SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
WINTER, 2016
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
WINTER, 2016
VOLUME THREE NUMBER THREE
HENRY THREADGILL
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE
(December 3-9)
DEXTER GORDON
(December 10-16)
JEANNE LEE
(December 17-23)
CASSANDRA WILSON
(December 24-30)
SAM RIVERS
(December 31-January 6)
TERRY CALLIER
(January 7-13)
ODETTA
(January 14-20)
LESTER BOWIE
(January 21-27)
SHIRLEY BASSEY
(January 28-February 3)
HAMPTON HAWES
(February 4-10)
GRACHAN MONCUR III
(February 11-17)
LARRY YOUNG
(February 18-24)
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/terry-callier-mn0000027916/biography
Terry Callier
(1945-2012)
Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny
For far too long, folk-jazz mystic Terry Callier
was the exclusive province of a fierce but small cult following; a
singer/songwriter whose cathartic, deeply spiritual music defied simple
genre categorization, he went all but unknown for decades, finally
beginning to earn the recognition long due him after his rediscovery
during the early '90s. Born in Chicago's North Side -- also home to Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Butler, and Ramsey Lewis -- and raised in the area of the notorious Cabrini Green housing projects, Callier
began studying the piano at the age of three, writing his first songs
at the age of 11 and regularly singing in doo wop groups throughout his
formative years. While attending college, he learned to play guitar,
eventually setting up residency at a Chicago coffeehouse dubbed the
Fickle Pickle and in time coming to the attention of Chess Records
arranger Charles Stepney, who produced Callier's debut single, "Look at Me Now," in 1962.
In 1964, Callier met Prestige label producer Samuel Charters, and a year later they entered the studio to record his full-length bow, The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier; upon completion of the session, however, Charters
traveled to Mexico with the master tapes in tow, and the album went
unreleased before finally appearing to little fanfare in 1968.
Undaunted, Callier remained a fixture of the Windy City club scene, and in 1970 he and partner Larry Wade signed on with his boyhood friend Jerry Butler's
Chicago Songwriters Workshop. There they composed material for local
labels including Chess and Cadet, most notably authoring the Dells' 1972 smash "The Love We Had Stays on My Mind." The song's success again teamed Callier with Stepney, now a producer at Cadet, and yielded 1973's Occasional Rain, a beautiful fusion of folk and jazz textures that laid the groundwork for the sound further explored on the following year's What Color Is Love?
Despite earning strong critical notices and building
up a devoted fan base throughout much of urban America, Callier failed to break through commercially, and after 1975's I Just Can't Help Myself he was dropped by Cadet; in 1976, he also suffered another setback when Butler closed the Songwriters Workshop. Upon signing to Elektra at the behest of label head Don Mizell, Callier resurfaced in 1978 with the lushly orchestrated Fire on Ice; with the follow-up, 1979's Turn You to Love,
he finally cracked the pop charts with the single "Sign of the Times,"
best known as the longtime theme for legendary WBLS-FM disc jockey Frankie Crocker. He even appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival. However, when Mizell exited Elektra, Callier
was quickly dropped from his contract; after a few more years of
diligent touring, he largely disappeared from music around during the
early '80s; a single parent, he instead accepted a job as a computer
programmer, returning to college during the evenings to pursue a degree
in sociology.
Although he had essentially retired from performing, Callier continued composing songs, and in 1991 he received a surprise telephone call from fan Eddie Pillar, the head of the U.K. label Acid Jazz. Pillar sought permission to re-release Callier's
little-known, self-funded single from 1983, "I Don't Want to See Myself
(Without You)." Seemingly overnight, the record became a massive
success on the British club circuit, and the singer was soon flown to
Britain for a pair of enormously well-received club dates. In the coming
months, more gigs followed on both sides of the Atlantic, and in 1996, Callier even recorded a live LP, TC in DC. In 1997, he teamed with British singer Beth Orton, another of his most vocal supporters, to record a pair of tracks for her superb EP Best Bit; the following year, Callier also released his Verve Forecast debut Timepeace, his first major-label effort in close to two decades. Lifetime followed in 1999, and two years later came Alive, recorded live at London's Jazz Cafe. Callier returned in 2002 with Speak Your Peace and 2005 with Lookin' Out. In May of 2009, Hidden Conversations, co-written and produced by Massive Attack,
was released on Mr. Bongo in the U.K.; a release in the United States
followed in the fall of 2010. Two years later, however, he died from
cancer in Chicago on October 27, 2012. Terry Callier was 67 years old.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/03/local/la-me-terry-callier-20121103
Terry Callier dies at 67; vocalist, musician
The Chicago native captivated a cult following with the imploring, incantatory quality of his vocals and his knack for mixing elements of African chant, blues melody, jazz and folk.
November 3, 2012
Times staff and wire reports
Terry Callier, a singer-songwriter who captivated a cult following with his quietly hypnotic baritone voice and hard-to-classify music that combined elements of folk, blues and jazz, died of cancer Oct. 27 at a hospital in Chicago. He was 67.
Callier never achieved tremendous commercial success during his peak in the 1960s and '70s or in a 1990s comeback flash. But the imploring, incantatory quality of his vocals distinguished him from his peers, as did his knack for mixing elements of African chant, blues melody, jazz improvisation and folk instrumentation.
Born in Chicago on May 24, 1945, Callier was signed to Chess Records before he had graduated from high school. His first full-length album was released in 1968, a collection of covers aptly named "The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier." The recordings he made in the '70s with producer Charles Stepney on Cadet — such as "Occasional Rain" (1972) and "What Color Is Love" (1973) — bristled with social commentary and unusual instrumental effects. But they didn't fit any particular radio format.
Callier credited the Near North Side neighborhood he grew up in for providing an introduction to an amalgam of sounds.
"That neighborhood was home to Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield, Major Lance, Ramsey Lewis and a host of other people who were extremely talented," he told the Chicago Tribune in 1998.
"There was a fieldhouse over on Orleans near Division, and it had a series of meeting rooms, some of them with pianos, and they had great acoustics, so there would be four or five different vocal groups rehearsing," he added. "And on any summer night you could walk by and hear fantastic music — these guys could blow, and there were girl groups that sounded like angels.
"So I learned early on to listen to everything — classical music and ethnic music from Africa and Middle East, and it all comes out in your work."
But the thrilling eclecticism of his approach, as well as executive turnover at various record labels, ultimately prevented him from reaching the wide audience that might have appreciated his art.
In 1983 Callier walked away from the music business, enrolled in computer classes and began working at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. By 1988, he had completed a degree in sociology at North Park College and realigned his life.
But when British acid jazz groups in the early 1990s began sampling his work, which commanded attention among European connoisseurs, Callier's fortunes were revived.
He returned to the music business with the release of the 1998 album "TimePeace," which generated critical accolades.
"In truth, little has changed in Callier's approach," wrote Richard Harrington in the Washington Post in 2000. "His often-hushed vocals tend toward the cool and understated, his mostly-acoustic backing to the spare and supple, his lyrics to the metaphysical and, on occasion, socially conscious."
But Callier's comeback only went so far. He collaborated with Paul Weller, Beth Orton, Massive Attack and other pop music acts and toured Europe regularly until he was diagnosed with cancer 18 months ago, said his daughter, Sunny. She survives him, as do a son, a brother and a grandson.
news.obits@latimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/arts/music/terry-callier-singer-and-songwriter-dies-at-67.html
Music
Terry Callier, Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 67
by BEN SISARIO
October 30, 2012
New York Times
Terry Callier, a Chicago singer and songwriter who in the 1970s developed an incantatory style that mingled soul, folk and jazz sounds around his meditative baritone, then decades later was rescued from obscurity when his work found new fans in Britain, died on Saturday in Chicago. He was 67.
The cause was cancer, his family said.
Mr. Callier’s return in the 1990s was one of the great recalled-to-life stories in modern pop. At his peak, in songs from the ‘70s like “Dancing Girl” and “Occasional Rain,” Mr. Callier sang spiritual rhapsodies that began with gentle guitar and built to orchestrated, uplifting climaxes. But commercial success eluded him, and by the time British fans began to seek him out, he had retired from music and was working as a computer programmer.
Before long, though, he was being invited to perform in London, and on his vacation time he flew there to play for clubs full of reverent fans. Beginning with “TimePeace” (Verve) in 1998, he released a stream of new albums — he finally left the day job in 1999 — and collaborated with Paul Weller, Beth Orton, the group Massive Attack and other artists.
“It was like a dream,” Mr. Callier said of his comeback performances in an interview with The New York Times in 1998. “A couple of times I had to stop the show because it was just too over the top emotionally for me to continue. People knew all the words to my songs.”
Terrence Orlando Callier (pronounced CAL-yur) was born in Chicago on May 24, 1945. Among his friends when he was growing up were Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler of the Impressions. While still in high school he recorded for Chess Records, the Chicago blues and R&B label, but his mother persuaded him to stay in school before starting a music career.
He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and became influenced by both the folk movement and John Coltrane. His debut album, “The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier,” recorded in 1964 by the folklorist Samuel Charters, established that Mr. Callier was difficult to categorize. He sang traditional songs like “Cotton Eyed Joe” and “900 Miles” with a calm, low voice that evoked Josh White and Fred Neil, but the album’s instrumentation — acoustic guitar and two basses, played sparingly — gave the recordings an atmosphere that was both intimate and otherworldly.
In 1970 he joined Mr. Butler’s Chicago Songwriters Workshop, where he worked with Charles Stepney, a producer and arranger who also worked with Earth, Wind and Fire. Mr. Callier was a co-writer of the Dells’ 1971 hit “The Love We Had (Stays on My Mind)” and in 1972 released his own album, “Occasional Rain,” on the Cadet label, a Chess imprint. He released four more albums through 1978 on Cadet and Elektra, but by the end of the decade his career had slowed down.
