatoes, which was "good enough to enter a talent show at the well-known nightclub on 63rd Street called The Place."<ref name="Delmark"/> Alexander went on to form another band, the Equitable Band, which played at the Launching Pad, at 75th Street and Stony Island, for about eight years.<ref name="Chicago Blues Network"/> When Alexander was playing at Red's, a Chicago club at 35th Street and Archer, he was approached by an agent who introduced him to the popular North Side blues clubs B.L.U.E.S. and [[Kingston Mines (blues club)|Kingston Mines]]. His entry into "Blue Chicago" (downtown) exposed him to tourists to whom he started selling independently recorded CDs, which are still selling well.<ref name="Delmark"/> Alexander has been a fixture in Chicago North Side clubs for nearly two decades and has played with blues notables including [[Buddy Guy]], [[A.C. Reed]], [[Magic Slim]], and [[B.B. King]].<ref name="Chicago Blues Guide">{{cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); Harmonica Joe.--> |title=Linsey Alexander: ''Been There Done That''|url=http://www.chicagobluesguide.com/reviews/cd-reviews/linsey-alexander-cd/linsey-alexander-been-there-cd-page.html|publisher=Chicago Blues Guide|accessdate=26 January 2013}}</ref> He has performed for audiences in New York, Canada, and Europe<ref name=IsraBox>{{cite web|title=Linsey Alexander – Someone's Cookin' in My Kitchen (2004)|url=http://www.israbox.com/1146406654-linsey-alexander-someones-cookin-in-my-kitchen-2004.html|publisher=IsraBox}}</ref> and has appeared at the Mississippi Blues Festival.<ref>{{cite web|last=MacFarland|first=Karen|title=Blues fest set to wail July 1–3 in Davenport|url=http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=549246|publisher=Quad-Cities Online|accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref> Alexander is a regular performer at Kingston Mines.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kingstonmines.com/schedule.html |title=Schedule – Kingston Mines |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=kingstonmines.com |publisher=Kinston Mines |accessdate=April 28, 2015}}</ref>
Alexander was pulled into the Chicago South Side music scene, where he heard soul artists like [[McKinley Mitchell]] and [[Bobby Day]] and bluesman [[Howlin' Wolf]]. His first guitar was never recovered from the pawnshop,<ref name="Linsey Alexander"/> but he bought another guitar and formed a band, the Hot Tomatoes, which was "good enough to enter a talent show at the well-known nightclub on 63rd Street called The Place."<ref name="Delmark"/> Alexander went on to form another band, the Equitable Band, which played at the Launching Pad, at 75th Street and Stony Island, for about eight years.<ref name="Chicago Blues Network"/> When Alexander was playing at Red's, a Chicago club at 35th Street and Archer, he was approached by an agent who introduced him to the popular North Side blues clubs B.L.U.E.S. and [[Kingston Mines (blues club)|Kingston Mines]]. His entry into "Blue Chicago" (downtown) exposed him to tourists to whom he started selling independently recorded CDs, which are still selling well.<ref name="Delmark"/> Alexander has been a fixture in Chicago North Side clubs for nearly two decades and has played with blues notables including [[Buddy Guy]], [[A.C. Reed]], [[Magic Slim]], and [[B.B. King]].<ref name="Chicago Blues Guide">{{cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); Harmonica Joe.--> |title=Linsey Alexander: ''Been There Done That''|url=http://www.chicagobluesguide.com/reviews/cd-reviews/linsey-alexander-cd/linsey-alexander-been-there-cd-page.html|publisher=Chicago Blues Guide|accessdate=26 January 2013}}</ref> He has performed for audiences in New York, Canada, and Europe<ref name=IsraBox>{{cite web|title=Linsey Alexander – Someone's Cookin' in My Kitchen (2004)|url=http://www.israbox.com/1146406654-linsey-alexander-someones-cookin-in-my-kitchen-2004.html|publisher=IsraBox}}</ref> and has appeared at the Mississippi Blues Festival.<ref>{{cite web|last=MacFarland|first=Karen|title=Blues fest set to wail July 1–3 in Davenport|url=http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=549246|publisher=Quad-Cities Online|accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref> Alexander is a regular performer at Kingston Mines.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kingstonmines.com/schedule.html |title=Schedule – Kingston Mines |author= |website=kingstonmines.com |publisher=Kinston Mines |accessdate=April 28, 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425031019/http://www.kingstonmines.com/schedule.html |archivedate=April 25, 2015 |df= }}</ref>


