Cover of Earl Grant's 1961 album Ebb Tide
(Courtesy of Chet Wallace)
(Note to reader: Here is part two of a three-part series blog that I wrote on the African American musician Earl Grant.)
Earl Grant was born in Idabel, Oklahoma on January 20, 1931, and was the son of a Baptist minister. He had eleven other siblings. Grant was born during a time when the Dust Bowl period of the Great Depression was beginning. This was a time from 1930 to 1940 in which the Great Plains section of the United States suffered a severe drought. Many farmers were devastated by the amount of farming that was occurring and it caused the destruction of prairie grasses. Idabel was in the southeastern part of the state and wasn’t affected not nearly as much as the western part. This was a challenging time when Earl Grant grew up in Oklahoma.
Idabel seems to have been a popular spot for the birth of musicians also. Besides Grant there were two other famous musicians born in Idabel, Oklahoma and it is quite possible that Earl Grant might have known them. The jazz saxophonist Hadley Caliman was born in Idabel in 1932, one year after Grant was born. He moved to California as a young man and his career began in Los Angeles where he attended Jefferson High School along with another famous jazz trumpet player named Art Farmer. He studied under the jazz tenor saxophone player Dexter Gordon, who gave him the name “Little Dex”. Caliman moved to Seattle in the latter part of his life and died in Washington state in 2010.
Also born in Idabel in 1936 was jazz drummer Sunny Murray. He was known for being one of the lead figures during the free-jazz movement of the 1960s. He spent part of his career overseas and lived in Paris from the mid-1990s until his death in 2017.
Even though there are no known connections between these three musicians, it is interesting to think that they might have known each other. It is a wonder if Grant was influenced in any way by them. Grant was more well known as a pop musician whereas Caliman and Murray were popular as jazz musicians. But these two forms of music tended to go hand in hand at times throughout music history. Remember the genius of Frank Sinatra, who was considered a pop singer but was very inventive in his jazz-style of vocal phrasing.
Grant began his musical career in 1935 at the age of four, playing piano and organ for his father’s services in Idabel. As he became a young man, Grant attended music schools in Oklahoma to complete his music education. He learned, during this period, to play the trumpet and drums as well as piano, organ and singing. Grant’s focal instrument was the piano and he studied keyboards at the Kansas City Conservatory, DePaul University in Chicago and University of South California in Los Angeles.
When Earl Grant graduated from the University of Southern California he was hired as a high school chemistry teacher in Kansas City, but he didn’t feel confident in science because of his lack of knowledge, so he quickly moved to becoming that school's high school music teacher.
In 1953, Grant joined the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas. Fort Bliss is still in operation and is the home of America’s Tank Division. To supplement his income during his stint in the Army he played in local clubs. Grant was discharged from the army in 1957 and soon after he moved to Los Angeles and frequently performed at the Club Pigalle. He was so popular there that “the room had to be expanded three times to accommodate his fans.” It was a popular venue in Los Angeles and was owned, at one point, by the boxing champion Willie Bean.
During his many performances, Grant was noticed and began his recording career by signing with Decca Records in 1957. He recorded thirty albums with the record company up until his death in 1970. Decca Records developed a very expansive roster of recording artists and the company signed other African American musicians of the time period such as Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and the Ink Spots. They were also diverse in their styles of music and signed many pop, jazz and country musicians.
In 1958, Grant recorded his most famous single “The End” and it reached #7 on the Billboard charts. It was such a popular single in Europe that he recorded a German language version of it. He also had five singles that made the Billboard Top 100 during different periods of his career: Evening Rain, House of Bamboo, Swingin’ Gently, Sweet Sixteen Bars and Stand By Me.
Not only was Earl Grant popular with performing music but his talents crossed over to movies and television. Most of these appearances were either on vocals within the soundtrack or minor appearances in person within the video of the film. Some of his television appearances were talk show interviews and performances on television, sometimes within the live setting. One example of a television interview was on the Tonight Show starring Jack Parr, which aired on the night of November 15, 1960. In this episode Hugh Downs was the announcer and one of his fellow guest stars was Mickey Rooney. Grant appeared on eight other episodes of the Tonight Show with Jack Paar over a period of two years, from 1959 to 1960.
From 1959 to 1963, Grant appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show a total of twelve times. One Jet magazine article from 1961 states that Earl Grant “never fails to captivate an audience” through his “magnetism and personality”. Ed Sullivan helped to break the “color barrier” when it came to promoting and showcasing African American talent on his show. Sullivan was faced with criticism by the American white audience and advertisers, but he didn’t back down. Southern sponsors threatened to pull their advertisements when he kissed Pearl Bailey or shook hands with Nat King Cole. White critics claimed that he showcased too many African American performers. He responded by saying “The most important thing is that we’ve put on everything but bigotry.”
Grant appeared on many other television shows in an interview status such as the Merv Griffin Show, the Joey Bishop Show, Pat Boone in Hollywood, the Mike Douglas Show, and the Dick Clark Show. Most of these appearances occurred in the late 1950s to early 1960s.
In 1959, Grant appeared in the film Juke Box Rhythm and performed the song “Last Night”. Juke Box Rhythm was a musical film that starred Jack Jones and Brian Donlevy, about a princess who visits New York to buy her coronation outfit. She is photographed dancing with the son of an impoverished producer. A dress designer gives the son a large commission when the princess buys her wardrobe from him and the man uses this money to help his father produce his show, called Juke Box Jamboree.