Soon after recording a single, “I Don’t Want to See Myself (Without You),” which he paid for himself, in 1982, he quit music and went to work as a programmer at the National Opinion Research Center, an affiliate of the University of Chicago. Meanwhile his music was attracting a cult following among British soul-music collectors and D.J.’s, and around 1990 he got a call from Eddie Piller of the Acid Jazz label, who wanted to reissue “I Don’t Want to See Myself.”
Mr. Callier is survived by his daughter, Sundiata Callier-Dullum; his son, Dhoruba Somlyo; his companion, Shirley Austin; his brother, Michael Callier; and a grandson.
In 1998, Mr. Callier said he had no ill feelings about the course of his career.
“I feel very blessed for my success,” he said. “Everything happens in its own time, and it happened when I could handle it. I didn’t have to bend myself out of shape to make a living, I got a position in computer programming, and I put my daughter through college. It couldn’t have been any better.”
Correction: November 3, 2012
An obituary on Wednesday about the singer and songwriter Terry Callier misstated part of the name of the organization where he worked as a computer programmer after quitting music. At the time, it was the National Opinion Research Center, not the National Opinion Resource Center. (It is now known as NORC.) The error also appeared in an article about Mr. Callier on Dec. 2, 1998.
A version of this article appears in print on October 31, 2012, on Page B15 of the New York edition with the headline: Terry Callier, 67, Singer and Songwriter. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
http://www.clashmusic.com/features/10-things-you-never-knew-about-terry-callier
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/474420/terry-callier-jazz-folk-troubadour-dead-at-67http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/arts/music/terry-callier-singer-and-songwriter-dies-at-67.html
Music
Terry Callier, Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 67
by BEN SISARIO
October 30, 2012
New York Times
Terry Callier, a Chicago singer and songwriter who in the 1970s developed an incantatory style that mingled soul, folk and jazz sounds around his meditative baritone, then decades later was rescued from obscurity when his work found new fans in Britain, died on Saturday in Chicago. He was 67.
The cause was cancer, his family said.
Mr. Callier’s return in the 1990s was one of the great recalled-to-life stories in modern pop. At his peak, in songs from the ‘70s like “Dancing Girl” and “Occasional Rain,” Mr. Callier sang spiritual rhapsodies that began with gentle guitar and built to orchestrated, uplifting climaxes. But commercial success eluded him, and by the time British fans began to seek him out, he had retired from music and was working as a computer programmer.
Before long, though, he was being invited to perform in London, and on his vacation time he flew there to play for clubs full of reverent fans. Beginning with “TimePeace” (Verve) in 1998, he released a stream of new albums — he finally left the day job in 1999 — and collaborated with Paul Weller, Beth Orton, the group Massive Attack and other artists.
“It was like a dream,” Mr. Callier said of his comeback performances in an interview with The New York Times in 1998. “A couple of times I had to stop the show because it was just too over the top emotionally for me to continue. People knew all the words to my songs.”
Terry Callier, who mixed soul, folk and jazz, in 2006. Credit Dominic Favre/ARC, via Reuters
Terrence Orlando Callier (pronounced CAL-yur) was born in Chicago on May 24, 1945. Among his friends when he was growing up were Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler of the Impressions. While still in high school he recorded for Chess Records, the Chicago blues and R&B label, but his mother persuaded him to stay in school before starting a music career.
He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and became influenced by both the folk movement and John Coltrane. His debut album, “The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier,” recorded in 1964 by the folklorist Samuel Charters, established that Mr. Callier was difficult to categorize. He sang traditional songs like “Cotton Eyed Joe” and “900 Miles” with a calm, low voice that evoked Josh White and Fred Neil, but the album’s instrumentation — acoustic guitar and two basses, played sparingly — gave the recordings an atmosphere that was both intimate and otherworldly.
In 1970 he joined Mr. Butler’s Chicago Songwriters Workshop, where he worked with Charles Stepney, a producer and arranger who also worked with Earth, Wind and Fire. Mr. Callier was a co-writer of the Dells’ 1971 hit “The Love We Had (Stays on My Mind)” and in 1972 released his own album, “Occasional Rain,” on the Cadet label, a Chess imprint. He released four more albums through 1978 on Cadet and Elektra, but by the end of the decade his career had slowed down.
Soon after recording a single, “I Don’t Want to See Myself (Without You),” which he paid for himself, in 1982, he quit music and went to work as a programmer at the National Opinion Research Center, an affiliate of the University of Chicago. Meanwhile his music was attracting a cult following among British soul-music collectors and D.J.’s, and around 1990 he got a call from Eddie Piller of the Acid Jazz label, who wanted to reissue “I Don’t Want to See Myself.”
Mr. Callier is survived by his daughter, Sundiata Callier-Dullum; his son, Dhoruba Somlyo; his companion, Shirley Austin; his brother, Michael Callier; and a grandson.
In 1998, Mr. Callier said he had no ill feelings about the course of his career.
“I feel very blessed for my success,” he said. “Everything happens in its own time, and it happened when I could handle it. I didn’t have to bend myself out of shape to make a living, I got a position in computer programming, and I put my daughter through college. It couldn’t have been any better.”
Correction: November 3, 2012
An obituary on Wednesday about the singer and songwriter Terry Callier misstated part of the name of the organization where he worked as a computer programmer after quitting music. At the time, it was the National Opinion Research Center, not the National Opinion Resource Center. (It is now known as NORC.) The error also appeared in an article about Mr. Callier on Dec. 2, 1998.
A version of this article appears in print on October 31, 2012, on Page B15 of the New York edition with the headline: Terry Callier, 67, Singer and Songwriter. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
http://www.clashmusic.com/features/10-things-you-never-knew-about-terry-callier
The revered, underrated Soul legend
Terry
Callier's incredible voice and eclectic blend of Jazz, Blues and Soul
could make audience members pass out, yet he flew under the radar of
commercial success for most of his career. Here are ten facts to prove
his life was just as unusual as his legacy as a revered, if underrated
Soul legend.
1. Callier counted jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis and soul singers Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler as friends while growing up in Chicago’s deprived Cabrini-Green area. He described it as a “dynamite neighbourhood” where people were doo-woping all the time in different groups.
2. Callier spent lunch periods in high school singing in the bathroom because the marble walls created a decent echo. He continued this into adulthood where, in the late-’80s, he would also practice guitar in his bathroom.
3. While singing in a doo-wop group at school, someone stopped him halfway through ‘This Is The Night’ by The Cool Jets, and said: “Why are you trying to sound like somebody else? Just try to sound like you.” He remembered it as the most influential thing anyone had told him.
4. His music career came to a brief halt at sixteen after he was invited to go on an American tour with fellow Chess artists Etta James and Muddy Waters. When his mother came home to find him packing his bags, she refused to let him go because she wanted him to finish high school. For a month, they didn’t speak to one another (other than to say, “Pass the mustard”).
5. Seeing John Coltrane’s live act in 1964 almost made Callier want to give up music entirely. He wasn’t prepared for the intensity with which the band threw themselves into the music and it frightened him. He began looking for a job immediately and didn’t play in public for a year.
6. While Callier’s 1968 debut album, ‘The New Folk Sound Of Terry Callier’, only took an afternoon to record, its release was delayed by three years because producer Samuel Charters took the master tapes on a spiritual voyage to the North American desert. Callier only realised it was out when his brother found it on sale in a Chicago antique store.
7. Callier retired from music in 1983 to raise his daughter. He told interviewer Angus Batey in 2002 that when she asked to live with him and go to secondary school in Chicago, he realised he wouldn’t make enough money to take care of her if he stayed in music. So, he landed a job in computer programming at the University of Chicago and pursued a sociology degree in the evenings.
8. Callier continued his day job while his cult status grew in the ’90s. His double life was finally exposed when employers at the University of Chicago found that his major label comeback album, ‘TimePeace’, had won the United Nations ‘Time for Peace’ award. After picking up the award in New York, he came back to work to discover he had been fired.
9. Callier became overwhelmed while playing occasional gigs in Britain to admirers who knew all the words to his songs. He told a New York Times interviewer in 1998 that he would have to stop shows a few times because it was too “over the top emotionally” to continue.
10. His emotive, intense live performances were said to be a spiritual experience that could move people to tears. David Buttle, founder of Mr Bongo records, recalled of his Jazz Café performances in the late-’90s: “Many people passed out, overwhelmed by the light that shone from him.”
Words by James Evans
1. Callier counted jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis and soul singers Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler as friends while growing up in Chicago’s deprived Cabrini-Green area. He described it as a “dynamite neighbourhood” where people were doo-woping all the time in different groups.
2. Callier spent lunch periods in high school singing in the bathroom because the marble walls created a decent echo. He continued this into adulthood where, in the late-’80s, he would also practice guitar in his bathroom.
3. While singing in a doo-wop group at school, someone stopped him halfway through ‘This Is The Night’ by The Cool Jets, and said: “Why are you trying to sound like somebody else? Just try to sound like you.” He remembered it as the most influential thing anyone had told him.
4. His music career came to a brief halt at sixteen after he was invited to go on an American tour with fellow Chess artists Etta James and Muddy Waters. When his mother came home to find him packing his bags, she refused to let him go because she wanted him to finish high school. For a month, they didn’t speak to one another (other than to say, “Pass the mustard”).
5. Seeing John Coltrane’s live act in 1964 almost made Callier want to give up music entirely. He wasn’t prepared for the intensity with which the band threw themselves into the music and it frightened him. He began looking for a job immediately and didn’t play in public for a year.
6. While Callier’s 1968 debut album, ‘The New Folk Sound Of Terry Callier’, only took an afternoon to record, its release was delayed by three years because producer Samuel Charters took the master tapes on a spiritual voyage to the North American desert. Callier only realised it was out when his brother found it on sale in a Chicago antique store.
7. Callier retired from music in 1983 to raise his daughter. He told interviewer Angus Batey in 2002 that when she asked to live with him and go to secondary school in Chicago, he realised he wouldn’t make enough money to take care of her if he stayed in music. So, he landed a job in computer programming at the University of Chicago and pursued a sociology degree in the evenings.
