Tuff Green

Richard “Tuff” Green (born July 23, 1911, Greenville, MS) was a jazz and R&B bassist and bandleader.[1]

After studying with Jimmie Lunceford in Memphis, in the late 1940s he led the Rocketeers, which featured, among others, Phineas Newborn Sr., Ben Branch, Leonard “Doughbelly” Campbell, Willie Mitchell, Hank Crawford,[2] saxophonist Irvin Reason, trumpeter Gene "Bowlegs" Miller, trombonist Walter "Tang" Smith, saxophonist James Luper, and pianist Harry Gibson[3][4] Mose Allison, having heard them in 1947, has credited Tuff Green and His Rocketeers with playing the first “rock and roll”.[5][6]

As an established bandleader in Memphis, in 1951 he later put together the pickup band for BB King’s first hit, “Three O’Clock Blues”,[7] Ben Branch and Phineas Newborn Sr., along with Newborn's sons, Phineas Jr. and Calvin, together with Ben Branch’s brother Thomas, and Sammie Jett[8] and which was recorded in Green’s sitting room.[9] A previous version of the song had been recorded in September 1951 with King backed by Richard Sanders and Adolph "Billy" Duncan on tenor saxes, Johnny Ace, Green, and Earl Forest on drums.[10]

Bobby Bland’s first recording was also made in Green’s sitting room,[2] and featured Green, Johnny Ace, Earl Forest, M.T. (Matthew) Murphy, Little Junior Parker, Ike Turner,[11] and Rosco Gordon,[12] whose "No More Doggin'", also recorded at Green's home, was a #3 R&B hit.[13]

Discography

Album features
  • 2000: A Shot In The Dark - Nashville Jumps (Bear Family Records)
  • 2007: Bullet Records - Rhythm & Blues (Blue Label)
  • 2010: Bullet Records Jump, Blues & Ballads (SPV GmbH)

Albums as a sideman
  • 1977: Rosco Gordon – The Legendary Sun Performers (Charly Records)
  • 2010: Ike Turner – That Kat Sure Could Play! The Singles 1951-1957 (Secret Records Limited)
  • 2013: B.B. King – The Indispensable 1949-1962 (Frémeaux & Associés)

References
  1. Center for Southern Folklore Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  2. DeCosta-Willis, Miriam (2008) Notable Black Memphians, p. 40. Cambria Press At Google Books. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  3. 706 Union Avenue Memphis, Tennessee: 706 Union Avenue Sessions Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  4. DeCosta-Willis, Miriam (2008) Notable Black Memphians, p. 100. Cambria Press Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  5. Jones, Patti (1995) One Man's Blues: The Life and Music of Mose Allison, p. 27. Quartet Books At Google Books. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  6. Coleman, Christopher Kiernan (2011) Ghosts and Haunts of Tennessee, p. 161. John F. Blair At Google Books. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  7. Lauterbach, Preston (2011) The Chitlin' Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll pp. 188-213. W. W. Norton & Company. At Google Books. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  8. Danchin, Sebastian (1998) Blues Boy: The Life and Music of B.B. King, p. 27. Univ. Press of Mississippi At Google Books. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  9. Farley, Charles (2011) Soul of the Man: Bobby "Blue" Bland, p. 37. Univ. Press of Mississippi At Google Books. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  10. "The songs and the artists" PBS. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  11. African Americans in Memphis (TN) At Google Books. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  12. Guralnick, Peter and Robert Santelli, Holly George-Warren (2013) Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey. HarperCollins At Google Books. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  13. Walker, Steve. Biography of Rosco Gordon Retrieved 2 July 2013.
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