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Earl Grant (musician)

{{Short description|American singer, pianist and organist (1931–1970)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}

{{for|the basketball coach|Earl Grant (basketball)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| background = person

| name = Earl Grant

| image = Earl Grant 1967.jpg

| alt = A man playing an electric organ

| caption = Grant in 1967

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|01|20}}

| birth_place = Idabel, Oklahoma, US

| death_date = {{death date and age|1970|06|10|1931|01|20}}

| death_place = Lordsburg, New Mexico, US

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = {{hlist|Organ|piano|voice}}

| years_active = 1957–1970

| label = Decca

}}

Earl Grant (January 20, 1931 – June 10, 1970) was an American pianist, organist, and vocalist popular in the 1950s and 1960s.

Career

Grant was born in Idabel, Oklahoma. Though he would be known later for his keyboards and vocals, Grant also played trumpet and drums. Grant attended four music schools, eventually becoming a music teacher. He augmented his income by performing in clubs during his army service, throughout which he was stationed in Fort Bliss, Texas.{{cite book |last=Murrells |first=Joseph |date=1978 |title=The Book of Golden Discs |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/135 |url-access=registration |location=London, UK |edition=2nd |publisher=Barrie and Jenkins |page=135 |isbn=0-214-20480-4 |access-date=May 19, 2009 |via=Internet Archive}}{{cite news |author= |date=June 11, 1970 |title=Earl Grant Killed in Auto Crash |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zsdJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_goNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3458,2222379&dq |work=The News and Courier |location=Charleston, South Carolina |page=13A |url-status=dead |access-date=March 7, 2011}}

Grant signed with Decca Records in 1957 and his first single "The End" reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts on October 13, 1958. The album Ebb Tide (And Other Instrumental Favorites) sold over one million copies, gaining gold disc status. He recorded six more singles that made the charts, including "Swingin' Gently" (from Beyond the Reef), and six additional albums (on the Decca label) through 1968. He also recorded the album Yes Sirree! and the instrumental album Trade Winds, single-tracked on the Hammond organ and piano, featuring the love theme from the film El Cid and Chaplin's "Eternally". This album featured some realistic-sounding "tropical bird calls" produced by his electric organ. "House of Bamboo" was another big-selling single. Grant recorded 30 albums for Decca, mostly on the Brunswick label, a subsidiary of Decca.

Several of his albums featured tenor saxophonist Plas Johnson.{{cite AV media notes |author= |date=1965 |title=Winter Wonderland |url=https://homoerraticradioshow.blogspot.com/2019/02/earl-grant.html |publisher=MCA Records |type=LP liner notes |id=MCA-15001 |access-date=February 5, 2019}}

Grant also made a few appearances in films and on television, including Tender Is the Night (1962),{{cite news |author= |date=June 11, 1970 |title=Earl Grant, a Popular Organist And Record Star, Dies in Crash |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/11/archives/earl-grant-a-popular-organist-and-record-star-dies-in-crash.html |place=Lordsburg, New Mexico |work=The New York Times |publication-place=New York, New York |agency=UPI |page=45 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116210408/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/11/archives/earl-grant-a-popular-organist-and-record-star-dies-in-crash.html |archive-date=November 16, 2023 |access-date=August 17, 2019}} Juke Box Rhythm (1959),{{cite web |author= |date=n.d. |title=Juke Box Rhythm (1959) |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52939-JUKE-BOX-RHYTHM |website=AFI Catalog |location=Los Angeles, California |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=March 14, 2025}} It Takes a Thief (1969){{cite web |author= |date=n.d. |title=It Takes A Thief Season 2 Episode 19 |url=http://www.tv.com/shows/it-takes-a-thief/boom-at-the-top-177518/ |website=TV.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117012056/http://www.tv.com/shows/it-takes-a-thief/boom-at-the-top-177518/ |archive-date=January 17, 2021 |access-date=August 12, 2020}} and The Ed Sullivan Show (1960, 1961, & 1962).{{cite web |author= |date=n.d. |title=The Ed Sullivan Show Season 12 Episode 45 |url=http://www.tv.com/shows/the-ed-sullivan-show/august-7-1960-sophia-loren-and-clark-gable-on-film-earl-grant-jack-carter-ken-murray-and-marie-wilson-137626/ |website=TV.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124215311/http://www.tv.com/shows/the-ed-sullivan-show/august-7-1960-sophia-loren-and-clark-gable-on-film-earl-grant-jack-carter-ken-murray-and-marie-wilson-137626/ |archive-date=January 24, 2020 |access-date=August 17, 2019}}

Grant sang the title theme for the 1959 film Imitation of Life.

