Dan Hicks (singer)
Encyclopedia
Dan Hicks is an American singer-songwriter working at the intersection of cowboy folk
, jazz
, country
, swing, bluegrass
, pop
, and gypsy music. He is perhaps best known for the songs "I Scare Myself" and "Canned Music." His songs are frequently infused with humor, as evidenced by the title of his tune, "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?"
, eventually settling north of San Francisco in Santa Rosa
, where he was a drummer in grade school and played the snare drum in his school marching band.
At 14, he was performing with area dance bands. While in high school, he had a rotating spot on Time Out for Teens, a daily 15-minute local radio program, and he went on to study broadcasting at San Francisco State College during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Taking up the guitar in 1959, he became part of the San Francisco folk music scene, performing at local coffeehouses. Hicks joined the San Francisco
band The Charlatans
in 1965 as drummer.
. LaFlamme was quickly replaced by jazz violinist "Symphony" Sid Page
The rest of the band consisted of vocalists Sherri Snow and Christine Gancher, guitarist John Weber, and bassist Jaime Leopold. There was no drummer. This line-up was signed to Epic
and in 1969 issued the album Original Recordings, produced by Bob Johnson. The first Hot Licks line-up lasted until 1971 and then disintegrated.
When Hicks reformed the band, Page and Leopold remained, and vocalists Naomi Ruth Eisenberg and Maryann Price joined, followed later by guitarist John Girton. This group recorded three albums, culminating in 1973's Last Train to Hicksville (on which the group first added a drummer). After existing as a critical success only, this last album gained the group wider acclaim, as evidenced by Hicks' appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone
. Thus, it was a great surprise to many when he chose that moment to disband the Hot Licks. Asked why in 1974, he said:
As time passed, this particular Hot Licks band became Hicks' "classic" band, in part due to Page's passionate fiddling, combining swing and classical training, as well as Price's sultry jazz vocals in the style of Anita O'Day
, reflecting her pre-Hicks performing experience.This particular group reunited for a 1991 taping of an hour-long Austin City Limits
television broadcast in the 1992 season.
The 1992 reunion program also featured Hicks' new group, The Acoustic Warriors
, a combination of folk, swing, jazz and country styles. The Acoustic Warriors band consisted of Dan Hicks, Brian Godchaux on violin and mandolin, Paul "Pazzo" Mehling (founder of the Hot Club of San Francisco) on guitar and Richard Saunders on bass.
In 1993 the Acoustic Warriors continued to perform locally around San Francisco and on the road, but this edition placed Paul Robinson on guitar
, Nils Molin or Alex Baum on string bass, Stevie Blacke on mandolin
and Josh Riskin on drum
s.
Hicks recorded one CD with the Acoustic Warriors. "Shootin' Straight" was released by Private Music
in 1996. Recorded live at McCabe's in Santa Monica, it featured Jim Boggio
on accordion/piano, Stevie Blacke on mandolin/violin, Paul Robinson on guitar, Alex Baum on bass and Bob Scott on drums.
The Surfdog album reinvigorated Hicks, and the guests reflected their longtime admiration for the Hot Licks. This Surfdog success led to several more albums for Surfdog, including a 2007 downloadable compilation of Hicks's previously released duets. Today, Dan and the Hot Licks tour internationally and still reflect Hicks' original vision.
As a side venture, Dan occasionally plays jazz standards at intimate venues in the San Francisco Bay Area with Bayside Jazz. Backed by a combo of Hot Licks, Acoustic Warriors and other seasoned pros, he puts his spin on standards.
Yahoo Music Biography of Dan Hicks, by Jason Ankeny:
Dan describing his music in a 7-3-2007 interview before a gig at the Riverwalk Center in Breckenridge, CO (Youtube):
film Class Action (1991) with Gene Hackman
, Hicks is seen performing with Eisenberg and Price at Rosatti's in San Francisco. He also can be seen in several documentary films, including Revolution (1968) and Rockin at the Red Dog (1996).
, Thomas Dolby
performed "I Scare Myself", which reached chart rankings when it was then released as a 7".
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, swing, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, pop
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
, and gypsy music. He is perhaps best known for the songs "I Scare Myself" and "Canned Music." His songs are frequently infused with humor, as evidenced by the title of his tune, "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?"