8. Callier continued his day job while his cult status grew in the ’90s. His double life was finally exposed when employers at the University of Chicago found that his major label comeback album, ‘TimePeace’, had won the United Nations ‘Time for Peace’ award. After picking up the award in New York, he came back to work to discover he had been fired.
9. Callier became overwhelmed while playing occasional gigs in Britain to admirers who knew all the words to his songs. He told a New York Times interviewer in 1998 that he would have to stop shows a few times because it was too “over the top emotionally” to continue.
10. His emotive, intense live performances were said to be a spiritual experience that could move people to tears. David Buttle, founder of Mr Bongo records, recalled of his Jazz Café performances in the late-’90s: “Many people passed out, overwhelmed by the light that shone from him.”
Words by James Evans
Terry Callier, Jazz-Folk Troubadour, Dead at 67
10/29/2012
Influential but overlooked jazz-folk singer Terry Callier died Saturday at a Chicago hospital after a lengthy battle with throat cancer. He was 67.
Described by the Chicago Sun-Times
as a "man of many moods, a musician of varied colors," Callier
fused jazz, soul, folk and a bit of funk throughout a 50-year
career.
Signed to Chess Records as a teen, Callier cut his debut
single, "Look at Me Now," in 1962, but a full album did not
emerge until 1968 when "The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier" was
released to little notice. He was prolific in the 1970s, releasing a
trio of acclaimed (but ignored) albums that inspired the term
"jazz-folk," "Occasional Rain" (1972), "What Color Is Love" (1973)
and "I Just Can't Help Myself" (1974).
He
resurfaced in 1978 with Elektra, releasing "Fire on Ice" and "Turn
You to Love" a year later. The latter contained the minor hit "Sign
of the Times," which cracked the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart in 1979 at No. 78.
In the early 1980s Callier put his music
career on hold, becoming a computer programmer while focusing on
raising his daughter. "When I got custody of my daughter I had to
give up music to raise her properly, she needed me and the music
business just didn't seem like a viable option at that point," he
said, according to BBC News.
It was during this hiatus that a
self-funded 1983 single by Callier, called "I Don't Want to See
Myself (Without You)," became a major hit on the British nightclub
circuit. The uptempo song, with its shades of funk and disco, led to
numerous concerts on both sides of the Atlantic.
In
1997, Callier contributed to singer-songwriter Beth Orton's "Best
Bit EP" and two years later sang on her BRIT Awards-winning album
"Central Reservation." On Twitter, Orton paid tribute by pointing
fans to a video of her and Callier performing the Tim Buckley
classic, "Dolphins."
"This was one of the best nights of my life. Such a privilege and joy - RIP dear Terry Callier," she noted.
Callier also sang vocals on Massive Attack's 2006 single, "Live With Me."Callier's record label Mr. Bongo, which released six of his albums from 2001 to 2009, said on its website that a memorial in London will be announced.
"He was by far the most moving performer I have ever seen and could make a crowded room fall silent with a breath," the label's Jane Dudworth said. "The guaranteed queue of love-struck women after the gigs was a testament to his charm."
http://www.npr.org/2012/10/31/164123607/terry-callier-on-world-cafe
Terry Callier On World Cafe
Terry Callier
Set List:
- "Lazarus Man"
- "Keep Your Heart Right"
In 1998, Callier visited World Cafe to perform and talk about his musical inspirations, his religious beliefs and his time in the Chicago folk scene. Listen to the folk-jazz pioneer reflect on his life in music with host David Dye on this special edition of World Cafe.
Terry Callier: Farewell to a distinctive Chicago voice
by Howard Reich
October 30, 2012
Chicago Tribune
TERRY CALLIER
(1945-2012)
Chicago singer-songwriter Terry Callier never received
a fraction of the acclaim he deserved, but nobody who heard him ever
forgot him.
The imploring, incantatory quality of his vocals distinguished him from peers, as did his knack for mixing elements of African chant, blues melody, jazz improvisation and folk instrumentation.
So Callier's death at 67 on Saturday at Saint Joseph Hospital, on North Lake Shore Drive, silenced a quietly hypnotic voice like none other.
Then, again, Callier's art had been silenced in the past, as well, by record executives and radio programmers who didn't know what to do with a talent as uncategorizable as his – and by the singer himself.His career seemingly had gotten off to a quick start when he was signed to Chess Records before he had graduated from Crane High School and, years later, released his first full-length album, a collection of covers aptly named "The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier" (1968). But though he was beloved in the folk-music clubs that dotted Old Town in the 1960s and '70s, Callier didn't break through as a major national attraction. The recordings he made in the '70s with producer Charles Stepney on Cadet – such as "Occasional Rain" (1972) and "What Color is Love" (1973) – bristled with social commentary and unusual instrumental effects. Unfortunately, they didn't really fit any particular radio format.
How did Callier hit up on this amalgam of sounds?
"Maybe it's because I grew up in the place that's called Cabrini-Green now, but then it was just Cabrini," Callier told me in 1998, when he was attempting a comeback with the sublimely expressive album "TimePeace."
"That neighborhood was home to Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield, Major Lance, Ramsey Lewis and a host of other people who were extremely talented.
"There was a fieldhouse over on Orleans near Division, and it had a series of meeting rooms, some of them with pianos, and they had great acoustics, so there would be four or five different vocal groups rehearsing," he added. "And on any summer night you could walk by and hear fantastic music – these guys could blow, and there were girl groups that sounded like angels.
"So I learned early on to listen to everything – classical music and ethnic music from Africa and Middle East, and it all comes out in your work."
But the thrilling eclecticism of his approach, as well as executive turnover at various labels, ultimately prevented him from reaching the wide audience that might have appreciated his art.
So in 1983 – divorced and living with his daughter, Sundiata (whom everyone calls Sunny) – Callier walked away from the music business, enrolled in computer classes and began working at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. By 1988, he had completed a degree in sociology at North Park College and realigned his life.
Why the turnabout?
"My daughter was starting high school, and there are certain things a young woman needs," Callier told me.
"There was no way I was going to provide those things unless I went out on the road and stayed there, but then I wouldn't have been around for her.
"I felt I owed her that. When her mom and I originally got divorced, I was younger and dumber and I didn't give much thought to Sundiata's feelings," he continued. "I felt, 'As an artist I'm due this and that,' and all the rest of the load that you carry around with you in your late 20s.
"So this gave me a chance to show her that she was important, and that her dad cared about her.
"It wasn't painful – I just put that other part of my life (music) aside."
Not totally, however. Though Callier didn't have time to pick up a guitar between September of 1985 and May of 1988, when he was going to school and working full time, after that he practiced his art in the bathroom at home: "It sounds good in there," he said.
And when British acid jazz groups in the early 1990s began sampling his work, which always commanded attention among European connoisseurs, at least one record exec saw a chance to revive Callier's fortunes.
"I first heard Terry in 1973, when I was an editor at DownBeat, and I was mesmerized by what he could do on stage," Verve Records' then-president Chuck Mitchell told me as "TimePeace" was being released. "I considered him a major artist."
"Eventually, I moved to New York, Terry disappeared from sight, and I still treasured his recordings.
"And then a colleague of mine called me up and said, 'You'll never guess who I saw … Terry Callier! He's been in Chicago all along, and he's got demos!' "
Mitchell signed Callier, who couldn't believe the turn of events.
"To say the least, I'm surprised, because I thought my time in music was pretty much over," Callier said to me. "I have to admit that I was a little nostalgic about the past, but I didn't really wish for a return to the music business."
Yet Callier did return, generating critical accolades.
"In truth, little has changed in Callier's approach," wrote Richard Harrington in the Washington Post in 2000. "His often-hushed vocals tend toward the cool and understated, his mostly-acoustic backing to the spare and supple, his lyrics to the metaphysical and, on occasion, socially conscious."
But Callier's comeback only went so far, a music industry increasingly obsessed with youth and massive sales not wholly welcoming to an artist of Callier's vintage and sophistication. Even so, while based in the Detroit area during the past few years, he toured Europe regularly until he was diagnosed with cancer 18 months ago, said his daughter. Callier lived with her while receiving treatments here during the past year, the family said in a statement.
The imploring, incantatory quality of his vocals distinguished him from peers, as did his knack for mixing elements of African chant, blues melody, jazz improvisation and folk instrumentation.
So Callier's death at 67 on Saturday at Saint Joseph Hospital, on North Lake Shore Drive, silenced a quietly hypnotic voice like none other.
Then, again, Callier's art had been silenced in the past, as well, by record executives and radio programmers who didn't know what to do with a talent as uncategorizable as his – and by the singer himself.His career seemingly had gotten off to a quick start when he was signed to Chess Records before he had graduated from Crane High School and, years later, released his first full-length album, a collection of covers aptly named "The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier" (1968). But though he was beloved in the folk-music clubs that dotted Old Town in the 1960s and '70s, Callier didn't break through as a major national attraction. The recordings he made in the '70s with producer Charles Stepney on Cadet – such as "Occasional Rain" (1972) and "What Color is Love" (1973) – bristled with social commentary and unusual instrumental effects. Unfortunately, they didn't really fit any particular radio format.
How did Callier hit up on this amalgam of sounds?
"Maybe it's because I grew up in the place that's called Cabrini-Green now, but then it was just Cabrini," Callier told me in 1998, when he was attempting a comeback with the sublimely expressive album "TimePeace."
"That neighborhood was home to Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield, Major Lance, Ramsey Lewis and a host of other people who were extremely talented.
"There was a fieldhouse over on Orleans near Division, and it had a series of meeting rooms, some of them with pianos, and they had great acoustics, so there would be four or five different vocal groups rehearsing," he added. "And on any summer night you could walk by and hear fantastic music – these guys could blow, and there were girl groups that sounded like angels.
"So I learned early on to listen to everything – classical music and ethnic music from Africa and Middle East, and it all comes out in your work."