==Music and performance style==
==Music and performance style==
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The original material he writes contributes to the survival of the blues genre. His sense of humor shown in his music and his act sets him apart from most other blues players.<ref name="Been There Done That"/> He is known for playing his guitar "with the energy of a 20 year old."<ref name="Tuesdays">{{cite web|last=Malhotra|first=Ankur|title=Linsey Alexander – Chicago Blue Tuesdays|url=http://madisonmusicreview.com/HTML/Artists/LinseyAlexander/LA_Frequency030309.htm|publisher=Madison Music Review LLC|accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref> Reviewer Greg Szalony wrote that "at times [Alexander's] vocal approach is more akin to talking than singing" and noted that his "distorted guitar tones" and vocals as "uncannily close to the late [[Son Seals]]."<ref name="Blues Blast">{{cite web|last=Szalony|first=Greg|title=Linsey Alexander – Been There Done That|url=http://www.thebluesblast.com/bluesartists/linseyalexander.htm|publisher=Blues Blast Magazine|accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref>
The original material he writes contributes to the survival of the blues genre. His sense of humor shown in his music and his act sets him apart from most other blues players.<ref name="Been There Done That"/> He is known for playing his guitar "with the energy of a 20 year old."<ref name="Tuesdays">{{cite web|last=Malhotra|first=Ankur|title=Linsey Alexander – Chicago Blue Tuesdays|url=http://madisonmusicreview.com/HTML/Artists/LinseyAlexander/LA_Frequency030309.htm|publisher=Madison Music Review LLC|accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref> Reviewer Greg Szalony wrote that "at times [Alexander's] vocal approach is more akin to talking than singing" and noted that his "distorted guitar tones" and vocals as "uncannily close to the late [[Son Seals]]."<ref name="Blues Blast">{{cite web|last=Szalony|first=Greg|title=Linsey Alexander – Been There Done That|url=http://www.thebluesblast.com/bluesartists/linseyalexander.htm|publisher=Blues Blast Magazine|accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref>


Music critic David Whiteis wrote that Alexander's guitar style shows "lively improvisational imagination" and is in "good taste" and said Alexander was especially gifted as a songwriter "in command of a lyric vividness." Whiteis described Alexander's song "Saving Robert Johnson" as "a full-scale theatrical vignette set to music ... [that] take[s] on the [[Cross Road Blues|crossroads]] myth."<ref name="Living Blues">{{cite web|last=Whiteis|first=David|title=CD Reviews October 2012 – Linsey Alexander|url=http://www.livingblues.com/index.php/inside-living-blues/cd-reviews.html|publisher=Living Blues|accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref> Greg Szalony observed that Alexander brings the blues into the present with the lyrics "I want you to e-mail the devil, I want you to poke him on Facebook."<ref name="Blues Blast"/> Alexander's song "Saving Robert Johnson" was included in the Mississippi Blues Project, a review of Mississippi blues produced by [[WXPN]] in Philadelphia.<ref name="Mississippi Blue Project">{{cite web|last=Meister|first=Jonny|title=The Mix: The Mississippi Blues Project|url=http://www.npr.org/2012/10/01/161816032/the-mix-the-mississippi-blues-project|publisher=NPR Music|accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref>
Music critic David Whiteis wrote that Alexander's guitar style shows "lively improvisational imagination" and is in "good taste" and said Alexander was especially gifted as a songwriter "in command of a lyric vividness." Whiteis described Alexander's song "Saving Robert Johnson" as "a full-scale theatrical vignette set to music ... [that] take[s] on the [[Cross Road Blues|crossroads]] myth."<ref name="Living Blues">{{cite web|last=Whiteis |first=David |title=CD Reviews October 2012 – Linsey Alexander |url=http://www.livingblues.com/index.php/inside-living-blues/cd-reviews.html |publisher=Living Blues |accessdate=28 January 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216015055/http://www.livingblues.com/index.php/inside-living-blues/cd-reviews.html |archivedate=16 December 2014 |df= }}</ref> Greg Szalony observed that Alexander brings the blues into the present with the lyrics "I want you to e-mail the devil, I want you to poke him on Facebook."<ref name="Blues Blast"/> Alexander's song "Saving Robert Johnson" was included in the Mississippi Blues Project, a review of Mississippi blues produced by [[WXPN]] in Philadelphia.<ref name="Mississippi Blue Project">{{cite web|last=Meister|first=Jonny|title=The Mix: The Mississippi Blues Project|url=http://www.npr.org/2012/10/01/161816032/the-mix-the-mississippi-blues-project|publisher=NPR Music|accessdate=28 January 2013}}</ref>


