Al Gamble

John Allen "Al" Gamble (born March 11, 1969) is an American, Memphis, Tennessee and Birmingham, Alabama based, session musician, playing Hammond B-3 organ and keyboards. He is currently the keyboard player for St. Paul and The Broken Bones.[1]

Al Gamble
Al Gamble in Memphis (2011)
Background information
Birth nameJohn Allen Gamble Jr.
Also known asAl Gamble
Born (1969-03-11) March 11, 1969
Columbus, Georgia, United States
GenresSoul, R&B, rock, pop
InstrumentsHammond B-3 organ, piano, clavinet, Wurlitzer
Years active1987-present
Associated actsGamble Brothers Band, The Grip, The City Champs, John Paul Keith and the 145s, Marc Broussard, Charles Walker and the Dynamites, St. Paul and the Broken Bones

Early life

Gamble was born in Columbus, Georgia, United States, but his family moved to his parents' home town of Tuscumbia, Alabama (near Muscle Shoals), in the early 1970s, where he was raised. After graduating from the University of Alabama in 1991 he lived in Tuscumbia, until moving to Memphis in 1994 to pursue a career in music.

Career

Gamble grew up listening to his father's record collection, which included Jimmy Smith, Ray Charles, Jack McDuff and other jazz and soul artists on the Verve and Blue Note labels.[2][3] He played in various bands during high school and college, and in 1992 joined the Shreveport-based Bluebirds, featuring Buddy Flett on guitar.[4] Gamble spent a few years in Memphis as a Beale Street musician, backing such artists as Preston Shannon and A-440. In 2001, he formed the Gamble Brothers Band with his younger brother Chad Gamble (drums), Art Edmaiston (saxophone) and Will Lowrimore (bass). The band recorded three albums from 2001 to 2007. The first album, 10 Lbs. of Hum (2001), was released independently and featured Lowrimore on bass.[5] The last two albums, Back to the Bottom (2003) [6] and Continuator (2006), were released on the Memphis-based label Archer Records. Back to the Bottom was the last recording to feature Lowrimore on bass, who left the band shortly after the album's release. Continuator featured bassist, Blake Rhea, who joined the band in 2003 to replace Lowrimore.

In 2003, the Gamble Brothers Band beat out more than 1,200 other artists to win the Billboard-sponsored Independent Music World Series award.[7]

Edmaiston joined the Jacksonville-based touring band JJ Grey & MOFRO in 2007,[8] and soon after that, the Gamble Brothers Band played their last live show, opening for the Black Crowes in October 2007 at Mud Island Amphitheatre in Memphis.[9] Earlier in 2007, while on a break from touring, Edmaiston joined Memphis guitar player Joe Restivo, drummer George Sluppick and Al Gamble to form The Grip, a four-piece jazz instrumental band specializing in boogaloo music.[10] The Grip recorded the EP Grab This Thing for Archer Records (2007).[11]

The road took Edmaiston away again, and Gamble, Restivo and Sluppick continued to play as a three-piece, forming the band The City Champs.[12] The City Champs have released two albums on Scott Bomar's Electraphonic label: The Safecracker (2009) and The Set Up (2010).[13] The City Champs tour regularly and have opened for other acts, including the North Mississippi Allstars and Huey Lewis.

The City Champs' music has been featured in the MTV series "$5 Cover"[14] and in the Emmy Award-winning documentary film I Am A Man: From Memphis, A Lesson in Life.[15]

On November 29, 2010, The City Champs took part in the filming of a new Memphis music documentary. Titled Take Me To The River, this Cody Dickinson/Martin Shore-produced film, released Sept. 12, 2014, showcases icons of the Memphis' music scene playing with up-and-coming young bands. The City Champs collaborated with harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite and Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section bassist David Hood on bass to film a segment at Electraphonic Studios in Memphis.[16] The film, which includes contributions from Terrance Howard and Snoop Dogg, was honored at the Raindance Film Festival awards ceremony in London as the Feature Film.[17]