He died instantly in a car accident in Lordsburg, New Mexico, at the age of 39 when the car he was driving ran off Interstate 10. He was driving from Los Angeles to an intended destination in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, for an appearance at the La Fiesta nightclub. His 17-year-old cousin, Roosevelt Woods III, was also killed in the accident.{{cite news |author= |date=June 11, 1970 |title=Auto Accident Kills Earl Grant, Organist-Singer |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=l7tJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rAANAAAAIBAJ&pg=2051,4828346&dq |place=Lordsburg, New Mexico |work=Meriden Journal |volume=85 |issue=134 |publication-place=Meriden-Southington, Connecticut |agency=AP |page=10 |access-date=March 7, 2011 |via=Google News Archive}}

Discography

  • The Versatile Earl Grant (Decca DL-8672, 1958)
  • The End (Decca DL-8830, 1958)
  • Midnight Earl (Decca DL-9201, 1958)
  • Grant Takes Rhythm (Decca DL-8905, 1959)
  • Nothin' But The Blues (Decca DL-8916, 1959)
  • Paris Is My Beat (Decca DL-8935, 1959)
  • The Magic of Earl Grant (Decca DL-74044, 1960)
  • Ebb Tide (And Other Instrumental Favorites) (Decca DL-74165, 1961)
  • Earl After Dark (Decca DL-74188, 1961)
  • Beyond The Reef (And Other Instrumental Favorites) (Decca DL-74231, 1962)
  • At Basin Street East (Decca DL-74299, 1962)
  • Midnight Sun (Decca DL-74338, 1962)
  • Yes Sirree! (Decca DL-74405, 1963)
  • Fly Me To The Moon (Decca DL-74454, 1963)
  • Just For A Thrill (Decca DL-74506, 1964)
  • Just One More Time (And Other Instrumental Favorites) (Decca DL-74576, 1964)
  • Trade Winds (Decca DL-74623, 1965)
  • Spotlight on Earl Grant (Decca DL-74624, 1965)
  • Winter Wonderland (Decca DL-74677, 1965)
  • Sings and Plays Songs Made Famous By Nat Cole (Decca DL-74729, 1966)
  • Stand By Me (Decca DL-74738, 1966)
  • Bali Ha'i (Decca DL-74806, 1966)
  • A Closer Walk With Thee (Decca DL-74811, 1966)
  • Earl Grant's Greatest Hits (Decca DL-74813, 1967)
  • Gently Swingin' (Decca DL-74937, 1968)
  • Spanish Eyes (Decca DL-74974, 1968)
  • In Motion! (Decca DL-75052, 1968)
  • This Magic Moment (Decca DL-75108, 1969)
  • A Time For Us (Decca DL-75158, 1969)
  • Earl Grant (Decca DL-75223, 1970)
  • The Best Of Earl Grant Singin' And Swingin' (CD) (MCA 008811183820, 1998)

= Charted albums =

class="wikitable"
rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

!| Chart positions

style="width:45px;"|US
1961

|Ebb Tide (And Other Instrumental Favorites)

| style="text-align:center;"| 7

rowspan="2"| 1962

|At Basin Street East

| style="text-align:center;"| 92

Beyond The Reef (And Other Instrumental Favorites)

| style="text-align:center;"| 17

rowspan="2"| 1964

|Just for a Thrill

| style="text-align:center;"| 149

Fly Me to the Moon

| style="text-align:center;"| 139

1965

|Trade Winds

| style="text-align:center;"| 192

1968

|Gently Swingin'

| style="text-align:center;"| 168

1969

|Winter Wonderland

| style="text-align:center;"| 14

=Charted singles=

class="wikitable"
rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="2"| Chart positions

! colspan="2"| Release date

style="width:45px;"|US

! style="width:45px;"|US R&B

1958

|"The End"

| style="text-align:center;"| 7

| style="text-align:center;"| 16

| August 1958

1959

|"Evening Rain"

| style="text-align:center;"| 63

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| January 1959

1960

|"House of Bamboo"

| style="text-align:center;"| 88

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| January 1960

rowspan="2"| 1962

|"Swingin' Gently"

| style="text-align:center;"| 44

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| March 1962

"Sweet Sixteen Bars"

| style="text-align:center;"| 55

| style="text-align:center;"| 9

| August 1962

1965

|"Stand by Me"

| style="text-align:center;"| 75

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| July 1965

1966

|"Silver Bells"

| style="text-align:center;"| —{{efn|"Silver Bells" did not chart on the Hot 100 but charted on Billboard's Christmas Singles chart for 6 non-consecutive years: 1966 (#15), 1967 (#4), 1968 (#8), 1969 (#3), 1970 (#4), 1972 (#8)."Christmas Records." Billboard, vol. 75-76, no. 48-52 & 49-52, November 30, 1963-December 26, 1964, pp. 11, 8, 8, 7, 25, 22, 22, 34 & 36."Billboard Top Christmas Sellers." Billboard, vol. 77, no. 50-52, December 11, 1965-December 25, 1965, pp. 7, 15 & 12."Billboard Best Bets For Christmas." Billboard, vol. 78-81, no. 49-52, 48-52, 49-52 & 49-52, December 3, 1966-December 27, 1969, pp. 56, 40, 36, 33, 8, 92, 61, 50, 40, 82, 84, 69, 57, 11, 10, 12, & 10."Best Bets For Christmas." Billboard, vol. 82-85, no. 51-52, 51-52, 51-53 & 49-51, December 19, 1970-December 22, 1973, pp. 12, 59, 49, 49, 40, 51, 4, 28, 25 & 22.}}

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| December 1969

Notes

{{Notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}

Further reading

{{cite book |last=Ruppli |first=Michel |date=1996 |title=The Decca Labels: A Discography |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Press}}

External links

{{commons category}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Earl}}

Category:1931 births

Category:1970 deaths

Category:People from Idabel, Oklahoma

Category:African-American pianists

Category:American male organists

Category:Musicians from Oklahoma

Category:Decca Records artists

Category:Road incident deaths in New Mexico

Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)

Category:20th-century American pianists

Category:20th-century American organists

Category:American male pianists

Category:20th-century American male musicians

Category:20th-century African-American musicians

{{Oklahoma-stub}}