[[Chicago blues]] historian Karen Hanson wrote in 2007,
[[Chicago blues]] historian Karen Hanson wrote in 2007,

Revision as of 12:54, 16 May 2017

Linsey Alexander
Alexander in performance, 2012
Alexander in performance, 2012
Background information
Birth nameLinsey Alexander
Also known asHoochie Man
Born (1942-07-23) July 23, 1942 (age 81)
Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States
GenresChicago blues, electric blues
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar, vocals
Years active1960–present
LabelsDelmark, Linsey Alexander, the L.A.B.B.
Websitehttp://www.linseyalexander.com/index.htm

Linsey Alexander (born July 23, 1942) is a blues songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist. He has been a fixture in Chicago North Side clubs for nearly two decades and has played with numerous blues musicians, including Buddy Guy, A.C. Reed, Magic Slim, and B.B. King. His album Been There Done That, released in 2012, was rated the best blues CD of the year.

Life and career

Alexander was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in an area along the Mississippi Blues Trail.[2] His family was "poor but honest and hardworking"[3] sharecroppers.[4] He moved to Memphis, Tennessee, with his mother and a sister when he was 12 years old.[2]

Alexander's interest in music started when a family friend he knew only as Otis taught him enough that when Otis left his guitar as a gift at Alexander's home, he was able pick it up and play. Alexander concentrated on singing as a teenager and later developed his guitar playing. His early influences were blues, country music, and rock and roll, including the blues keyboardist Rosco Gordon and the rock-and-roll artists Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley.[5]

In Mississippi, Alexander worked as a porter in a hotel laundry room and later as a bicycle technician.[4] In 1959, he pawned his first guitar to help pay his way to Chicago[3] by Greyhound bus, following a girl he had met in Memphis. In Chicago, he had a series of jobs, working for a car dealer, at a gas station, and as a cook and busboy. He received a pension after he was wounded while working for the Chicago Police Department.[4]

Alexander was pulled into the Chicago South Side music scene, where he heard soul artists like McKinley Mitchell and Bobby Day and bluesman Howlin' Wolf. His first guitar was never recovered from the pawnshop,[3] but he bought another guitar and formed a band, the Hot Tomatoes, which was "good enough to enter a talent show at the well-known nightclub on 63rd Street called The Place."[5] Alexander went on to form another band, the Equitable Band, which played at the Launching Pad, at 75th Street and Stony Island, for about eight years.[2] When Alexander was playing at Red's, a Chicago club at 35th Street and Archer, he was approached by an agent who introduced him to the popular North Side blues clubs B.L.U.E.S. and Kingston Mines. His entry into "Blue Chicago" (downtown) exposed him to tourists to whom he started selling independently recorded CDs, which are still selling well.[5] Alexander has been a fixture in Chicago North Side clubs for nearly two decades and has played with blues notables including Buddy Guy, A.C. Reed, Magic Slim, and B.B. King.[6] He has performed for audiences in New York, Canada, and Europe[7] and has appeared at the Mississippi Blues Festival.[8] Alexander is a regular performer at Kingston Mines.[9]

Music and performance style

Music critic Jim White called Alexander a "still-present, real-deal bluesman" with "deep, rich, gritty vocals" and "guitar work as strong as his vocals."[10] Alexander plays his own style of electric blues, influenced by soul, R&B, and funk.[5][11] The original material he writes contributes to the survival of the blues genre. His sense of humor shown in his music and his act sets him apart from most other blues players.[11] He is known for playing his guitar "with the energy of a 20 year old."[12] Reviewer Greg Szalony wrote that "at times [Alexander's] vocal approach is more akin to talking than singing" and noted that his "distorted guitar tones" and vocals as "uncannily close to the late Son Seals."[13]

Music critic David Whiteis wrote that Alexander's guitar style shows "lively improvisational imagination" and is in "good taste" and said Alexander was especially gifted as a songwriter "in command of a lyric vividness." Whiteis described Alexander's song "Saving Robert Johnson" as "a full-scale theatrical vignette set to music ... [that] take[s] on the crossroads myth."[14] Greg Szalony observed that Alexander brings the blues into the present with the lyrics "I want you to e-mail the devil, I want you to poke him on Facebook."[13] Alexander's song "Saving Robert Johnson" was included in the Mississippi Blues Project, a review of Mississippi blues produced by WXPN in Philadelphia.[15]

