\n\n A few Words about My Dad, Mose Allison<\/p>\nBy John Allison<\/strong><\/p>\n I often get the question, what was Mose like at home? My answer to that is, the man you see performing and the man you hear singing those lyrics, that is the man he is was at home. My dad had no hobbies, did not golf, did not play tennis, and did not spend money on a single hobby that I can recall. He spent his time listening to music of all sorts, the stranger the better, he did some yoga stretching in the morning and some Tai Chi that sometimes embarrassed us kids when we had company over. He liked to run at the track in his younger days, then switched to swimming and actually had a schedule of high and low tides for the Long Island Sound; the beach was just a couple miles from home. Other than that, in his free time he liked to cook and read books, many books. He made lists of \u201cto read\u201d books on small pieces of paper. Mose read esoteric type books with content about the cosmos, the Human Brain, books with titles like, The Fabric of Reality, A Field Guide to the Invisible and The Nature of the Universe. And yes, he did play the piano at home, but he only played repetitive hypnotic runs to keep his mind sharp and his fingers limber.<\/p>\n Mose was one of the least material persons I have ever known. He was not one to ever be seen shopping with the exception of grocery shopping. His entire wardrobe took up 5 feet of space in his closet, most clothing purchases being made by my mom. He called me long distance one time to tell me his luggage was missing and in his luggage contained his only belt. He described the belt to me in detail, hoping I could assist him in finding an exact replacement. I also recall the time my mom replaced our 20 year old couch with a new one. My dad\u2019s space in the den was at one end of this old couch. The new couch was placed in the den and the old couch was placed in our foyer by the door awaiting a ride to the local Thrift store. When I walked in the door, dad was sitting on the old couch at his usual space at the end of the old couch reading his book. Mose eventually warmed to the new couch.<\/p>\n My dad never had much of a record collection. I started buying records when I was 9 years old. I could play a song over 40 times and each time feel a sense of elation. Dad was different, he listened to a song once and it made a connection in his brain, like a mathematical equation, and that was all he needed, that one time. That to me is very strange. To this day I have many favorite songs I still play over and over. With dad, one listen was all it took.<\/p>\n About receiving awards, I know Mose always has appreciated praise but never let it get to his head. He did not believe in the show off, look at me, I\u2019m great, attitudes that run so prevalent through the entertainment world. I was with him in Sedona AZ when he received a beautiful Lifetime Achievement Award, he smiled and thanked those responsible then handed the award to me and said, \u201cI am not carrying that on the plane.\u201d When I asked him why he did not want to go to the Grammy Awards after he was nominated, he replied, \u201cI don\u2019t believe in renting shoes.\u201d In reality he may have already been booked at a small club in Des Moines, OH, and Mose, after 65 years of what he called, \u201cOn the Job Training,\u201d never missed a single gig.<\/p>\n Mose preferred the setting and intimacy of a jazz club and that is where he really earned a living. The record companies all tried to cash in and make Mose a commercial success. Mose wanted nothing to do with backup girl singers and A&R men arrangements. He wanted to sing his songs his way at the places he liked best. Atlantic tried to get him to Muscle Shoals, Mose declined. Burger King offered him a huge payday for one day\u2019s work. He told me, \u201cI ain\u2019t singing about no hamburger.\u201d Mom was not happy.<\/p>\n I knew a club owner and promoter that told me, \u201cAfter 35 years of promoting shows, Mose was the only performer to ever to give me money back.\u201d The promoter had paid Mose but lost money on the show. Dad gave him some money back, why? Because Mose was also interested in keeping his club going so he could keep coming back to play.<\/p>\n In 1989 I accepted a Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame award on his behalf. Mose had a gig somewhere else that date so dad wrote a little something for me to read to the crowd after accepting his award. It read: <\/p>\n There are very few places in the world where a person could have heard as many different kinds of music as I was able to hear growing up in Tippo, Mississippi. Also, the aphorisms, the ironies, the speech patterns with their exaggerations and understatements have served me well and are still a part of my dialogues with myself. If it takes a village to raise a child, then I was certainly raised by Tippo, Mississippi.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Ten years before Elvis got to Beale Street Mose had already been there, getting Zoot suits made for him and performing on keyboards with the BB King Orchestra at Mitchell\u2019s Hotel, a blacks only club in 1947. Dad told me years ago that he first heard rock\u2019 n roll on Beale Street in 1942 from the band Tuff Green and the Rockettes. Mose also remembered hearing a matinee solo performance at the Orpheum Theater by harmonica legend Sonny Boy Williamson that made a huge impression on him. \nMose was in New York City in 1956 playing piano with the giants of jazz, Gerry Mulligan, Al Cohn, Zoot Simms, Stan Getz and others. After a short time Mose presented a cassette tape to Prestige Records. The executives at Prestige loved what they heard and immediately had Mose in the studio recording. What Mose gave them was a suite of sketches, songs, evoking the atmosphere of his home town, Tippo, Mississippi. Mose called it his Cotton Country Suite<\/i>, the record company renamed it, Back Country Suite<\/i>. Songs from that era included; \u201cParchman Farm,\u201d \u201cBlues,\u201d \u201cOne Room Country Shack,\u201d \u201cHighway 49,\u201d \u201cThe Hills,\u201d \u201cMojo Woman,\u201d \u201cDevil in the Cane Field,\u201d and \u201cCreek Bank.\u201d \nFrom that first record Mose was receiving critical acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Mose went on to record two more albums that same year. It was 1957. Today there are over 50 albums to choose from. My dad wrote over 220 songs. Most folks know four or five. My advice, listen to more Mose!<\/p>\n One of my favorites from his Grammy-nominated album on Blue Note Records, Ever Since The World Ended<\/i>, is titled \u201cTop Forty.\u201d This song to me represents the way my dad looked at the business of the recording industry.<\/p>\n
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