But the thrilling eclecticism of his approach, as well as executive turnover at various labels, ultimately prevented him from reaching the wide audience that might have appreciated his art.
So in 1983 – divorced and living with his daughter, Sundiata (whom everyone calls Sunny) – Callier walked away from the music business, enrolled in computer classes and began working at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. By 1988, he had completed a degree in sociology at North Park College and realigned his life.
Why the turnabout?
"My daughter was starting high school, and there are certain things a young woman needs," Callier told me.
"There was no way I was going to provide those things unless I went out on the road and stayed there, but then I wouldn't have been around for her.
"I felt I owed her that. When her mom and I originally got divorced, I was younger and dumber and I didn't give much thought to Sundiata's feelings," he continued. "I felt, 'As an artist I'm due this and that,' and all the rest of the load that you carry around with you in your late 20s.
"So this gave me a chance to show her that she was important, and that her dad cared about her.
"It wasn't painful – I just put that other part of my life (music) aside."
Not totally, however. Though Callier didn't have time to pick up a guitar between September of 1985 and May of 1988, when he was going to school and working full time, after that he practiced his art in the bathroom at home: "It sounds good in there," he said.
And when British acid jazz groups in the early 1990s began sampling his work, which always commanded attention among European connoisseurs, at least one record exec saw a chance to revive Callier's fortunes.
"I first heard Terry in 1973, when I was an editor at DownBeat, and I was mesmerized by what he could do on stage," Verve Records' then-president Chuck Mitchell told me as "TimePeace" was being released. "I considered him a major artist."
"Eventually, I moved to New York, Terry disappeared from sight, and I still treasured his recordings.
"And then a colleague of mine called me up and said, 'You'll never guess who I saw … Terry Callier! He's been in Chicago all along, and he's got demos!' "
Mitchell signed Callier, who couldn't believe the turn of events.
"To say the least, I'm surprised, because I thought my time in music was pretty much over," Callier said to me. "I have to admit that I was a little nostalgic about the past, but I didn't really wish for a return to the music business."
Yet Callier did return, generating critical accolades.
"In truth, little has changed in Callier's approach," wrote Richard Harrington in the Washington Post in 2000. "His often-hushed vocals tend toward the cool and understated, his mostly-acoustic backing to the spare and supple, his lyrics to the metaphysical and, on occasion, socially conscious."
But Callier's comeback only went so far, a music industry increasingly obsessed with youth and massive sales not wholly welcoming to an artist of Callier's vintage and sophistication. Even so, while based in the Detroit area during the past few years, he toured Europe regularly until he was diagnosed with cancer 18 months ago, said his daughter. Callier lived with her while receiving treatments here during the past year, the family said in a statement.
Sunny Callier said she hoped to hold a public memorial for her father in the near future.
"He was loved all over the world," said Sunny Callier, who added that her father was surrounded by family when he died. "People are saying it's a loss for everyone."
Everyone who loved music of the most fiercely individual kind.
To read more from
Howard Reich, go to chicagotribune.com/reich
hreich@tribune.com
Twitter @howardreich
"He was loved all over the world," said Sunny Callier, who added that her father was surrounded by family when he died. "People are saying it's a loss for everyone."
Everyone who loved music of the most fiercely individual kind.
To read more from
Howard Reich, go to chicagotribune.com/reich
hreich@tribune.com
Twitter @howardreich
Copyright
© 2017, Chicago Tribune
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-20124594
Entertainment & Arts
Terry Callier, US soul jazz singer, dies at 67
29 October 2012
BBC
Chicago-born singer-songwriter Terry Callier, who collaborated with Massive Attack and Beth Orton, has died at the age of 67.
Callier, who began his career at 17 when he signed to Chess records, recorded his final album in 2009.
Hidden Conversations was written and produced with Bristol collective Massive Attack.
He also worked on Orton's Mercury prize nominated album, Central Reservations. Callier died in hospital in Chicago.
The news was confirmed by record label Mr Bongo, which worked with him on six albums between 2001 and 2009.
His funeral will take place on 3 November in his home city and a memorial is planned for London. The date is yet to be announced.
Many musicians have taken to Twitter and YouTube to pay tribute to the jazz and soul musician.
Orton shared a YouTube video with fans, saying: "This was one of the best nights of my life. Such a privilege and joy -
RIP dear Terry Callier."
'Dynamite neighbourhood'
Tim Burgess of The Charlatans posted: "The world has lost another beautiful voice. Rest in peace Terry Callier."
Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody posted a video of Callier's track Ordinary Joe, saying: "Terry Callier RIP. A great soul-folk legend. A sad day."
David Buttle, founder of Mr Bongo, wrote on the company's website: "I first worked with Terry when recording him at the Jazz Cafe in Camden, London in the late 90s. This was a spiritual home for Terry's fans; most nights that he played you could hear a pin drop when he sang and many people passed out, overwhelmed by the light that shone from him."
Callier was born on 24 May, 1945.
He grew up singing alongside soul singers Jerry Butler, Major Lance and Curtis Mayfield.
"That was a dynamite neighbourhood. All of us were doo-woping at the time in different groups," Callier wrote on his MySpace page.
He released his first single Look at me now in 1963.
Callier released three jazz-funk albums in the 1970s but in the 1980s, he left music behind after he was granted custody of his only daughter Sundiata, and re-trained as a computer programmer.
"When I got custody of my daughter I had to give up music to raise her properly, she needed me and the music business just didn't seem like a viable option at that point," Callier said, although he continued to perform.
His music career was resurrected in the early 1990s when his Chess/Cadet recordings were re-discovered by acid jazz fans in the UK.
He sang vocals on Massive Attack's single Live With Me, which was released in 2006.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/oct/30/terry-callier
Terry Callier obituary
Jazz, folk and soul musician with a string of influential albums, who was later taken up by Massive Attack and Beth Orton
TERRY CALLIER
(1945-2012)
by Adam Sweeting
30 October 2012
The Guardian (UK)
From his beginnings in jazz, folk and soul music onwards, the singer and guitarist Terry Callier, who has died aged 67 after suffering from throat cancer, struggled to find the popular recognition his varied talents deserved. Nonetheless he released a string of enduring and influential albums and, during the 1990s, enjoyed a creative rebirth in the UK when his supple, soulful music was feted by the acid-jazz movement and he collaborated with Beth Orton and Massive Attack.
Callier was born in Chicago and raised in the north side of the city. Partly inspired by his mother's enthusiasm for singers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, he sang in amateur doo-wop groups in his teens, and found himself in the midst of a remarkable group of local musicians including Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Butler and Ramsey Lewis.
In 1964, he was signed to Prestige Records by the producer Samuel Charters, with whom he cut his first album, The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier. Featuring just an acoustic guitar, two bass players (an idea Callier borrowed from the jazzman John Coltrane) and Callier's gentle but hugely expressive voice, the album stands today as a minor masterpiece. However, it was not released until 18 months later because in the meantime Charters had disappeared to Mexico, taking the master tapes with him. Look at Me Now, Callier's debut single, came in 1968, when he signed with Chicago's renowned blues label, Chess.
Callier earned a living by playing gigs in New York and Chicago until he was contacted by Butler in 1970 and recruited to his salaried group of songwriters. "Our job was just to write songs and learn about the music business," Callier told the journalist Angus Batey. "That was incredible." The following year, the Chess producer Charles Stepney approached Callier for songs. Callier supplied The Love We Had (Stays On My Mind), which was recorded by the Dells and was successful enough to prompt a recording contract for Callier from the Chess subsidiary Cadet. He made three solo albums under Stepney's guidance: Occasional Rain, What Color Is Love and I Just Can't Help Myself; commercial reward did not match their critical acclaim and Cadet ended Callier's contract.
Hope was rekindled when Elektra Records came calling in 1977, though Callier refused to have any truck with the prevailing disco boom, and his two Elektra albums continued his string of commercial flops. His Elektra mentor, Don Mizell, quit the label in 1979, and Callier was dropped shortly afterwards.
When his daughter, Sundiata, who was living with Callier's ex-wife, told him she wanted to stay in Chicago to attend school, Callier realised he had to have a steady income. "She needed me and the music business just didn't seem like a viable option at that point," he said. He secured a staff job as a computer programmer at the University of Chicago, and relegated music to a mere hobby for the next decade and a half.
However, as the 90s dawned, Callier was amazed to be told that he had become an icon of the British soul-jazz scene, thanks to a single, I Don't Wanna See Myself (Without You), on an obscure label. This had caught the ear of cutting-edge DJs such as Eddie Piller, who dropped in on Callier in Chicago and invited him to perform at the 100 Club in London. His subsequent string of shows at the Jazz Cafe became legendary for the devotion he aroused in his listeners.
Callier sang two songs with Orton on her EP Best Bit and he was signed to Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud label, for which he cut the albums Timepeace (featuring Orton) and Lifetime, both suffused with a sense of faith and yearning for redemption. After his record deal collapsed following a round of record company mergers, the independent label Mr Bongo stepped into the breach and released the live album Alive and a studio album, Speak Your Peace, which featured a duet performed and co-written with Paul Weller.
Callier was sacked from his computer programmer's job and concentrated once more on music, dividing his time between the UK and the US. He recorded six acclaimed albums between 1999 and 2009. The last of these was Hidden Conversations, on which he was joined by Massive Attack, with whom he had collaborated on the single Live With Me, a Top 20 hit in 2006. "You can make accessible music and still sing about love and peace and truth and life and death," said Callier in 1996. "In the end, those are the only things that matter."
He is survived by his daughter.
• Terry Callier, musician, born 24 May 1945; died 28 October 2012
• This article was amended on 31 October 2012. The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier was released 18 months after it was recorded, rather than four years. Callier signed with Chess in 1968, rather than 1963.
