Curtis Gordon RIP . . .

Long-time rockabilly honky tonker, Curtis Gordon passed away. A short tribute from a fellow muso:


Curtis Gordon RIP

Sadly the death of Curtis Gordon at age 75 from cancer on 2nd May 2004
has
been announced. Curtis was a genuine honky tonk singer who had his
recording
heyday from the early to mid fifties. However in recent times, his
talent
has
been acknowledged as a first rate rockabilly singer with classics such as
'Rock, Roll, Jump And Jive, 'I'm Sittin' On Top (Of The World)', Mobile,
Alabama'
and 'Draggin'. Curtis appeared before sell-out crowds at such rock 'n'
roll
festivals as Hemsby in the UK and Viva Las Vegas in the USA.

Born on 27th July 1928 near Moultrie, Georgia, his formative years were
spent
on a farm listening to records of country greats like Ernest Tubb, Jimmie
Rodgers and western swing ace Bob Wills. Gordon formed his first band on
1st
January 1949 and carried his own musicians with him until his retirement
as
a
regular performer.

He was signed to RCA Records after winning a talent competition in June
1952
and stayed with the label until late 1954 hen he signed with the Mercury
label. Most of his recorded output was pure honky tonk but the
aforementioned
rockabilly titles were cut at a session in 1956.

I had the pleasure of spending some time with Curtis at an appearance at
the
sadly missed shows out on a Saturday night at Camden Town Hall, London in
the
nineties and he was a true gentleman. An immense talent, both on record
and
on the stage, he will be sadly missed.

Tony Wilkinson
May 2004