Early life
Hicks' father was a career military man. At age five, Hicks moved with his family to CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, eventually settling north of San Francisco in Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
, where he was a drummer in grade school and played the snare drum in his school marching band.
At 14, he was performing with area dance bands. While in high school, he had a rotating spot on Time Out for Teens, a daily 15-minute local radio program, and he went on to study broadcasting at San Francisco State College during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Taking up the guitar in 1959, he became part of the San Francisco folk music scene, performing at local coffeehouses. Hicks joined the San Francisco
San Francisco Sound
The San Francisco Sound refers to rock music performed live and recorded by San Francisco-based rock groups of the mid 1960s to early 1970s. It was associated with the counterculture community in San Francisco during these years.- Stylistic Dimensions :...
band The Charlatans
The Charlatans (U.S. band)
The Charlatans were an influential psychedelic rock band that played a role in the development of the San Francisco music scene during the 1960s and are often cited by critics as being the first group to play in the style that became known as the San Francisco Sound...
in 1965 as drummer.
Bandleader
In 1968, Hicks formed Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks with violinist David LaFlammeDavid LaFlamme
David LaFlamme is a virtuoso violinist in both classical and rock music.David's mother was from a Mormon family in Salt Lake City, and when he was eight years old, the family moved there to be near her family...
. LaFlamme was quickly replaced by jazz violinist "Symphony" Sid Page
Sid Page
Sid Page is an American based violin player who has been playing since the late 1960s. He became a member of Dan Hicks & The Hotlicks replacing violinist David LaFlamme...
The rest of the band consisted of vocalists Sherri Snow and Christine Gancher, guitarist John Weber, and bassist Jaime Leopold. There was no drummer. This line-up was signed to Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
and in 1969 issued the album Original Recordings, produced by Bob Johnson. The first Hot Licks line-up lasted until 1971 and then disintegrated.
When Hicks reformed the band, Page and Leopold remained, and vocalists Naomi Ruth Eisenberg and Maryann Price joined, followed later by guitarist John Girton. This group recorded three albums, culminating in 1973's Last Train to Hicksville (on which the group first added a drummer). After existing as a critical success only, this last album gained the group wider acclaim, as evidenced by Hicks' appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. Thus, it was a great surprise to many when he chose that moment to disband the Hot Licks. Asked why in 1974, he said:
"I didn't want to be a bandleaderBandleaderA bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
anymore. It was a load and a load I didn't want. I'm basically a loner... I like singing and stuff, but I didn't necessarily want to be a bandleader. The thing had turned into a collective sort of thing -- democracy, vote on this, do that. I conceived the thing. They wouldn't be there if it wasn't for me. My role as leader started diminishing, but it was my fault because I let it happen; I cared less as the thing went on."
As time passed, this particular Hot Licks band became Hicks' "classic" band, in part due to Page's passionate fiddling, combining swing and classical training, as well as Price's sultry jazz vocals in the style of Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
, reflecting her pre-Hicks performing experience.This particular group reunited for a 1991 taping of an hour-long Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
television broadcast in the 1992 season.
The 1992 reunion program also featured Hicks' new group, The Acoustic Warriors
The Acoustic Warriors
The Acoustic Warriors was a band formed by San Francisco rhythm guitarist Dan Hicks in the early 1990s, to replace his reunited 1968-1973 offbeat psychedelic Bay Area group Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks ....
, a combination of folk, swing, jazz and country styles. The Acoustic Warriors band consisted of Dan Hicks, Brian Godchaux on violin and mandolin, Paul "Pazzo" Mehling (founder of the Hot Club of San Francisco) on guitar and Richard Saunders on bass.
In 1993 the Acoustic Warriors continued to perform locally around San Francisco and on the road, but this edition placed Paul Robinson on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Nils Molin or Alex Baum on string bass, Stevie Blacke on mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and Josh Riskin on drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s.
Hicks recorded one CD with the Acoustic Warriors. "Shootin' Straight" was released by Private Music
Private Music
Private Music is a United States record company founded in 1984 by experimental musician Peter Baumann, as a home for instrumental music. Initially signing such artists as Yanni, Suzanne Ciani, Patrick O'Hearn, and Baumann's former bandmates Tangerine Dream, the record label specialized in New Age...
in 1996. Recorded live at McCabe's in Santa Monica, it featured Jim Boggio
Jim Boggio
Jim Boggio was an American accordionist. He died of heart failure in Cotati, California, aged 56. A statue of him stands in La Plaza Park, near the center of Cotati.- Life, education, and career :...
on accordion/piano, Stevie Blacke on mandolin/violin, Paul Robinson on guitar, Alex Baum on bass and Bob Scott on drums.