Jazz
Soul
Folk music
Massive Attack
Beth Orton
http://www.jazzdimensions.de/interviews/the_world/2001/terry_callier.html
Yes, Terry Callier indeed is a legend and a personality - someone, who has a message to tell. He can enter a room and fill it with his presence, warm it up just by being there. Musically, his roots lie in Blues and Soul - roots which he never denies on his way straight forward. - As the scheduled interview in Berlin could not take place, due to voice-problems of our hero (which luckily did not hinder him to perform great that evening!) - the Internet as a worldwide medium made it possible to take a second chance per e-mail. Here we are:
When I received the call from Eddie Pilar at Acid Jazz Records, I was quite surprised. I had no idea there was an interest in my music in the UK and Europe at that time. I played my first gigs in the UK late in 1991 and that led directly to meeting Giles Peterson and Russ Dewbury. Together, they arranged for Chuck Mitchell (who was CEO of Verve Records in the US at that time) to attend one of the concerts. Shortly afterwards, I recorded 'TimePeace' and a year later 'LifeTime'.
None of it would have been possible without the initial interest expressed by Eddie Pilar and the Acid Jazz label.
Carina: Your music is defined as jazz, soul, folk - what name would you give it yourself?
Terry: People hear in this music the things they are most familiar with. Folk music fans hear the folk part of it, jazz fans are drawn to the improvised quality and soul fans can feel what's happening. I'm not sure what label to put on the music -- it's what I do and it's been influenced by every type of music I've ever listened to.
Terry: I think all artists (writers, directors, painters, musicians, film-makers, whatever) have a responsibility to try and move society to a higher vibe. I think that we haven't lived up to the task, not necessarily because we don't or didn't want to but because the entertainment industry isn't interested in messages as such -- they are only concerned with what is selling. In addition, the industry has control over what is presented as commercial and if they want a certain type of music to be popular they increase it's exposure and if there's a certain type of music they want to suppress, they have no problem doing that.
Being a musician means presenting your music as clearly as possible so that people can draw hope, inspiration and the other things they need directly from it.
Carina:You used the term "all you need is faith" - wherefrom do you get your faith, your inspiration and your strength?
Terry: 'All you need is Faith' is a line from Curtis Mayfield's composition called "People Get Ready". I'm trying to follow the Sufi path -- we're taught that it is still possible to establish a relationship with the Creator of the Universe; to hold on to it and be guided by it. The stronger the relationship is, the stronger the person will be. That's all I can say about it at this time.
TERRY CALLIER "Lifetime" Blue Thumb/Polygram
"Live at Mother Blues 1964" Premonition
by Richard Harrington
March 31, 2000; Page N17
In the '60s and early '70s, Terry Callier's soft-spun, spiritually charged fusion of folk, soul and jazz earned the Chicago singer and guitarist an avid cult following. Unfortunately, critical acclaim didn't translate into commercial success and by the beginning of the '80s, Callier had abandoned a faltering music career for the surety of work in the computer industry. Fifteen years later, a funny thing happened: England's acid-jazz community embraced Callier's old recordings, which begat a brief club tour overseas, which begat a return to the studio with 1997's "TimePeace" and the current "Lifetime."
In truth, little has changed in Callier's approach: His often-hushed vocals tend to the cool and understated, his mostly-acoustic backing to the spare and supple, his lyrics to the metaphysical and, on occasion, socially conscious (hardly surprising since Callier attended high school with Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler). Think Richie Havens, Nick Drake, Jon Lucien.
Callier's past is briefly revisited with new versions of "Holdin' On" (now sounding more fervent in its cautious optimism) and "I Don't Want to See Myself (Without You)," curiously recast as gospel (with attendant choir). There's old-fashioned political edge to new tracks like the reggae-informed "Comin' Up From Babylon," the mildly apocalyptic "Sunset Boulevard" and the caustically confrontational "Fix the Blame," songs that elicit Callier's most energized vocals. He also essays a jazz-tinged "4 Miles," a facile tribute to Miles Davis that better showcases soprano saxophonist Gary Plummley and guitarist Jim Mullen.
However, Callier's far more effective on lilting ruminations like the Tim Buckley-ish "When My Lady Danced" and the emotionally supportive title track; and he's at his best in a pair of spare, acoustic meditations that seem inspired by Antonio Carlos Jobim's softly swaying melodicism. "Where a Lark Is Singing," built around guitar and upright bass, conjures wispy melancholy and a yearning for release. Even better is "Love Can Do," an elegant duet with longtime fan Beth Orton that suggests both romantic and spiritual connections.
Much of Callier's early work has been reissued on CD, but "Live at Mother Blues 1964" is an unnecessary dip into the vaults. Sure, it's the same trio heard on his breakthrough album, "The New Folk Sounds of Terry Callier," but these hootenanny recordings (mostly folk songs like "Drill ye Tarriers" and "The Gambler") are soporific. Callier was recasting tradition, but his vocals are so subdued, his arrangements so lugubrious, you'll be hard pressed to stay awake after the opening track, the Nat Adderley/Occar Brown Jr. classic, "Work Song." Pass.
Terry Callier appears Sunday at the Ram's Head Tavern and Monday at the Birchmere.
* To hear a free Sound Bite from "Lifetime," call Post-Haste at 202/334-9000 and press 8109. For a Sound Bite from "Live at Mother Blues 1964," press 8110. (Prince William residents, call 690-4110.)
© Copyright 2000 The Washington Post Company
http://www.allmusic.com/album/occasional-rain-mw0000741253
"Occasional Rain”—1973
(Composition and lyrics by Terry Callier)
AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek
THE MUSIC OF TERRY CALLIER: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH MR. CALLIER:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Callie
Terrence Orlando "Terry" Callier (May 24, 1945 – October 27, 2012), was an American jazz, soul and folk guitarist and singer-songwriter.[2]
He continued to perform in Chicago, and in 1970 joined the Chicago Songwriters Workshop set up by Jerry Butler. He and partner Larry Wade wrote material for Chess and its subsidiary Cadet label, including The Dells' 1972 hit "The Love We Had Stays on My Mind", as a result of which he was awarded his own recording contract with Cadet as a singer-songwriter. Three critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful albums followed, produced by Charles Stepney: Occasional Rain (1972), What Color Is Love (1972), and I Just Can't Help Myself (1974). These demonstrated that Callier's influences included R&B, soul and jazz. Subsequently he toured with George Benson, Gil Scott-Heron and others. Cadet and its parent label Chess were sold in 1976 and Callier was then dropped from the label. The Songwriters Workshop closed in 1976. The following year, he signed a new contract with Elektra Records, releasing the albums Fire On Ice (1977) and Turn You to Love (1978).[5][7] The opening track of the latter album, "Sign Of The Times", was used as the theme tune of radio DJ Frankie Crocker and became Callier's only US chart success, reaching # 78 on the R&B chart in 1979 and prompting his appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival.[5][8]
Callier continued to perform and tour until 1983, when he gained custody of his daughter and retired from music to take classes in computer programming, landing a job at the University of Chicago and returning to college during the evenings to pursue a degree in sociology. He re-emerged from obscurity in the late 1980s, when British DJs discovered his old recordings and began to play his songs in clubs. Acid Jazz Records head Eddie Piller reissued a little-known Callier recording from 1983, "I Don't Want to See Myself (Without You)", and brought him to play clubs in Britain. From 1991 he began to make regular trips to play gigs during his vacation time from work.[5][9]
In 1994 Urban Species released their debut album Listen, the title track containing a sample of the bass line and guitar riff from Callier's 1973 recording "You Goin' Miss Your Candyman".[10] In the late 1990s Callier began his comeback to recorded music, collaborating with Urban Species on their 1997 EP Religion and Politics and contributed to Beth Orton's Best Bit EP in 1997 before releasing the album Timepeace in 1998, which won the United Nations' Time For Peace award for outstanding artistic achievement contributing to world peace. His colleagues at the University of Chicago did not know of Callier's life as a musician, but after the award the news of his work as a musician became widely known and subsequently led to his dismissal by the University.[3][9]
As well as touring internationally, Callier continued his recording career, releasing five albums after Timepeace, including Lifetime (1999), Alive (2001), Speak Your Peace (2002), featuring Paul Weller on the single "Brother to Brother", Golden Apples of the Sun (2003), featuring the words of W. B. Yeats' poem The Song of the Wandering Aengus, and Lookin' Out (2004). May 2009 saw his album Hidden Conversations featuring Massive Attack released on Mr Bongo records.[7][9] In 2001, Callier performed "Satin Doll" for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.
He died from cancer on October 27, 2012, aged 67.[11]
"BMI : Repertoire Search". Repertoire.bmi.com. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
"Terry Callier Passes Away : MundoVibe | World Music & Visual Culture | Download Free Music". MundoVibe. 1945-05-24. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
Will Hodgkinson. "Interview with Terry Callier | Music". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
"Terry Callier - Reluctant Musician". Jazzusa.com. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
Jason Ankeny. "Terry Callier | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
Richie Unterberger (1968-05-11). "H.P. Lovecraft/H.P. Lovecraft II Liner Notes LOVECRAFT II". Richieunterberger.com. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
"Terry Callier | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". Myspace.com. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 62.
"親知らずを抜歯するなら歯科医に任せよう: いろんなパターンがある". Terrycallier.net. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
"Urban Species's "Listen" sample of Terry Callier's "You Goin' Miss Your Candyman"". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
"Terry Callier, Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 67". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-20124594
Entertainment & Arts
Terry Callier, US soul jazz singer, dies at 67
29 October 2012
BBC
Callier, who began his career at 17 when he signed to Chess records, recorded his final album in 2009.
Hidden Conversations was written and produced with Bristol collective Massive Attack.
He also worked on Orton's Mercury prize nominated album, Central Reservations. Callier died in hospital in Chicago.
The news was confirmed by record label Mr Bongo, which worked with him on six albums between 2001 and 2009.
His funeral will take place on 3 November in his home city and a memorial is planned for London. The date is yet to be announced.
Many musicians have taken to Twitter and YouTube to pay tribute to the jazz and soul musician.
Orton shared a YouTube video with fans, saying: "This was one of the best nights of my life. Such a privilege and joy -
RIP dear Terry Callier."