In January 2013, after learning about St. Paul and The Broken Bones from friend and guitarist Browan Lollar, Gamble was asked to add organ overdubs on the band's debut album Half The City, recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.[18] Later that year, Gamble joined the band full-time, prior to the release of the record in February 2014.[19] St. Paul and The Broken Bones have toured extensively in the United States and Europe and opened two shows (June 9 in Atlanta; and July 11 in Buffalo, New York) for The Rolling Stones on the band's 2015 Zip Code Tour.[20] In January 2016, St. Paul and the Broken Bones played a sold-out Carnegie Hall show as part of a four-concert series curated by Rosanne Cash called Carnegie Hall's Perspectives.[21]

In February 2017, St. Paul and the Broken Bones headlined the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards viewing party in West Hollywood, California.[22]

Gamble has recorded on more than 50 albums and on various film scores. He is credited with writing or co-writing more than 40 songs, according to BMI.[23] He has toured with The City Champs, singer/songwriter Charlie Mars, John Paul Keith and the 145s,[24] Louisiana soul singer Marc Broussard, Charles Walker and the Dynamites, The Bo-Keys,[25] and St. Paul and The Broken Bones.[26]

Personal life

Al Gamble currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee.

Alabama Music Hall of Fame

Al Gamble and his brother Chad are listed as "Music Achievers" in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.[27]

Discography
YearAlbum details
2001Gamble Brothers Band - 10 lbs. of Hum[28]
  • Released: 2001
  • Produced by: Keith Sykes
  • Songs: Blue Beat Years, Bring 'em Back, Don't Turn Your Burner Down, Everything I Do, The Booster, City in the Sky, Numbers Never Lie, What's Wrong Now, Point the Finger, Don't Do It, You Gotta Be Kiddin'
2003Gamble Brothers Band - Back to The Bottom[29]
  • Released: Sept. 2, 2003
  • Produced by: Ross Rice
  • Label: Archer Records
  • Songs: Record Store, Back to the Bottom, Love is Alive, Share, Tiki Bar, Come on Sam, One Stone, Escape Alley, Old New One, Land of Soul, Little Criminals, Cadillactopus
2006Gamble Brothers Band - Continuator[30]
  • Released: Feb. 21, 2006
  • Produced by: Jeff Powell
  • Label: Archer Records
  • Songs: Overboard, Hold Out 'Til Monday, Back to School, E. Parkway Rundown, Heart's Not In It, Right Direction, Vinyl, Durty Walt, Shopping Cart, Theme From "Little Champ," Threw it All Away, All Skate, Best Defense
2007The Grip - Grab This Thing[31]
  • Released: 2007
  • Label: Archer Records
  • Songs: Grab This Thing, Jan Jan, Tutwiler, Controversy, Farewell to Cheyenne
2009The City Champs - The Safecracker
  • Released: March 17, 2009
  • Label: Electraphonic Recording
  • Songs: The Safecracker, Takin' State, Love is a Losing Game, Poppin', The Whap-A-Dang, Pretty Girl, Comin' Home Baby, You Can't Win, Four Score, Ol' Man River
2009John Paul Keith and the 145s - Spills & Thrills
  • Released: April 14, 2009
  • Label: Big Legal Mess
2010The City Champs - The Set Up
  • Released: 2010
  • Label: Electraphonic Recording
  • Songs: The Set Up, Drippy, Ricky's Rant, Crump St., Chinatown, Rigamarole, Local Jones, Break It Up, A Beautiful Mine (Theme from Mad Men), Comanche, The Sanctimoneous Kid, Shishido Jo
2011John Paul Keith and the 145s - The Man that Time Forgot
  • Released: June 21, 2011
  • Label: Big Legal Mess
2013John Paul Keith and the 145s - Memphis Circa 3AM
  • Released: Sept. 17, 2013
  • Label: Big Legal Mess
  • Songs: You Really Oughta Be with Me, We Got All Night, Everything's Different Now, Ninety Proof Kiss, Walking Along the Lane, True Hard Money, New Year's Eve, There's a Heartache Going 'Round, If You Catch Me Staring, Last Night I Had a Dream About You, She's Almost You, Baby We're a Bad Idea
2014St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Half the City
  • Released: Feb. 18, 2014
  • Label: Single Lock Records
  • Songs: Call Me, Half the City, Broken Bones and Pocket Change, Like a Mighty River, Don't Mean a Thing, Grass is Greener, I'm Torn Up, Dixie Rothco, Let it Be So, That Glow
2014You, Me & Apollo - Sweet Honey
  • Released: May. 9, 2014
  • Label: Self Released
  • Songs: Trains (Feat. Al Gamble)
2016The Bo-Keys - Heartaches By The Number
  • Released: April 29, 2016
  • Label: Electraphonic Records
2016St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Sea of Noise
  • Released: Sept. 9, 2016
  • Label: Records
  • Songs: Crumbling Light Posts Pt. 1, Flow With It (You Got Me Feeling Like), Midnight on Earth, I'll Be Your Woman, All I Ever Wonder, Sanctify, Crumbling Light Posts Pt. 2, Waves, Brain Matter, Tears in the Diamond, Is It Me, Crumbling Light Posts Pt. 3
2018Nicki Bluhm - To Rise You Gotta Fall
  • Released: June 1, 2018
  • Label: Compass Records
2018St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Young Sick Camellia
  • Released: Sept. 7, 2018
  • Label: Records
2019Foy Vance - To Memphis
  • Released: Sept. 6, 2019
  • Label: Gingerbread Man Records