Comeback
Hicks continued to play in bands of other names, and he also began using the Hot Licks name again. Michael Goldberg reviewed Hicks' comeback album, Beatin' the Heat (2000):
When he first appeared on the scene in the '60s, Hicks was a young guy playing old sounds. But there was something fresh, even original about his approach then, and he hasn't lost his special touch. His voice and his sly, humorous point of view set him apart from any crowd. Now that he's an old-timer, his music seems even more solid and substantial.
Dan Hicks has the coolest friends. On his wonderful new album, Beatin' the Heat (Surfdog), his first in years—Hicks gets some help from Elvis CostelloElvis CostelloElvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Rickie Lee JonesRickie Lee JonesRickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
, Bette MidlerBette MidlerBette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
, Tom WaitsTom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
along with recent swing revivalist and onetime Stray CatsStray CatsStray Cats are an American Rockabilly band formed in 1980 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer , upright bassist Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia and the U.S...
guitarist Brian SetzerBrian SetzerBrian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
. But Hicks—who for many years seemed to be hangin' around Mill Valley not doing a whole lot of anything—knows this may be his chance for a real comeback. He doesn't waste his shot, getting great work from his guests without letting them dominate. His voice—which suggests a straw boater hat, handlebar mustache, bow tie, seersucker suit and spats—is front and center, even when he's dueting with Costello or Jones. "Meet Me on the Corner," a highlight here, finds Setzer delivering a burning rockabilly guitar solo and Costello offering a frantic vocal, all the better to show off Hicks' singing and writing. Going head to head with Waits on "I'll Tell You Why That Is," a song way over in Waits' territory, Hicks still stands out. (Waits' vocal turn is a knockout too—not to be missed.)
I even think some of the songs that feature no one but Hicks and his current version of the Hot Licks (Sid Page on violin, Kevin Smith on upright bass, Gregg BissonetteGregg BissonetteGregg Bissonette, is an American drummer. Gregg was born in a family of musicians. His father Bud Bissonette plays drums, his mother Phyllis plays piano and vibraphone, and brother Matt Bissonette plays bass guitar. Gregg started learning to play the drums at age 5 from his father...
on drums, and Jessica HarperJessica HarperJessica Harper is an American actress and producer, as well as a singer and author of children's music and books.-Early life:...
and Karla De Vito on background vocals), such as "Hummin' To Myself" and "He Don't Care," may be the strongest here... Hicks' arrangements make use of banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
and Django ReinhardtDjango ReinhardtDjango Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
–like jazz guitarJazz guitarThe term jazz guitar may refer to either a type of guitar or to the variety of guitar playing styles used in the various genres which are commonly termed "jazz"...
at times. He uses doo-wopDoo-wopThe name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
style harmonyHarmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
singers to play against affable lead vocals laced with dry, dry humor.
The Surfdog album reinvigorated Hicks, and the guests reflected their longtime admiration for the Hot Licks. This Surfdog success led to several more albums for Surfdog, including a 2007 downloadable compilation of Hicks's previously released duets. Today, Dan and the Hot Licks tour internationally and still reflect Hicks' original vision.
As a side venture, Dan occasionally plays jazz standards at intimate venues in the San Francisco Bay Area with Bayside Jazz. Backed by a combo of Hot Licks, Acoustic Warriors and other seasoned pros, he puts his spin on standards.
Musical style
“The Swinger”, The Oxford American, Nov.2007, by David Smay:- “Nobody’s ever come up with a proper label for Dan Hicks. That’s partly because he leapt over the vast jazz divide created by bop. Bebop subdivided the rhythm and broke the melody into cubist fragments until swing was something you did between your ears instead of out on the dance floor. But there was a time from the ’20s through the ’40s when swing—“hot rhythm”—rippled through every form of popular music. That’s the music Dan Hicks plays, and there’s no single word for it because it wasn’t limited to any one genre. Django Reinhardt, the Mills BrothersMills BrothersThe Mills Brothers, sometimes billed as The Four Mills Brothers, were an American jazz and pop vocal quartet of the 20th century who made more than 2,000 recordings that combined sold more than 50 million copies, and garnered at least three dozen gold records...