This same year Grant also recorded the theme song for the 1959 film Imitation of Life, although he does not appear in the film. The film stars the well-known actresses of the time, Lana Turner and Sandra Dee, and is about an aspiring actress, played by Turner, who takes in and cares for an African American widow, played by actress Juanita Moore. The widow has a mixed-race daughter, played by actress Susan Kohner, who desperately wants to be seen as white and is troubled by her interracial background. A review of the film states that “The film isn’t only revolutionary for its aesthetic rigorousness but it's rare fascination with white America’s difficulty relating to people of color.” It is only fitting that Earl Grant, an African American singer, performed the opening theme of this film, which is a testament to the racial strife of the time.
In 1962, Grant appeared in the movie Tender Is the Night, which was adapted from the 1934 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Grant has a supporting credit at the beginning and appears about an hour and twenty-five minutes into the film as a pianist at a nightclub, who gets involved in a brawl after he is physically thrown off of the stage he is performing on by an irate bystander. Grant recorded a complete version of the theme song from this movie on his album Beyond the Reef.
Grant also was featured in many magazine articles including Jet magazine, beginning in the late 1950s. One article writes about how Earl Grant attended the funeral of Harry “Tim” Moore, who developed the character of Kingfish, from the Amos ‘n’ Andy radio series. Moore died in December of 1958 and an article from Jet magazine from January of 1959 states that Grant attended the funeral in Los Angeles, which was one of the biggest funerals that had been seen in decades in that city. He performed, as a part of the ceremony, Handel’s Largo, “that set the solemnity and dignity of the service.”
During his financial success as a performer, Grant did have some personal conflicts. In 1961, he was sued by his former manager, Mickey Goldsen. Goldsen claimed that Grant owed him $27,000 “from notes that helped him launch his career and a publishing company.” His former manager attempted to prevent the Flamingo in Las Vegas from paying Grant for his performances and Grant contested the suit. He claimed that even though Goldsen helped him make $250,000 within the previous two years, that didn’t mean that he was going to give him a $27,000 “bonus”. Grant stated his reasoning in that Goldsen had not been producing to his satisfaction. Another article in Jet magazine mentions that Grant’s road manager, Charles Wright, died in October of 1962 at the age of 42 in Windsor, Canada. The cause was not determined.
In 1962, Grant released his album Beyond the Reef. Grant performed most often on his recordings with tenor saxophone and flute player Plas Johnson and this album is one of their most famous and best together. The album is a perfect example of Grant using the Hammond organ to imitate bird calls, which became a signature style of his playing. There are extensive liner notes for each of the twelve tracks off of this album, but this is what was written about the title track. “The title tune features Earl’s long, dramatic phrases. The various bird calls are also Earl’s, allowing his music to wander into a Martin Denny groove for just a moment. Plas Johnson is heard on flute to enhance the Hawaiian mood.” For those who are unfamiliar with the Martin Denny reference, Denny was considered the “father of exotica.” Denny’s music frequently had sounds that imitated different tropical animals. Most likely Earl Grant got his idea of imitating bird calls on the organ from Martin Denny, whose famous single “Quiet Village”, used these sounds and was released in 1957.
In 1961, Grant released one of his most successful albums, Ebb Tide, which peaked at #7 on the Billboard charts. The title song from this album reached a gold-disc status as a single and sold one million copies. The liner notes of this album describe his style. “In this album, Mr. Grant takes to organ and piano. His interpretations of ever-popular standards such as the title song, Ebb Tide, Stormy Weather, Misty, Canadian Sunset, I’m In the Mood for Love, and the many others, represent an instrumental performance without peer. As Earl Grant characteristically coaxes even the most subtle tones and innuendos out of his instruments, the album is further distinguished by having superbly exploited the full depth and many of the unusual effects in sound made available by today’s modern techniques and equipment.”
Grant continued to release singles on a regular basis, but they didn’t reach the status of his previous hit “The End”. He released his single “Evening Rain” which reached #63 on the Billboard chart. He also released his single “House of Bamboo”, reaching #88 on the Billboard chart. Grant also recorded minor hits including the release of his single “Swingin’ Gently”, which reached #44 on the Billboard chart and the single “Sweet Sixteen Bars”, which reached #55 on the Billboard chart.
1965 brought more recordings with his album Earl Grant Sings and Plays Songs Made Famous by Nat King Cole. He also released his single “Stand by Me”, which reached #75 on the Billboard chart. Also, this year, Grant released his album Trade Winds and used the Hammond organ and piano extensively throughout. Again, like his previous album Beyond the Reef, he uses the realistic sounds of “tropical bird calls” which are produced by the organ. This is also one of the several albums that featured Plas Johnson on tenor saxophone. Liner notes state “The very phrase “trade winds” evokes a romantic imagery of tropical isles….moonlit strands….and soft serenades. It creates a languor and stirs a longing for far-off lands. And with Earl Grant at the helm of this musical magic carpet, his masterful touch at the organ and piano creates a travel passport made up of instrumental delights, his exciting arrangements reflecting all the local color.”
Grant released his only Christmas album called Winter Wonderland in the mid 1960’s. Grant’s brother Bill plays drums on the album. His final single, the Christmas song “Silver Bells”, released in 1969 from the Winter Wonderland album, reached the highest of any of his charting singles, at #3.
Throughout his career, Grant performed not only in the United States but overseas as well. He gave concerts in Japan, Mexico, Australia, Canada, and different countries throughout Europe. He became a popular musician not only in the United States but was loved by many in these faraway countries. An article from Jet magazine, dated February 16, 1961, states that Grant performed for Emperor Hirohito while in Tokyo, Japan. Grant “ended up playing the organ in the palace for two hours” and was made “an honorary citizen of Japan.”