Television performances

References
  1. "St. Paul & the Broken Bones tease 'em, please 'em during sold-out concert at Alabama Theatre". AL.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  2. "Review of the Gamble Brothers Band's 'Continuator'". Keyboard Magazine. April 30, 2006
  3. "Review of the Gamble Brothers Band's 'Continuator'". Keyboard Magazine. April 30, 2006.
  4. "The Bluebirds". Thebluebirds.com. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  5. Baker, Jackson (March 15, 2002). "Sound Advice | Music Features | Memphis News and Events". Memphis Flyer. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  6. "Gamble Brothers Band Bio, History, Info on JamBase". Jambase.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  7. Billboard Magazine. August 16, 2003.
  8. "JJ Grey & MoFro Saxophonist Art Edmaiston joins AMT Roster". Appliedmicrophone.com. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  9. "The Black Crowes". Jambase.com. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  10. "The Grip Not Backing Off on the Boogaloo". The Commercial Appeal. September 14, 2007.
  11. "With grinding organ, pounding drums and soulful grooves, the Grip has asserted itself as Memphis' true boogaloo band". Archer-records.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  12. "The City Champs: Championing the 'Comeback' of the Jazz Age". Memphis Magazine. May 2009.
  13. "Discography". Electraphonicrecording.com. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  14. "$5 Cover - Artists/Cast Members". Mtv.com. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  15. "Secret Stages : City Champs (Memphis, TN)". Secretstages.net. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  16. "The City Champs Score High with 'The Set Up'". CHC Network. December 19, 2010.
  17. Rosser, Michael (October 6, 2014). "Take Me To the River wins at Raindance | News | Screen". Screendaily.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  18. "Interview: St. Paul & The Broken Bones". Soundcheckmagazine.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  19. Bob Mehr (November 26, 2014). "Bob Mehr's Memphis Music Beat: St. Paul and the Broken Bones at Minglewood Hall". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  20. "Start it up: St. Paul & the Broken Bones to open 2 shows for Rolling Stones in Atlanta & Buffalo, NY". AL.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  21. "Rosanne Cash to Curate Music Series as Part of 2015-16 Carnegie Hall Season". Broadwayworld.com. September 24, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  22. "St. Paul & the Broken Bones to perform at Oscars viewing party for Elton John AIDS Foundation". Al.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  23. Gamble, Al. "Songwriter/Composer: GAMBLE AL". song writing. BMI. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  24. "Right Place, Right Time: John Paul Keith finds he's still progressing", The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), September 19, 2013
  25. "Bo-Keys Release New Singles, 'Making of' Video", The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), November 12, 2013
  26. "Birmingham-based soul band St. Paul and the Broken Bones quickly attracting attention". The Tuscaloosa News. July 12, 2013
  27. "Music Achievers – G". Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012.
  28. "10 lbs. of Hum". Archer Records. Archived from the original on September 13, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  29. "Back to the Bottom". Archer Records. Archived from the original on September 13, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  30. "The Continuator". Archer Records. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  31. "The Grip – Biography". Archer Records. Archived from the original on March 1, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
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