, Spade CooleySpade CooleyDonnell Clyde Cooley , better known as Spade Cooley, was an American Western swing musician, big band leader, actor, and television personality...
, Hank GarlandHank GarlandWalter Louis Garland , better known as Hank Garland, was a Nashville studio musician who performed with Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison and many others.-Biography:...
, the Boswell SistersBoswell SistersThe Boswell Sisters were a close harmony singing group, consisting of sisters Martha Boswell , Connee Boswell , and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell , noted for intricate harmonies and rhythmic experimentation...
, Stuff SmithStuff SmithHezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith , better known as Stuff Smith, was a jazz violinist. He is known well for the song "If You're a Viper".-Biography:...
, and Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
all swung. You can make yourself nutty trying to define what Dan Hicks is. Then again, you could just say: Dan Hicks swings. And while he may be an idler and a roué, nobody’s written ten better songs about breezing down the road than Dan Hicks. And in the rarefied genre of songs about buzzards & bacon grease, well, he’s the master.”
Yahoo Music Biography of Dan Hicks, by Jason Ankeny:
- ”Throughout his decades-long career, Dan Hicks stood as one of contemporary music's true eccentrics. While steeped in folk, his acoustic sound knew few musical boundaries, drawing on country, call-and-response vocals, jazz phrasing, and no small amount of humor to create a distinctive, albeit sporadic, body of work which earned him a devoted cult following.”
Dan describing his music in a 7-3-2007 interview before a gig at the Riverwalk Center in Breckenridge, CO (Youtube):
- “My music is kind of a blending. We have acoustic instruments. It starts out with kind of a folk music sound, and we add a jazz beat and solos and singing. We have the two girls that sing, and jazz violin, and all that, so it’s kind of light in nature, it’s not loud. And, it’s sort of, in a way, kinda carefree. Most of the songs are, I wouldn’t say funny, but kinda maybe a little humorous. We all like jazz, so we like to play in a jazzy way, with a swing sound you know, so I call it “folk swing”. There are a lot of original tunes that I’ve been writing through the years, so that has its personal touch on it.”
Films
In the Michael AptedMichael Apted
Michael David Apted, CMG is an English director, producer, writer and actor. He is one of the most prolific British film directors of his generation but is best known for his work on the Up Series of documentaries and the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.On 29 June 2003 he was elected...
film Class Action (1991) with Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
, Hicks is seen performing with Eisenberg and Price at Rosatti's in San Francisco. He also can be seen in several documentary films, including Revolution (1968) and Rockin at the Red Dog (1996).
Cover versions
On his 1984 album The Flat EarthThe Flat Earth
The Flat Earth is Thomas Dolby's followup LP to The Golden Age of Wireless. It was recorded in 1983 and released in early 1984. It peaked at #14 in the UK Albums Chart. The first single from the album was "Hyperactive!", which peaked at #17 in the UK Singles Chart, making it Dolby's...
, Thomas Dolby
Thomas Dolby
Thomas Dolby is an English musician and producer. Best known for his 1982 hit "She Blinded Me with Science", and 1984 single "Hyperactive!", he has also worked extensively in production and as a session musician.-Early life:Dolby was born in London, England, contrary to information in early 1980s...
performed "I Scare Myself", which reached chart rankings when it was then released as a 7".
Discography
- Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks (aka Original Recordings) (1969)
- Where's The Money? (1971)
- Striking It Rich (1972)
- Last Train to Hicksville (1973)
- It Happened One Bite (1978)
- Shootin' Straight (1994)
- The Amazing Charlatans (1996)
- Return to Hicksville (1997)
- Early Muses (1998)
- Beatin' The Heat (2000)
- The Most of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks (2001)
- Alive and Lickin' (2001)
- Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks - With an All-Star Cast of Friends - DVD/CD package (2003)
- Selected Shorts (2004)
- Tangled Tales (2009) incl:1. Who are you? 2. The Diplomat 3. Savin' My Lovin' 4. The Blues My Naughty Baby Gave To Me 5. Song For My Father 6. The Rounder 7. 13-D 8. Ragtime Cowboy Joe 9. A Magician 10. Subterranean Homesick Blues 11. Tangled Tales 12. Let it Simmer!
- Crazy for Christmas (2010)