Similar to his nameake Luther Allison, Mose Allison was a pianist who suffered from a “categorization issue” due to his brilliant career. Allison was a great songwriter, despite his innovative and original boogie-woogie- and bebop-laden style of playing the piano. The Who (“Young Man Blues”) and Leon Russell (“I’m Smashed”) have recorded Allison’s songs. Bonnie Raitt (“Everybody’s Crying’ Mercy”) has also recorded them. Tom Waits and John Mayall were among his admirers, as was Georgie Fame, Van Morrison, and the Rolling Stones. His career was hampered by the fact that he played blues and jazz and not just one. He admitted that he suffered from a “category problem” throughout his career. In a 1990 interview with Goldmine magazine, he stated that “there are a lot of places where I don’t want to work because they’re confused about my job.” Despite all the confusion, Allison was one the most important songwriters in blues music of the 20th century and early 21st century. Born in Tippo (Mississippi) on November 11, 1927. His first exposure to blues was via Louis Jordan recordings including “Outskirts of Town”, and “Pinetop Blues”. Allison credits Jordan for being a major influence, as well as Nat “King”, Cole, Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. He began his career on the trumpet, but he later switched to piano. He had easy access to radio music, including the music of Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson in his youth. Allison also credits Percy Mayfield as a major influence on his songwriting. After serving in the Army and college, Allison got his first gig in the professional world in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1950. He went back to school to complete his studies at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. There he studied philosophy and English, which was a far cry of his original path as a chemical engineer major. In 1956, Allison started his recording career at the Prestige label shortly after he moved from New York City to Louisiana. Al Cohn and Bobby Brookmeyer recorded an album, which he then signed his own record deal in 1957. He was able to play with Zoot Sims and Al Cohn shortly after arriving in New York. However, he became well-known after playing with Stan Getz, a saxophonist. He left Prestige Records after recording classic albums such as Back Country Suite (1957), Young Man Mose (58) and Seventh Son (1958-1959). After that, he moved to Columbia where he met Nesuhi Ertegun from Atlantic Records. After ten minutes with Nesuhi, he signed his Atlantic contract. Allison spent most of his recording career with Atlantic Records. There he met Ertegun and became very close to him. He left after the company experienced significant growth, and Allison wasn’t working with him anymore. Allison recorded for Columbia, the Epic and Prestige labels before he started his long relationship with Atlantic. Allison’s discography has a long history. There are many gems on every album, many of which can still be purchased in vinyl shops. From 1957 to 1976, his output averaged less than one album per year. He ended up finishing at Atlantic with the timeless Your Mind is on Vacation. Six years passed before he recorded another album, this time for Elektra’s Musician subsidiary, in 1982. He recorded Middle Class White Boy. He recorded with Blue Note/Capitol after 1987. Ever Since the World End was his debut album for that label. Blue Note, the subsidiary of Capitol Records, produced some of Allison’s most memorable material. These included My Backyard (1992), and The Earth Wants You (94). In 1994, Rhino Records also released Allison Wonderland, a box set. The Joe Henry-produced The Way of the World was Allison’s first studio album in 12 years. It was released by Anti in early 2010. It would be Allison’s last studio album. He died in November 2016, at the age 89.