Chicago blues historian Karen Hanson wrote in 2007,

Veteran guitarist Linsey Alexander, the "Hoochie Man", plays classic Chicago blues spiced up with the occasional joke or double entendre. Watch him take his guitar for a crowd walk-through, where he'll stop often to flirt with the pretty women ... These days Alexander is one of the hardest-working bluesmen in the city, appearing as many as six nights a week at Chicago clubs.[16]

A critic described Alexander's music and live show as "loud, raw, rocked out and raucous".[17] Another critic called Alexander a "character" and wrote that his live show is "not to be missed."[18]

The Linsey Alexander Blues Band includes Alexander as vocalist and guitarist, Breezy Rodio on guitar,[11] and Ronald Simmons on bass.[12]

Awards

  • A1 Blues Podcast called Alexander's first international release, Been There Done That, "pure blues of the finest quality" and named it "Blues CD of the Year".[19]
  • Big City Blues honored Alexander with a "Best Fan Interaction" award in 2012.[20]
  • On June 8, 2014, Alexander was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame at the blues club Buddy Guy's Legends.[21]

Discography

  • Someone's Cookin' in My Kitchen (2004), Linsey Alexander, the L.A.B.B.[22]
  • My Days Are So Long (2006), Hoochie Man[22]
  • If You Ain't Got It (2010), Hoochie Man Music[23]
  • Been There Done That (2012), Delmark Records[22]
  • Come Back Baby (2014), Delmark Records [24]

References

  1. ^ "Eddy Clearwater and Linsey Alexander @ Kingston Mines". Wassup! Chicago: Local Magazine. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Linsey Alexander: Live at B.L.U.E.S. October 2011". Chicago Blues Network. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "Linsey Alexander Biography". Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Stephenson, Mike. "Linsey Alexander Interview" (PDF). Rhthym & Blues. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d Whiteis, David (2012). "Linsey Alexander: Liner Notes from His New CD Been There Done That" (PDF). Rhythm & News. 2012 Festival Issue (729): 9. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  6. ^ "Linsey Alexander: Been There Done That". Chicago Blues Guide. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Linsey Alexander – Someone's Cookin' in My Kitchen (2004)". IsraBox.
  8. ^ MacFarland, Karen. "Blues fest set to wail July 1–3 in Davenport". Quad-Cities Online. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  9. ^ "Schedule – Kingston Mines". kingstonmines.com. Kinston Mines. Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ White, Jim. "Blues vet Linsey Alexander emerges from Chicago". Community Voices of Pittsburg Post-Gazette. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  11. ^ a b c Marcus, Richard. "Music Review:Linsey Alexander – Been There Done That". Hearst Newspapers. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  12. ^ a b Malhotra, Ankur. "Linsey Alexander – Chicago Blue Tuesdays". Madison Music Review LLC. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  13. ^ a b Szalony, Greg. "Linsey Alexander – Been There Done That". Blues Blast Magazine. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  14. ^ Whiteis, David. "CD Reviews October 2012 – Linsey Alexander". Living Blues. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Meister, Jonny. "The Mix: The Mississippi Blues Project". NPR Music. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  16. ^ Hanson, Karen (2007). Today's Chicago Blues. Chicago: Lake Claremont Press. p. 118. ISBN 9781893121195.
  17. ^ Mandeville, Liz. "Three Flavors of Chicago Blues: Big Ray, Linsey Alexander, Donny Nichilo". Chicago Blues Guide. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  18. ^ Ankur. "Linsey Alexander "The Hoochie Man": Live at the Harmony Bar". Madison Music Review. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  19. ^ "Blues CD of the Year – Linsey Alexander – Been There Done That". AB1 Blues Podcast – Blues Music and Interviews. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  20. ^ "2012 Happy to Have the Blues Awards". bigcitybluesmag.com. Big City Rhythm & Blues Magazine. 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  21. ^ "Chicago Blues Hall of Fall 2014 Inductees". BluesHallofFame.org. Chicago Blues of Hall Fame. 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  22. ^ a b c "Linsey Alexander". Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  23. ^ "Linsey Alexander Discography". AirPlay Direct. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  24. ^ Thompson, Mark. "Linsey Alexander". chicagobluesguide.com. Chicago Blues Guide. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
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