Lucky

Charlie Wood may have luck on his side, but this blues inspired CD is long overdue. For sixteen years Charlie held down the house gig at King's Palace on Beale Street, with legendary guitarist Calvin Newborn often sharing the stage. As a virtuoso Hammond B-3 organist who prefers the real thing to the latest keyboard contraption that almost sounds real, Charlie's Beale Street gig enabled him to try out new material on new audiences without having to load the van night after night. For many musicians, sitting-in with Charlie at King's Palace became a musical rite of passage. During his tenure on Beale, Charlie also found time to tour Spain, Italy, and England. He has performed at the Poretta Soul Festival in Italy for years, both as a solo artist and as organist for the house band. When he was twenty-three, he spent a year on the road with Albert King. While Charlie's credits as a session player are extensive (including four previously released solo CDs), there has always been a connection with Inside Sounds. His remarkable renditions of Happiness Is A Warm Gun and Back In The USSR from Fried Glass Onions-Memphis Meets The Beatles Volumes I & II are highlights from those releases. He has also worked extensively with label mate Billy Gibson for over a decade. On Lucky, he plays virtually all of the instruments, writes most of the songs, and sings in his own soulful voice, with the delivery of each word counting as much as it's meaning. Few artists are as versatile and at the same time, masterful. As one critic wrote, he's like ten different people in one. In Memphis, he is revered by the music community and has been honored both as a keyboardist and as a singer by the Memphis chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammy Awards). He was also named Beale Street Entertainer Of The Year in 2003. Accolades aside, the brilliance of Charlie's musicianship and songwriting spells genius. Now thirty-nine, Charlie shares a glimpse of the world as he sees it and, while his point of view may not be shared by everyone, his artistry is clear. After all, Charlie Wood has all the luck in the world and not a thing to hide.