Evelyn Young (saxophonist)
Evelyn "The Whip" Young (March 25, 1928 – October 2, 1990)[1] was an American saxophonist from Memphis, Tennessee, United States.
Career[edit]
At age 14, Young began playing saxophone professionally at Beale Street Chitlin' Circuit clubs run by Sunbeam Mitchell,[2] while still enrolled at Manassas High School. In 1952, she formed a touring band with Bill Harvey for B.B. King in 1952, which lasted for eight years. From 1960 onward, she performed regularly at Mitchell's Club Handy,[3] directing a 21-piece band there, and recorded with Little Richard, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Little Milton, Memphis Slim, and the Fieldstones.
Influence[edit]
Terry Johnson of the Stax session band the Mar-Keys recalls sneaking into Club Handy to hear Young play. In the documentary All Day and All Night: Memories from Beale Street Musicians, Young recalls B.B. King telling her that "everything I played on the saxophone was what he wanted to play on the guitar."[4]
After her death, Fred Ford wrote that "She was as fine a musician as you'll ever hear . . . She never got the recognition she deserved in her lifetime, but she could sure play with anyone."[citation needed]
Selected recordings[edit]
- Rufus Thomas, "I'll Be a Good Boy" (1950)
- B.B. King, "3 O'Clock Blues" (1952)
References[edit]
- ^ "Evelyn Young : Summary". Musicminder.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ Lauterbach, Preston (July 1, 2006). "Chitlin' Circuit". Memphis Magazine. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
- ^ "The Historic Hippodrome ... and the Clubs Handy, Ebony, Paradise, Tropicana". Historic-memphis.com. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
- ^ "Watch All Day and All Night: Memories from Beale Street Musicians Online". Vimeo.com. 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2018-07-16.