Hi there.

Does anyone have any info about this artist or could point me in the right direction for some please??

Many Thanks in anticipation...

Teresa

This obituary of any use to you?

https://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/?id=7963

Thank You Russell

i thought the Big Daddy Rucker 45 was Ervin Rucker, seeing as it uses the same backing track as one of his...?

both the Ervin Rucker on Musette and the Big Daddy Rucker on GME have 'Ervin Groves' as the author, maybe that was his real name? his stuff on Duplex is great

Hmm, possibly then the obit is for a different Rucker. Reading through it again, the article does state that Tyrone Rucker gained the nickname 'Big Daddy Rucker' in the 70s. If so, maybe his friends had the other one in mind when they gave him the tag.

Someone must know for sure or at least have a reference book to consult...

Yes, Ervin Groves was "Big Boy Groves" in the '50s, and Ervin Rucker. He was a band leader and songwriter/producer. He was Lani Groves' father. He lived in San Diego, and recorded there, as well as in L.A. and Hawaii (his bithplace and first home). He recorded for Duplex, Musette and GME in the '60s, GME in the '70s, and I have some records by him in the '50s (John Dolphin's Money Records(1955), and a few other smaller independents). Here's a link to short blurb on him: https://www.sirshambl...ary_staten.html

Edited September 7, 201113 yr by RobbK

aha! cheers, my hurried Googling earlier didn't find that...

I always wondered who he is cos he's namechecked by Marvin Gaye on 'Since I had you' off his 'I want you' LP !

"Big Daddy Rucker is sho' nuff playin' Ahhh

Wow....My hurried Google searches never came up with any of this either!!! Really appreciate all the replies. I only have a couple on GME but there is something about His voice and style that i really like. Your info now gives me the opportunity to find more stuff that He's done.

I wasn't able to get on here yesterday, so waking this morning to find You'd left me some info, really gave me a buzz.

Thank You Kind People

Teresa

From what I can tell, he started recording in 1955 as Big Boy Groves, first on Spark and Vita, and then the Dolphin labels in the 1950s. He became Ervin Rucker when he was on Jimmy Liggins' Duplex Records in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and GME and Musette into the mid-1960s. Then in the late 1960s and early 1970s he went by Big Daddy Rucker on his own GME label. But throughout his career, production and writing credits were always listed as E. Groves or Ervin Groves. I think he was born Perry Ervin Minor Groves Jr. in 1927 in Oklahoma, and died in 1982 in San Diego, Calif.

Edited November 21, 20159 yr by arriano

Yes, the bio above is for an L.A. DJ from the 1970s-90s, who, apparently, took his stage name from "Big Daddy", only because his family name was Rucker and there was a famous Rucker in music before him.  It was the same situation with Ice Hockey's recent forward, Keith Tkachuck, whose nickname was "Walt", because of a famous forward, who preceded him by 25 years, Walt Tkaczuk.  The same thing was going on in the late 1800's, when baseball player, John Brodie picked up the nickname "Steve" because of the famous Steve Brodie, who jumped off The Brooklyn Bridge.

I remember Big Boy Groves and when he called himself Big Daddy Rucker, and I bought all his Mambo, Vita, Money, Cash, and Spark releases, and also have many of his Duplex, GME and Musette records.  He was a band leader in San Diego and L.A. in the 1950s and '60s, and was "house band" leader for several small indie labels.  He played a lot of the clubs in those 2 cities, and worked a lot of recording sessions.

 

Edited November 21, 20159 yr by RobbK

Just arrived. Can't find reference to this. It's on ZZ Hill's brothers label. Possibly recorded live as the first half of pt1 is a very slow intro. Pt2 is a full on belter. Does anyone know about this? The one on Discogs is my entry.

Cheers  John 

 

 

7 hours ago, JohnLloyd said:

Just arrived. Can't find reference to this. It's on ZZ Hill's brothers label. Possibly recorded live as the first half of pt1 is a very slow intro. Pt2 is a full on belter. Does anyone know about this? The one on Discogs is my entry.

Cheers  John 

 

 

Not too much but....I found this

Froebel “Fro” Brigham, namesake of the Fro Brigham Preservation Band, 1981. In the 1950s, Brigham booked the Creole Palace in downtown San Diego. Billie Holiday, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington may have performed paying gigs elsewhere when in town, but afterward they’d show up at the Creole Palace and play with whatever band was booked that night.

On 07/09/2011 at 13:46, Amsterdam Russ said:

Hmm, possibly then the obit is for a different Rucker. Reading through it again, the article does state that Tyrone Rucker gained the nickname 'Big Daddy Rucker' in the 70s. If so, maybe his friends had the other one in mind when they gave him the tag.

 

Someone must know for sure or at least have a reference book to consult...

This is good

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/big-daddy-rucker-blues/