'Dynamite neighbourhood'
Tim Burgess of The Charlatans posted: "The world has lost another beautiful voice. Rest in peace Terry Callier."
Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody posted a video of Callier's track Ordinary Joe, saying: "Terry Callier RIP. A great soul-folk legend. A sad day."
David Buttle, founder of Mr Bongo, wrote on the company's website: "I first worked with Terry when recording him at the Jazz Cafe in Camden, London in the late 90s. This was a spiritual home for Terry's fans; most nights that he played you could hear a pin drop when he sang and many people passed out, overwhelmed by the light that shone from him."
Callier was born on 24 May, 1945.
He grew up singing alongside soul singers Jerry Butler, Major Lance and Curtis Mayfield.
"That was a dynamite neighbourhood. All of us were doo-woping at the time in different groups," Callier wrote on his MySpace page.
He released his first single Look at me now in 1963.
Callier released three jazz-funk albums in the 1970s but in the 1980s, he left music behind after he was granted custody of his only daughter Sundiata, and re-trained as a computer programmer.
"When I got custody of my daughter I had to give up music to raise her properly, she needed me and the music business just didn't seem like a viable option at that point," Callier said, although he continued to perform.
His music career was resurrected in the early 1990s when his Chess/Cadet recordings were re-discovered by acid jazz fans in the UK.
He sang vocals on Massive Attack's single Live With Me, which was released in 2006.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/oct/30/terry-callier
Terry Callier obituary
Jazz, folk and soul musician with a string of influential albums, who was later taken up by Massive Attack and Beth Orton
TERRY CALLIER
(1945-2012)
by Adam Sweeting
30 October 2012
The Guardian (UK)
From his beginnings in jazz, folk and soul music onwards, the singer and guitarist Terry Callier, who has died aged 67 after suffering from throat cancer, struggled to find the popular recognition his varied talents deserved. Nonetheless he released a string of enduring and influential albums and, during the 1990s, enjoyed a creative rebirth in the UK when his supple, soulful music was feted by the acid-jazz movement and he collaborated with Beth Orton and Massive Attack.
Callier was born in Chicago and raised in the north side of the city. Partly inspired by his mother's enthusiasm for singers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, he sang in amateur doo-wop groups in his teens, and found himself in the midst of a remarkable group of local musicians including Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Butler and Ramsey Lewis.
In 1964, he was signed to Prestige Records by the producer Samuel Charters, with whom he cut his first album, The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier. Featuring just an acoustic guitar, two bass players (an idea Callier borrowed from the jazzman John Coltrane) and Callier's gentle but hugely expressive voice, the album stands today as a minor masterpiece. However, it was not released until 18 months later because in the meantime Charters had disappeared to Mexico, taking the master tapes with him. Look at Me Now, Callier's debut single, came in 1968, when he signed with Chicago's renowned blues label, Chess.
Callier earned a living by playing gigs in New York and Chicago until he was contacted by Butler in 1970 and recruited to his salaried group of songwriters. "Our job was just to write songs and learn about the music business," Callier told the journalist Angus Batey. "That was incredible." The following year, the Chess producer Charles Stepney approached Callier for songs. Callier supplied The Love We Had (Stays On My Mind), which was recorded by the Dells and was successful enough to prompt a recording contract for Callier from the Chess subsidiary Cadet. He made three solo albums under Stepney's guidance: Occasional Rain, What Color Is Love and I Just Can't Help Myself; commercial reward did not match their critical acclaim and Cadet ended Callier's contract.
Hope was rekindled when Elektra Records came calling in 1977, though Callier refused to have any truck with the prevailing disco boom, and his two Elektra albums continued his string of commercial flops. His Elektra mentor, Don Mizell, quit the label in 1979, and Callier was dropped shortly afterwards.
When his daughter, Sundiata, who was living with Callier's ex-wife, told him she wanted to stay in Chicago to attend school, Callier realised he had to have a steady income. "She needed me and the music business just didn't seem like a viable option at that point," he said. He secured a staff job as a computer programmer at the University of Chicago, and relegated music to a mere hobby for the next decade and a half.
However, as the 90s dawned, Callier was amazed to be told that he had become an icon of the British soul-jazz scene, thanks to a single, I Don't Wanna See Myself (Without You), on an obscure label. This had caught the ear of cutting-edge DJs such as Eddie Piller, who dropped in on Callier in Chicago and invited him to perform at the 100 Club in London. His subsequent string of shows at the Jazz Cafe became legendary for the devotion he aroused in his listeners.
Callier sang two songs with Orton on her EP Best Bit and he was signed to Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud label, for which he cut the albums Timepeace (featuring Orton) and Lifetime, both suffused with a sense of faith and yearning for redemption. After his record deal collapsed following a round of record company mergers, the independent label Mr Bongo stepped into the breach and released the live album Alive and a studio album, Speak Your Peace, which featured a duet performed and co-written with Paul Weller.
Callier was sacked from his computer programmer's job and concentrated once more on music, dividing his time between the UK and the US. He recorded six acclaimed albums between 1999 and 2009. The last of these was Hidden Conversations, on which he was joined by Massive Attack, with whom he had collaborated on the single Live With Me, a Top 20 hit in 2006. "You can make accessible music and still sing about love and peace and truth and life and death," said Callier in 1996. "In the end, those are the only things that matter."
He is survived by his daughter.
• Terry Callier, musician, born 24 May 1945; died 28 October 2012
• This article was amended on 31 October 2012. The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier was released 18 months after it was recorded, rather than four years. Callier signed with Chess in 1968, rather than 1963.
Jazz
Soul
Folk music
Massive Attack
Beth Orton
http://www.jazzdimensions.de/interviews/the_world/2001/terry_callier.html
Terry Callier - alive!
"Alive" is the title of Terry Calliers latest album - published
in 2001. During his Germany-tour this spring he gave proof of really
being a legend - "the one last soul legend existing on this planet"
- as people use to call him. A statement like this may seem problematic.
However, Terry Callier does combine singing with a message, with stories
that are full of feeling and appellations. He considers himself not a
political man but a "social worker in music" - and he is a man
with a heart in which the whole world has found a place.
Terry
Callier (Foto: David Levine)
Yes, Terry Callier indeed is a legend and a personality - someone, who has a message to tell. He can enter a room and fill it with his presence, warm it up just by being there. Musically, his roots lie in Blues and Soul - roots which he never denies on his way straight forward. - As the scheduled interview in Berlin could not take place, due to voice-problems of our hero (which luckily did not hinder him to perform great that evening!) - the Internet as a worldwide medium made it possible to take a second chance per e-mail. Here we are:
Carina: The concert in Berlin was the last one of your tour - how
is the recognition of your music in Germany in general? What kind of people
are visiting your concerts?
Terry: The music is very well received in Germany. At the concerts
we are seeing a mix of people from very young to middle-aged. There seems
to be a true appreciation for what the band is doing that crosses generation,
age and color barriers.
Carina: You sing and play the guitar - how did you learn that? Are
you selftaught?
Terry: My first instrument was the piano -- I began taking lessons
when I was seven or eight years old. I didn't start playing the guitar
until I went away to college and got involved in the folk music scene.
I studied classical guitar for a year or so in the late 60's and I`ve
recently started taking formal guitar lessons again. I want to be able
to play the things I hear and further study is the only way to get to
that point.
Carina: You withdrew from the music-scene to care for your daughter
in the 80s and worked as a computer programmer - in 1991 an Acid Jazz
Label picked up your music again. Could you please tell something about
the development that took place since then?
Terry: I left the music scene in 1983 in order to provide my daughter
with the support she needed. I still played guitar around the house and
between 1983 and 1991 I may have played in public no more than six or
eight times. When I received the call from Eddie Pilar at Acid Jazz Records, I was quite surprised. I had no idea there was an interest in my music in the UK and Europe at that time. I played my first gigs in the UK late in 1991 and that led directly to meeting Giles Peterson and Russ Dewbury. Together, they arranged for Chuck Mitchell (who was CEO of Verve Records in the US at that time) to attend one of the concerts. Shortly afterwards, I recorded 'TimePeace' and a year later 'LifeTime'.
None of it would have been possible without the initial interest expressed by Eddie Pilar and the Acid Jazz label.
Terry
Callier (Foto: David Levine)
Carina: Your music is defined as jazz, soul, folk - what name would you give it yourself?
Terry: People hear in this music the things they are most familiar with. Folk music fans hear the folk part of it, jazz fans are drawn to the improvised quality and soul fans can feel what's happening. I'm not sure what label to put on the music -- it's what I do and it's been influenced by every type of music I've ever listened to.
Carina: What colour is love", "TimePeace" - lyrics concerning feelings,
love, social engagement - is it with the help of lyrics possible to give
people a hint, to lead them to a special direction? In other words: how
much can music influence people?
Terry: Music can only influence the people who hear and appreciate
it. Hopefully, we'll be able to increase the size of the audience without
changing the music or the focus of it. I'm grateful that there do seem
to be people who are interested in the music and what it's trying to say.
Carina: What would you say is more important for you: your compositions
or your lyrics?
Terry: Music and lyrics are both important to me. The music has
to have some originality and so do the words. At the best of times, the
music truly fits the lyrics and helps define the sound and deliver the
message.
Carina: You wrote texts like "African violet" or "Lament for the late
AD" - where do you see your own place in the american society? How is
the situation between black and white people in the United States today?
Terry: It has always been difficult for America to deal with it's
racial history and the resulting problems. There are some places in the
states where black and white people are able to live in relative peace
and harmony and there are places in the US where that is impossible. In
addition, there are Hispanic and other minorities in the states who have
the same problems (more or less) as Black people and Native Americans. 
Terry
Callier (Foto: Davis Levine)
Carina: As a singer / songwriter - do you have a certain responsibility
for what happens in the world?
