Difference between revisions of "Don "Sugarcane" Harris"

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Born: 06/18/1938, Pasadena, CA;<br>
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Died: 11/30/1999, South Los Angeles, CA.<br>
 
  
Violin and Vocals.
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'''Don Harris''' (18 June 1938 - 30 November 1999) was an American rock and roll musician and electric violinist, name-checked in the inner sleeve of "[[Freak Out!]]" (1966), as part of [[Don & Dewey]].  
  
Studied classical violin at college.
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==Biography==
  
Initially used the name Don Bowman but reverted to Don Harris around 1957.
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He learned some classical violin technique with 'a little old Jewish man in the neighborhood' and formed The Squires with [[Dewey Terry]] in 1954. He initially used the name Don Bowman (his middle name), before reverting to "Don Harris" in 1957 when he became a duo with [[Dewey Terry]] as ''Don & Dewey''. Between 1957 and 1959 Don & Dewey released several singles which never became hits for themselves, but did for others, one example being 'Soul Motion'. They split up and had a brief reunion as part of [[Little Richard]]'s band in 1964. That same year Don & Dewey recorded a Beatles tribute with Larry Williams and [[Johnny "Guitar" Watson]].
  
Formed The Squires (sometimes recorded as The Bluejays) with Dewey Terry in the mid 1950's recording several singles for the Vita label. Duuring the late 1950's and early 1960's performed as [[Don & Dewey]], releasing singles on the Specialty and Fidelity labels.
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Harris toured with [[Johnny Otis]] in the late 1950s. Otis gave him the nickname "Sugarcane" and later Harris recorded for Otis' label Eldo in 1960. From halfway the decade on he recorded many sessions with [[John Mayall]] and [[Biography|Frank Zappa]].
  
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==Zappa==
  
Recorded for [[Johnny Otis]]'s Eldo label in 1960 and made a Beatles "tribute" with Larry Williams and [[Johnny "Guitar" Watson]] and Dewey Terry in 1964. From the mid 1960's he did many sessions with artists such as Little Richard, [[Johnny Otis]], John Mayall and [[Frank Zappa]]
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"Sugarcane" provided (electric) violin, organ, and/or vocals for Zappa's records:
 
 
 
 
"Sugarcane" provided violin and/or vocal for:
 
 
   
 
   
 
*[[Hot Rats]]  
 
*[[Hot Rats]]  
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*[[Chunga's Revenge]]  
 
*[[Chunga's Revenge]]  
 
*[[Apostrophe (')]]  
 
*[[Apostrophe (')]]  
*[[The Lost Episodes]].
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*[[The Lost Episodes]]
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*[[Funky Nothingness]]
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On 27 January 1980 Zappa was guest DJ on BBC Radio 1 during the ''[[Star Special]]'', where he played ''[[Soul Motion]]'' by Don and Dewey.
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==See also==
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* [[Dewey Terry]]
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* [[Don & Dewey]]
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* [[L. Shankar]], another electric violinist who once performed with Zappa.
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==External links==
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* [[Wikipedia:Don Sugarcane Harris]]
  
[[Category:Influences]]
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[[Category:Violinists|Harris]]
[[Category:Musicians]]
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[[Category:Influences|Harris]]
[[Category:Bandmembers]]
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[[Category:Bandmembers|Harris]]
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[[Category:Favorite Artists|Harris]]
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[[Category:Rock Artists|Harris]]

Latest revision as of 12:06, 31 August 2023


Don Harris (18 June 1938 - 30 November 1999) was an American rock and roll musician and electric violinist, name-checked in the inner sleeve of "Freak Out!" (1966), as part of Don & Dewey.

Biography

He learned some classical violin technique with 'a little old Jewish man in the neighborhood' and formed The Squires with Dewey Terry in 1954. He initially used the name Don Bowman (his middle name), before reverting to "Don Harris" in 1957 when he became a duo with Dewey Terry as Don & Dewey. Between 1957 and 1959 Don & Dewey released several singles which never became hits for themselves, but did for others, one example being 'Soul Motion'. They split up and had a brief reunion as part of Little Richard's band in 1964. That same year Don & Dewey recorded a Beatles tribute with Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson.

Harris toured with Johnny Otis in the late 1950s. Otis gave him the nickname "Sugarcane" and later Harris recorded for Otis' label Eldo in 1960. From halfway the decade on he recorded many sessions with John Mayall and Frank Zappa.

Zappa

"Sugarcane" provided (electric) violin, organ, and/or vocals for Zappa's records:

On 27 January 1980 Zappa was guest DJ on BBC Radio 1 during the Star Special, where he played Soul Motion by Don and Dewey.

See also

External links