Don "Sugarcane" Harris
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:
- Hot Rats
- Burnt Weeny Sandwich
- Weasels Ripped My Flesh
- Chunga's Revenge
- Apostrophe (')
- The Lost Episodes
- Funky Nothingness
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
- Dewey Terry
- Don & Dewey
- L. Shankar, another electric violinist who once performed with Zappa.
