Occupation(s) Musician Role Guitarist | Years active 1960s - 1999 Name Don Harris | |
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Birth name Don Francis Bowman Harris Born June 18, 1938Pasadena, California, United States ( 1938-06-18 ) Died November 30, 1999, Los Angeles, California, United States Albums Fiddler on the Rock, Freak Out!, One Size Fits All, We're Only in It for the Money, Weasels Ripped My Flesh |
Don sugarcane harris keyzop 1975 amazing jazz blues soul full album
Don Francis Bowman Harris (June 18, 1938 – November 30, 1999), known as Don "Sugarcane" Harris, was an American rock and roll violinist and guitarist.
Contents
- Don sugarcane harris keyzop 1975 amazing jazz blues soul full album
- Don sugarcane harris sugar cane s got the blues
- Biography
- Discography
- Songs
- References

Don sugarcane harris sugar cane s got the blues
Biography
Harris was born and raised in Pasadena, California, and started an act called Don and Dewey with his childhood friend Dewey Terry in the mid 1950s. Although they were recorded by Art Rupe on his Specialty label, mostly utilizing the services of legendary drummer Earl Palmer, Don and Dewey didn't have any hits. However, Harris and Terry co-authored such early rock and roll classics as "Farmer John", "Justine", "I'm Leaving It Up to You", and "Big Boy Pete," all of which became hits for other artists.

Harris was given the nickname "Sugarcane" by bandleader Johnny Otis and it was to remain with him throughout his life.
After separating from Dewey Terry in the 1960s, Harris moved almost exclusively over to the electric violin. He was to reappear as a sideman with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Frank Zappa, most recognized for his appearances on Hot Rats, and on the Mothers of Invention albums Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh. His lead vocal and blues violin solo on a cover of Little Richard's "Directly From My Heart to You" on Weasels, and his extended solo on the lengthy "Little House I Used To Live In" on Weeny are considered highlights of those albums. Reportedly, he was rescued from a jail term by Zappa. Zappa had long admired Harris's playing and bailed him out of prison, resurrecting his career and ushering in a long period of creativity for the forgotten violin virtuoso. He played a couple of live concerts with Zappa's band in 1969.
During the early 1970s, Sugarcane fronted the Pure Food and Drug Act which included drummer Paul Lagos, guitarists Harvey Mandel and Randy Resnick, and bassist Victor Conte, who was the founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO). Conte replaced Larry Taylor who was the original bass player. His first solo album (with back cover art by underground poster artist Rick Griffin) is a forgotten masterpiece of blues, jazz, classical and funk compositions, and his 1973 live album Sugarcane's Got The Blues, recorded at the Berlin Jazz Festival show an accomplished musician at the top of his game.
In the 1980s, Sugarcane was a member of the Los Angeles-based experimental rock band Tupelo Chain Sex.
Harris died on November 27, 1999 in Los Angeles, California.
Discography
Songs
Magdalena
Camarillo Brillo
Get a Little
Dinah Moe Humm
Wowie Zowie
Plastic People
Florentine Pogen
Zomby Woof
Montana
Son of Orange County
I'm the Slime
Cheepnis
Hungry Freaks - Daddy
Dirty Love
Valarie
Anyway the Wind Blows
My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama
Billy the Mountain
Son of Suzy Creamcheese
Trouble Comin' Every Day
The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet
Sugar Cane's Got the Blues
50/50
Little House I Used to Live In
Motherly Love
Didja Get Any Onya?
Call Any Vegetable
Brown Shoes Don’t Make It
Help - I'm a Rock
Transylvania Boogie
Stuff Up the Cracks
Village of the Sun