Terry: I think all artists (writers, directors, painters, musicians, film-makers, whatever) have a responsibility to try and move society to a higher vibe. I think that we haven't lived up to the task, not necessarily because we don't or didn't want to but because the entertainment industry isn't interested in messages as such -- they are only concerned with what is selling. In addition, the industry has control over what is presented as commercial and if they want a certain type of music to be popular they increase it's exposure and if there's a certain type of music they want to suppress, they have no problem doing that.
"The entertainment industry isn't interested in messages as such -
they are only concerned with what is selling!"
Being a musician means presenting your music as clearly as possible so that people can draw hope, inspiration and the other things they need directly from it.
Carina:You used the term "all you need is faith" - wherefrom do you get your faith, your inspiration and your strength?
Terry: 'All you need is Faith' is a line from Curtis Mayfield's composition called "People Get Ready". I'm trying to follow the Sufi path -- we're taught that it is still possible to establish a relationship with the Creator of the Universe; to hold on to it and be guided by it. The stronger the relationship is, the stronger the person will be. That's all I can say about it at this time.
Carina: Have you got a sort of philosophy for life?
Terry: There is only one philosophy that's worth having and that
is 'Do unto others as you would have others do unto you'. If we could
live by that, there would be a lot less pain and fury in the world ...
Carina Prange
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-03/31/104r-033100-idx.htmlTERRY CALLIER "Lifetime" Blue Thumb/Polygram
"Live at Mother Blues 1964" Premonition
by Richard Harrington
March 31, 2000; Page N17
In the '60s and early '70s, Terry Callier's soft-spun, spiritually charged fusion of folk, soul and jazz earned the Chicago singer and guitarist an avid cult following. Unfortunately, critical acclaim didn't translate into commercial success and by the beginning of the '80s, Callier had abandoned a faltering music career for the surety of work in the computer industry. Fifteen years later, a funny thing happened: England's acid-jazz community embraced Callier's old recordings, which begat a brief club tour overseas, which begat a return to the studio with 1997's "TimePeace" and the current "Lifetime."
In truth, little has changed in Callier's approach: His often-hushed vocals tend to the cool and understated, his mostly-acoustic backing to the spare and supple, his lyrics to the metaphysical and, on occasion, socially conscious (hardly surprising since Callier attended high school with Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler). Think Richie Havens, Nick Drake, Jon Lucien.
Callier's past is briefly revisited with new versions of "Holdin' On" (now sounding more fervent in its cautious optimism) and "I Don't Want to See Myself (Without You)," curiously recast as gospel (with attendant choir). There's old-fashioned political edge to new tracks like the reggae-informed "Comin' Up From Babylon," the mildly apocalyptic "Sunset Boulevard" and the caustically confrontational "Fix the Blame," songs that elicit Callier's most energized vocals. He also essays a jazz-tinged "4 Miles," a facile tribute to Miles Davis that better showcases soprano saxophonist Gary Plummley and guitarist Jim Mullen.
However, Callier's far more effective on lilting ruminations like the Tim Buckley-ish "When My Lady Danced" and the emotionally supportive title track; and he's at his best in a pair of spare, acoustic meditations that seem inspired by Antonio Carlos Jobim's softly swaying melodicism. "Where a Lark Is Singing," built around guitar and upright bass, conjures wispy melancholy and a yearning for release. Even better is "Love Can Do," an elegant duet with longtime fan Beth Orton that suggests both romantic and spiritual connections.
Much of Callier's early work has been reissued on CD, but "Live at Mother Blues 1964" is an unnecessary dip into the vaults. Sure, it's the same trio heard on his breakthrough album, "The New Folk Sounds of Terry Callier," but these hootenanny recordings (mostly folk songs like "Drill ye Tarriers" and "The Gambler") are soporific. Callier was recasting tradition, but his vocals are so subdued, his arrangements so lugubrious, you'll be hard pressed to stay awake after the opening track, the Nat Adderley/Occar Brown Jr. classic, "Work Song." Pass.
Terry Callier appears Sunday at the Ram's Head Tavern and Monday at the Birchmere.
* To hear a free Sound Bite from "Lifetime," call Post-Haste at 202/334-9000 and press 8109. For a Sound Bite from "Live at Mother Blues 1964," press 8110. (Prince William residents, call 690-4110.)
© Copyright 2000 The Washington Post Company
http://www.allmusic.com/album/occasional-rain-mw0000741253
"Occasional Rain”—1973
(Composition and lyrics by Terry Callier)
AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek
Occasional Rain, originally released in 1972, is the first of three albums, Chicago singer/songwriter Terry Callier cut for Cadet in the 1970s with producer Charles Stepney. Eight years earlier Callier,
then a soulful blues and folk singer, cut an album of covers (as was
par for the course in 1964 at the end of the folk revival, Bob Dylan was just getting his momentum) for Prestige, but it was shelved until 1968 and went nowhere. Callier
spent the intervening time touring coffeehouses and small clubs around
the country until he signed with Cadet. While the voice is most
certainly the same, the nearly alchemical transformation of his sound
via his own songwriting -- and the way those songs were treated by Stepney -- is still mind-boggling. Occasional Rain
is recorded as a suite; not quite a concept album, there are segues,
all titled "Go Head On," fading in and out that introduce various stages
in the recording. Stepney put together a band led by Callier's excellent acoustic guitar playing, his own harpsichord and organ, pianist Leonard Pirani, bassist Sydney Simms, and drummer Bob Crowder -- it's the leanest production job in their collaboration. The beautiful touch, though, is Stepney adding a backing chorus with sopranos Minnie Riperton and Kitty Haywood, and contralto Shirley Wahls!
The nearly baroque soul sound is heard almost immediately on the
classic "Ordinary Joe." The organ and harpsichord momentarily offer the
false impression of horns in a pulsing 4/4 before Callier
lays out the poetic truth of his protagonist: "For my openin' line/I
might try to indicate my state of mind/Or turn you on-or tell you that
I'm laughin'/Just to keep from cryin'...Now I've seen a sparrow get
high/And waste his time in the sky/He thinks it's easy to fly/he's just a
little bit freer than me..." The jumbled images are met with the swell
of a taut, killer band; they give him more room out there on the ledge
to let his freely associated snapshots articulate into a whole that
expresses a transition from heartbreak to resistance to determination,
to a holistic spirituality and ultimately to hope as he transfers it
from his own view to the woman he is addressing. Whew. These cats could
have recorded for Buddah backing the Lemon Pipers, but Stepney keeps it from any saccharine sweetness, and makes it all flow into the direct expression of deep emotion.
"Golden Circle" follows, with that choir in the backdrop flowing in and out of a very scaled back mix where acoustic piano and Callier's acoustic guitar lead the flow of this deep expression of love as vulnerability. The grain in Callier's voice is very masculine, but its tenderness is total, his words poetic; sophisticated yet very direct. The added cello on "Trance on Sedgwick Street," by Earl Madison, makes for the startling juxtaposition of hard, street-tough truth and a critical examination of spirituality. Callier's guitar and that multi-tracked cello are devastatingly effective. The folk and blues roots in Callier's writing and singing just pour from this tune, but Stepney understands that these are soul tunes, so he creates bridges from one tradition to the next, making it a seamless whole.
The other classic tune from this session is the title cut. This beautiful and startling psychedelic soul tune is unlike anything else in Callier's catalog. Stepney adds multi-channel sound effects, tiny little organ tones that float through each channel beginning at the end of certain lines seemingly randomly. As an acoustic guitar plays atop a church organ which swells in the middle eight to fill out a shelf underneath Callier's voice, it feels like an entire universe floating between one channel and the next (especially on headphones!). It can even be startling, as those sounds, even though they are expected, are kind of a shock -- you'll need to listen through it a couple of times to get the full meaning of the Callier's gorgeous songwriting. In reference to the "Go Ahead On": they are the only direct reference to the blues roots in the songwriter's past and are very effective at both establishing that musical continuum and highlighting this wonderful new direction. This record is tight in a way the other Callier titles are sprawling. Here he holds the songs in check, and Stepney supports that while expanding the sonic palette that frames them. Certainly "Blues for Marcus," touches on those blues roots, to be sure, but the cellos and the decorative acoustic guitar turn it into a soul tune. That's what happens in the hands of two masters who know how to work together. Callier probably had no idea he was so inspired until he and Stepney began to tease the genius out of the songs on tape and illustrate them in such an organic yet wildly expansive way. The final cut "Lean on Me" (not to be confused with the Bill Withers tune of the same name) sends the set out on the highest of high notes: Callier's voice is so firm and determined, but his gentleness is not to be underestimated. The empathic dedication in his singing -- and its encouragement by that chorus of women makes the track -- and the album -- transcendent.
"Golden Circle" follows, with that choir in the backdrop flowing in and out of a very scaled back mix where acoustic piano and Callier's acoustic guitar lead the flow of this deep expression of love as vulnerability. The grain in Callier's voice is very masculine, but its tenderness is total, his words poetic; sophisticated yet very direct. The added cello on "Trance on Sedgwick Street," by Earl Madison, makes for the startling juxtaposition of hard, street-tough truth and a critical examination of spirituality. Callier's guitar and that multi-tracked cello are devastatingly effective. The folk and blues roots in Callier's writing and singing just pour from this tune, but Stepney understands that these are soul tunes, so he creates bridges from one tradition to the next, making it a seamless whole.
