Instruments Drums Years active 1955–2004 | Name Soko Richardson | |
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Occupation(s) Drummer, percussionist, arranger Movies Albert Collins: In Concert: Ohne Filter Albums A Black Man's Soul, Ike's Instrumentals, Thru the Years | ||
The houserockers of yokohama jamming with teenie hodges soko richardson and charles hodges
Soko Richardson (December 8, 1939 – January 29, 2004) was an American rhythm and blues drummer. His career spanned almost fifty years, during which he performed and recorded with seminal groups including John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. He is perhaps best known for his innovative arrangement of Ike and Tina Turner's version of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Proud Mary".
Contents
- The houserockers of yokohama jamming with teenie hodges soko richardson and charles hodges
- Biography
- With Ike Tina Turner
- With John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers
- With Albert Collins
- Various others
- References
Biography
Richardson was born in New Iberia, Louisiana. He began his musical career at the age of 16, when he left home to tour the South with local bands. Shortly thereafter Ike Turner, upon hearing Richardson play in Texas, hired him to play with his band, the Kings of Rhythm, and then later with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Richardson worked with Turner for the next ten years. In March 1971 Richardson's arrangement of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Proud Mary" reached number four on the pop chart and number five on the R&B chart. It became a signature song for Tina Turner and won the band a Grammy in the category Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group.
In 1971, Richardson joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, with whom he would tour and record for the next decade, playing with many of the diverse artists to whom Mayall gave a start.
In the mid-1980s, Richardson joined Albert Collins and the Icebreakers and became an influential figure in the Chicago blues scene. He helped earn the Icebreakers the W. C. Handy Award as Blues Band of the Year in 1985.
Over the years Richardson recorded with many other artists, including Pee Wee Crayton, Bobby Womack and the English guitarist Terry Reid, with whom he was recording an album at the time of his death. Though limited by health problems in later years, he continued to perform and record and to sit in on jam sessions with friends. He played his last gig a few weeks before his death, at a club with Reid.
Richardson died in the early hours of January 29, 2004, in his home in Los Angeles, from complications of diabetes. He was 64.