Terry Evans (80) – blues icon – was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on August 14, 1937. From an early age he sang in his local church choir. His parents were keen for him to concentrate purely on gospel music, although Evans found exposure to the work of mainstream blues musicians, by the randomness of the location where he was born. He worked semi professionally with an a cappella group called the Knights before relocating in the 1960s to Los Angeles, where he expanded his repertoire by learning to play the guitar and started to write songs for other musicians.
Amongst those who recorded his songs were Pops Staples (“Love Is a Precious Thing”) and Louis Jordan (“Hop, Skip, and Jump”). Unable to find his own fame however, despite television exposure, Evans teamed with fellow soul and gospel singer, Bobby King. They performed regularly on the chitlin’ circuit throughout the 1970s, although Evans also worked as a backing vocalist for Ry Cooder. His backup work appeared on several of Cooder’s albums down the years, including Chicken Skin Music (1976) and My Name Is Buddy (2007). Evans joint work with King saw the release of two albums in 1988 and 1990.
He gained a bigger audience through his involvement in the soundtrack to the 1986 film, Crossroads. Evans voice appeared on the title track in the film itself, and on the soundtrack on another song, “Down in Mississippi”. Evans later worked with Lloyd Jones’ on the latter’s album, Trouble Monkey, before recording his first solo album, Blues for Thought (1994). It was produced by Ry Cooder, who also played guitar on the recording. Evans sang backing vocals on the Dutch singer and guitarist Hans Theessink’s 1997 album, Journey On. Evans 2001 album, Mississippi Magic was nominated for a Blues Music Award as the “Best Soul Blues Album of the Year”. On Evans 2005 album, Fire in the Feeling, David Lindley guest starred playing guitar on a couple of the tracks.
Between 1994 and his death on January 20, 2018, after he caught an illness during a European tour, Terry Evans released seven solo albums, including Blues for Thought (1994) Come to the River (1997) and Fire in the Feeling (2005). Evans’ career was inspired by Elmore James, Little Walter, Albert King, and B.B. King.
He worked with many musicians including Ry Cooder, Bobby King, John Fogerty, Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, John Lee Hooker, Boz Scaggs, Maria Muldaur and Hans Theessink. Cooder stated that he always thought that Evans made a better “frontman.”
Evans’ last recording was his joint effort with Theessink, on Delta Time (2012). CBC News journalist, Bianca Cervantes, opined that “Delta Time is the latest transatlantic blues treasure.”
In 2014 Evans was featured on the compilation Songs from a Stolen Spring. On the album Evans’ performance of “Dancing in the Street” was meshed with Lebanese singer-songwriter Tania Saleh’s “Not a Word was Spoken”.
