Wynonie Harris was born in Omaha in 1920, and very little is known
about his early life. He actually started his musical career as a dancer and
later joined the Lucky Millinder band in the mid forties. His first
release was in 1944, "Who Threw The Whiskey in the Well" on the Decca
Record Label, featuring a young Preston Love on sax. It quickly
climbed to #4 on the national charts. During this time, Harris
performed with such greats as Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, Charlie
Barnnet, and Cab Calloway.
In 1947, after years of recording for Decca, Harris switched to Kin
Records and his career took off like a rocket. "Good Rockin' Tonight" hit
the top of the charts and was later recorded by Elvis Presley, which, by
the way, was Elvis' calling card to fame. Harris' recording career holds
64 separate releases and ran from 1944 to 1957. Most of his recordings
were stories of living it up and turned into big hits for him: "Drinkin Wine
Spo-Dee-O-Dee," (also recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis), "All She Wants To
Do Is Rock", "Bloodshot Eyes", and "Good Morning Judge" just to name a few.
Wynonie eventually made his home in Oakland, California where he tended
bar. When he found out he was dying, he called all his friends together
.
