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Meade Lux Lewis

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Meade Lux Lewis was born in 1905, probably in Chicago, and grew into one of the best-known boogie-woogie pianists. As a boy he was influenced by the pianist Jimmy Yancey. His father, a guitarist who had made two records himself, introduced him to music and arranged violin lessons. After his father's death he gave up the violin at the age of sixteen and switched to the piano. He got the nickname Lux from childhood friends.

Music and breakthrough

His best-known piece is Honky Tonk Train Blues. He first recorded it in 1927 for Paramount Records, and recorded it again in 1935 for Parlophone and in 1937 for Victor. With the left hand, the piece imitates the stamping rhythms of a train, while the right hand plays clear blues lines above it. Together with other boogie-woogie pianists he played for a long time at Café Society and toured as a trio. Their success inspired the founding of Blue Note Records in 1939 and set off a boogie-woogie craze lasting ten years, with swing arrangements by Tommy Dorsey and Will Bradley and later with country boogie and early rock 'n' roll.

Influence

In 1941 Lewis played celesta in Edmond Hall's Celeste Quartet. He appeared in the films New Orleans and Nightmare, and unnoticed in It's a Wonderful Life. He died in 1964 in a car accident in Minneapolis. Honky Tonk Train Blues has been recorded by many others, in large line-ups and on organ, and is also mentioned in books, including in the autobiography of Keith Richards.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Honky Tonk Train Blues and try to hear the train: what does the left hand do, and how does the right hand imitate the sound of a wheel on the track?

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists