Charles Earland

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Born: May 24, 1941 | Died: December 11, 1999 Primary Instrument: Organ, Hammond B3

Charles Earland came into his own at the tail end of the great 1960s wave of soul-jazz organists, gaining a large following and much airplay with a series of albums for the the Prestige label.

While heavily indebted to Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff, Earland came armed with his own swinging, technically agile, light-textured sound on the keyboard and one of the best walking-bass pedal techniques in the business.

Though not an innovative player in his field, Earland burned with the best of them when he was on.

Earland actually started his musical experiences surreptitiously on his father's alto sax as a kid, and when he was in high school, he played baritone in a band that also featured fellow Philadelphians Pat Martino on guitar, Lew Tabackin on tenor, and yes, Frankie Avalon on trumpet.

After playing in the Temple University band, he toured as a tenor player with McGriff for three years, became infatuated with McGriff's organ playing, and started learning the Hammond B-3 at intermission breaks.

When McGriff let him go, Earland switched to the organ permanently, forming a trio with Martino and drummer Bobby Durham.

He made his first recordings for Choice in 1966, then joined Lou Donaldson for two years (1968-69) and two albums before being signed as a solo artist to Prestige.

Earland's first album for Prestige, 'Black Talk!', became a best-selling classic of the soul-jazz genre; a surprisingly effective cover of the Spiral Starecase's pop / rock hit 'More Today Than Yesterday' from that LP received saturation airplay on jazz radio in 1969.

He recorded eight more albums for Prestige, one of which featured a young unknown Philadelphian named Grover Washington, Jr, then switched to Muse before landing contracts with Mercury and Columbia.

By this time, the organ trio genre had gone into eclipse, and in the spirit of the times, Earland acquired some synthesizers and converted to pop/disco in collaboration with his wife, singer / songwriter Sheryl Kendrick.

There followed a succession of successful jazz / soul / funk albums including 'Odyssey' in 1976, featuring 'Intergalactic Love Song', 'The Great Pyramid', featuring 'Driftin' and perhaps his best remembered album from this period 'Revelation', featuring the Randy Muller (Brass Construction) produced 'Let The Music Play'.

He moved into the Eighties with 'Coming To You Live' featuring 'The Woman In You' and the title track.

There were further CBS outings with 'Street Themes' and 'Earland's Jam'.

In 1983 he released an odd twelve inch single entitled 'It's A Doggie Boogie, Baby', popular on the UK dancefloors.

Sheryl Kendrick's death from sickle-cell anaemia in 1985 left Earland desolate, and he stopped playing for a while, but a gig at the Chickrick House on Chicago's South Side in the late '80's brought him out of his grief and back to the Hammond B-3.

Two excellent albums in the old soul-jazz groove for Milestone followed, and the '90's found him returning to the Muse label.

Earland died of heart failure on December 11th, 1999, the morning after playing a gig in Kansas City, he was 58.

Last Updated: June 4, 2012

Soul Crib (Choice 1969)
Black Talk! (Original Jazz 1969)
Charles Earland [live] (Trip 1969)
Black Drops (Prestige 1970)
Living Black! (Prestige 1970)
Live at the Lighthouse (Prestige 1972)
Charles 3 (Prestige 1972)
Intensity (Prestige 1972)
The Dynamite Brothers (Prestige 1973)
Leaving This Planet (Prestige 1973)
Kharma (Prestige 1974)
Odyssey (Mercury 1975)
The Great Pyramid (Mercury 1976)
Mama Roots (Muse 1977)
Smokin' (Muse 1977)
Revelation (Mercury 1977)
Pleasant Afternoon (Muse 1978)
Infant Eyes (Muse 1978)
Perceptions (Mercury 1978)
Coming to You Live (Columbia 1980)
Burners (Prestige 1981)
In the Pocket (Muse 1982)
Earland's Jam (CBS 1982)
Street Themes (CBS 1983)
Front Burner (Milestone 1988)
Third Degree Burn (Milestone 1989)
Whip Appeal (Muse 1990)
Unforgettable (Muse 1991)
I Ain't Jivin', I'm Jammin' (Muse 1992)
Ready 'n' Able (Muse 1995)
Blowing the Blues Away (High Note 1997)
Jazz Organ Summit (Cannonball 1998)
Slammin' & Jammin' (Savant 1998)
Live (Cannonball 1999)
Cookin' with the Mighty Burner (High Note 1999)
The Almighty Burner (32 Jazz 2000)
Stomp! (High Note 2000)

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