The other classic tune from this session is the title cut. This beautiful and startling psychedelic soul tune is unlike anything else in Callier's catalog. Stepney adds multi-channel sound effects, tiny little organ tones that float through each channel beginning at the end of certain lines seemingly randomly. As an acoustic guitar plays atop a church organ which swells in the middle eight to fill out a shelf underneath Callier's voice, it feels like an entire universe floating between one channel and the next (especially on headphones!). It can even be startling, as those sounds, even though they are expected, are kind of a shock -- you'll need to listen through it a couple of times to get the full meaning of the Callier's gorgeous songwriting. In reference to the "Go Ahead On": they are the only direct reference to the blues roots in the songwriter's past and are very effective at both establishing that musical continuum and highlighting this wonderful new direction. This record is tight in a way the other Callier titles are sprawling. Here he holds the songs in check, and Stepney supports that while expanding the sonic palette that frames them. Certainly "Blues for Marcus," touches on those blues roots, to be sure, but the cellos and the decorative acoustic guitar turn it into a soul tune. That's what happens in the hands of two masters who know how to work together. Callier probably had no idea he was so inspired until he and Stepney began to tease the genius out of the songs on tape and illustrate them in such an organic yet wildly expansive way. The final cut "Lean on Me" (not to be confused with the Bill Withers tune of the same name) sends the set out on the highest of high notes: Callier's voice is so firm and determined, but his gentleness is not to be underestimated. The empathic dedication in his singing -- and its encouragement by that chorus of women makes the track -- and the album -- transcendent.
THE MUSIC OF TERRY CALLIER: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH MR. CALLIER:
Terry Callier - "What Color Is Love?":
Terry Callier - "You Goin' Miss Your Candyman":
"Ordinary Joe" - Terry Callier:
Terry Callier - "Lazarus Man":
Terry Callier - "Paris Blues":
Massive Attack & Terry Callier - "Live With Me":
Terry Callier - "900 Miles":
Terry Callier - "City Side and Country Side":
Terry Callier - "Dancing girl":
Terry Callier--"Keep Your Heart Right"
Live on 'Later With Jools Holland'--BBC:
"Segue #1 - Go Ahead On"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Callie
Terry Callier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Terry Callier | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Terrence Orlando Callier[1] |
| Born | May 24, 1945 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Died | October 27, 2012 (aged 67) Chicago, United States |
| Genres | Folk, jazz, soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, computer programmer |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1962–1983, 1991–2012 |
Terrence Orlando "Terry" Callier (May 24, 1945 – October 27, 2012), was an American jazz, soul and folk guitarist and singer-songwriter.[2]
Contents
Life and career
Callier was born in the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and was raised in the Cabrini–Green housing area. He learned piano, was a childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield, Major Lance and Jerry Butler, and began singing in doo-wop groups in his teens. In 1962 he took an audition at Chess Records, where he recorded his debut single, "Look at Me Now".[3] At the same time as attending college, he then began performing in folk clubs and coffee houses in Chicago, becoming strongly influenced by the music of John Coltrane.[4] He met Samuel Charters of Prestige Records in 1964, and the following year they recorded his debut album. Charters then took the tapes away with him into the Mexican desert, and the album was eventually released in 1968 as The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier.[3][5] Two of Callier's songs, "Spin, Spin, Spin" and "It's About Time", were recorded by the psychedelic rock band H. P. Lovecraft in 1968, as part of their H. P. Lovecraft II album.[6] H. P. Lovecraft featured fellow Chicago folk club stalwart George Edwards, who would go on to co-produce several tracks for Callier in 1969.[6]
He continued to perform in Chicago, and in 1970 joined the Chicago Songwriters Workshop set up by Jerry Butler. He and partner Larry Wade wrote material for Chess and its subsidiary Cadet label, including The Dells' 1972 hit "The Love We Had Stays on My Mind", as a result of which he was awarded his own recording contract with Cadet as a singer-songwriter. Three critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful albums followed, produced by Charles Stepney: Occasional Rain (1972), What Color Is Love (1972), and I Just Can't Help Myself (1974). These demonstrated that Callier's influences included R&B, soul and jazz. Subsequently he toured with George Benson, Gil Scott-Heron and others. Cadet and its parent label Chess were sold in 1976 and Callier was then dropped from the label. The Songwriters Workshop closed in 1976. The following year, he signed a new contract with Elektra Records, releasing the albums Fire On Ice (1977) and Turn You to Love (1978).[5][7] The opening track of the latter album, "Sign Of The Times", was used as the theme tune of radio DJ Frankie Crocker and became Callier's only US chart success, reaching # 78 on the R&B chart in 1979 and prompting his appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival.[5][8]
Callier continued to perform and tour until 1983, when he gained custody of his daughter and retired from music to take classes in computer programming, landing a job at the University of Chicago and returning to college during the evenings to pursue a degree in sociology. He re-emerged from obscurity in the late 1980s, when British DJs discovered his old recordings and began to play his songs in clubs. Acid Jazz Records head Eddie Piller reissued a little-known Callier recording from 1983, "I Don't Want to See Myself (Without You)", and brought him to play clubs in Britain. From 1991 he began to make regular trips to play gigs during his vacation time from work.[5][9]
In 1994 Urban Species released their debut album Listen, the title track containing a sample of the bass line and guitar riff from Callier's 1973 recording "You Goin' Miss Your Candyman".[10] In the late 1990s Callier began his comeback to recorded music, collaborating with Urban Species on their 1997 EP Religion and Politics and contributed to Beth Orton's Best Bit EP in 1997 before releasing the album Timepeace in 1998, which won the United Nations' Time For Peace award for outstanding artistic achievement contributing to world peace. His colleagues at the University of Chicago did not know of Callier's life as a musician, but after the award the news of his work as a musician became widely known and subsequently led to his dismissal by the University.[3][9]
As well as touring internationally, Callier continued his recording career, releasing five albums after Timepeace, including Lifetime (1999), Alive (2001), Speak Your Peace (2002), featuring Paul Weller on the single "Brother to Brother", Golden Apples of the Sun (2003), featuring the words of W. B. Yeats' poem The Song of the Wandering Aengus, and Lookin' Out (2004). May 2009 saw his album Hidden Conversations featuring Massive Attack released on Mr Bongo records.[7][9] In 2001, Callier performed "Satin Doll" for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.
He died from cancer on October 27, 2012, aged 67.[11]
Discography
Studio albums
- The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier (1965)
- Occasional Rain (Cadet, 1972)
- What Color Is Love (1972)
- I Just Can't Help Myself (1974)
- Fire On Ice (1977)
- Turn You To Love (1978)
- Time Peace (1998) #92 UK
- Lifetime (1999) #96 UK
- Speak Your Peace (2002) #156 UK
- The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier (2003) Remastered with three additional tracks including Golden Apples of the Sun
- Lookin' Out (2004)
- Hidden Conversations (2009)
Live albums
- TC in DC (recorded live in Washington D.C. 1982) (1996)
- Live at Mother Blues (recorded live in Chicago 1964) (2000)
- Alive (recorded live in London 2000) (2001)
- Welcome Home (recorded live in London 2008) (2008)
Compilations
- The Best Of Terry Callier on Cadet (1991)
- Essential - The Very Best Of Terry Callier (1998) #193 UK
- First Light: Chicago 1969-71 (1998)
- As We Travel (Harmless Records Compilation) (2002)
- Total Recall (remixes) (2003)
- Life Lessons - 40 Years and Running (2006)
- Terry Callier: Collected (Spectrum 9836360) (2007)
- About Time: The Terry Callier Story 1965-1982 (Beat Goes Public CDBGPD 199) (2009)
Singles
- I Just Can't Help Myself (Cadet Records 1973)[12]
- Ordinary Joe / Golden Circle Of Your Love (Cadet Records)
- Look At Me Now / Ordinary Joe (Cadet Records)
- Butterfly (Elektra 1978)
- Sign Of The Times / Occasional Rain (Elektra 1979)
- I Don't Want To See Myself (Without You) (Erect Records 1982)
- Love Theme From Spartacus (Talkin' Loud 1998)
- Keep Your Heart Right / Love Theme From Spartacus (Talkin' Loud, Verve Records 1998)
- Love Theme From Spartacus (PolyGram 1998)
- I Don't Want To See Myself (Without You) (Talkin' Loud 1999)
- Silent Night (Talkin' Loud 1999)
- Holdin' On / When My Lady Danced (Talkin' Loud 1999)
- Tomorrow In Your Eyes (East West Connection Featuring Terry Callier) (Chillifunk Records 2001)
- Brother To Brother (Terry Callier With Paul Weller) (Mr Bongo 2002)
- Running Around / Monuments Of Mars (Mr Bongo 2002)
- In A Heartbeat (Koop Feat. Terry Callier) (Sony Music 2002)
- Lookin’ Out (Mr Bongo 2004)
- Live With Me (Massive Attack With Terry Callier) (Virgin 2006)
- Advice (Hardkandy Featuring Terry Callier) (Catskills Records 2006)
- Wings (Mr Bongo 2009)
DVD and videos
- Terry Callier - Live in Berlin (Universal Music 2005) Prod.: Modzilla Films/Beatrice Tillmann
Appearances
- Vocals on The Juju Orchestra's - What Is Hip (2007)
- Vocals on Massive Attack's "Live With Me" (2006)
- Vocals on Hardkandy's "Advice" (2006)
- Vocals on Nujabes's "Modal Soul" (2005)
- Vocals on Jean-Jacques Milteau's "Blue 3rd" (2003)
- Vocals on Cirque du Soleil's "Varekai" (2002)
- Vocals on Kyoto Jazz Massive's "Deep in Your Mind" (2002)
- Vocals on 4 Hero's "The Day of the Greys" (2001)
- Vocals on Koop's "In A Heartbeat" (2001)
- Vocals on Zero 7's "Simple Things"(2001)
- Vocals on Grand Tourism's "Les Courants d'Air" (2001)
- Vocals on Beth Orton's Central Reservation (1999)
- Vocals on Urban Species's "Religion and Politics" and "Changing Of The Guard", from the album "Blanket" (1998), after sampling his song "You Goin' Miss Your Candyman" in their song "Listen" from the album by the same name (1994)
- His song "You Goin' Miss Your Candyman" was featured in the French movie, Intouchables.
References:
- "Terry Callier Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Terry Callier. |
- BBC obituary
- Mr Bongo label website
- Hodgkinson, Will. Open Secret. Guardian Unlimited. October 15, 2004. Retrieved April 5, 2006
- Ruffin, Mark. Terry Callier, Reluctant Musician. JazzUSA 'Zine. Retrieved April 5, 2006.
- [1]
