From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu Jul 4, 2002  1:13 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Champion Jack Dupree
 
CHAMPION JACK DUPREE (By Shaun Mather)

Born William Thomas Dupree, 4 July 1910, New Orleans, Louisiana
Died 21 January 1992, Hannover, Germany

Vocalist / pianist.
Dupree had a childhood from a movie, but the Mississippi Burning variety not
Fun In Acapulco. He claimed that his parents died in a fire set by the Ku
Klux Klan whilst he was a kid in New Orleans. He then lived in the 'Colored
Waifs' Home for Boys which also housed the young Louis Armstrong.
He learned piano from barrelhouse pianist Willie "Drive 'em Down" Hall
before moving to Chicago in 1930 and then Detroit. By 1935, he was boxing
professionally in Indianapolis, battling in an estimated 107 bouts.

In 1940, Dupree made his recording debut for Chicago A&R man extraordinaire
Lester Melrose and OKeh Records. Dupree's 1940-41 output for the Columbia
subsidiary exhibited a strong New Orleans tinge despite the Chicago
surroundings; his driving "Junker's Blues" was later cleaned up as Fats
Domino's 1949 debut, "The Fat Man." After a stretch in the Navy during
World War II (he was a Japanese POW for two years), Dupree decided
tickling the 88s beat pugilism any old day. He spent most of his time in New
York and quickly became a prolific recording artist, cutting for Continental,
Joe
Davis, Alert, Apollo, and Red Robin (where he cut a blasting "Shim Sham
Shimmy" in 1953), often in the company of Brownie McGhee. Contracts meant
little - Dupree masqueraded as Brother Blues on Abbey, Lightnin' Jr. on
Empire, and the truly imaginative Meat Head Johnson for Gotham and Apex.

King Records corralled Dupree in 1953 and held onto him through 1955 (the
year he enjoyed his only R&B chart hit, the relaxed "Walking the Blues").
Dupree's King output rates with his very best - the romping "Mail Order
Woman," "Let the Doorbell Ring," and "Big Leg Emma's" contrasting with the
rural "Me and My Mule". After a year on RCA's Groove and Vik subsidiaries,
Dupree made a masterpiece LP for Atlantic. 1958's Blues from the Gutter is a
magnificent testament to Dupree's barrelhouse background, boasting marvelous
readings of "Stack-O-Lee," "Junker's Blues," and "Frankie & Johnny" beside
the risque "Nasty Boogie."

Dupree was one of the first bluesmen to leave his native country for a less
racially polarized European existence in 1959. He lived in a variety of
countries overseas, even living in Halifax. He continued to record
prolifically for Storyville, British Decca (with John Mayall and Eric
Clapton lending a hand at a 1966 date), and many other firms. Perhaps
sensing his own mortality, Dupree returned to New Orleans in 1990 for his
first visit in 36 years. While there, he played the Jazz & Heritage Festival
and laid down a zesty album for Bullseye Blues, Back Home in New Orleans.
Two more albums of new material were captured by the company the next year
prior to the pianist's death in January of 1992. Jack Dupree was a champ to
the very end. - (Adapted from All Music Guide).

More info: http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/ChampionJack.htm
Recommended CD's : Blues From The Gutter (Atlantic 82434) ;
New Orleans Barrelhouse Boogie (Columbia Legacy 472192 2) 25 OKeh
recordings from 1940-1941.