Dandelion Radio
Dandelion Radio
Dandelion Radio
Home page
Latest station news & Dandelion related events
Dandelion Radio's broadcast schedule
What you can hear in this month's shows
Profiles of our DJs
Tracklist archive for previous shows
Background info and history
Dandelion Radio's Festive 50 results
Dandelion Radio related compilations and releases
Photos of Dandelion staff and events
Sign our guestbook
How to get in touch
Recommended websites
Dandelion Radio is
fully licenced with:
PRS For Music - Performing Right Society PPL - Phonographic Performance Limited
Listen to Dandelion Radio - click here for web player or one of the links to the right to open the audio stream Listen to Dandelion Radio with media players such as Winamp, iTunes & RealPlayer Listen to Dandelion Radio with Windows Media Player

'Broadcast One' - Dandelion Radio's 1st compilation album

NEWS:
22 hours this month including two sessions and a special tribute to CAN

Artist Info

Don "Sugarcane" Harris

Don
Image from Discogs
Powered by Audioscrobbler™Don Francis Bowman Harris (June 18, 1938 – November 27, 1999), known as Don "Sugarcane" Harris, was an American rock and roll violinist and guitarist.

Harris was born and raised in Pasadena, California and started an act called Don & Dewey with his childhood friend Dewey Terry in the mid 1950s. Although they were recorded by Art Rupe on his Specialty label, mostly utilizing the services of legendary drummer Earl Palmer, Don and Dewey didn't have any hits. However, Harris and Terry co-authored such early rock and roll classics as "Farmer John", "Justine", "Leavin' It All Up to you", and "Big Boy Pete," all of which became hits for other artists.
Harris was given the nickname "Sugarcane" by bandleader Johnny Otis and it was to remain with him throughout his life.
After separating from Dewey Terry in the 1960s, Harris moved almost exclusively over to the electric violin. He was to reappear as a sideman with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Frank Zappa, most recognized for his appearances on Hot Rats, and on the Mothers of Invention albums Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh. His lead vocal and blues violin solo on a cover of Little Richard's "Directly From My Heart to You" on Weasels, and his extended solo on the lengthy "Little House I Used To Live In" on Weeny are considered highlights of those albums. Reportedly, he was rescued from a jail term by Zappa. Zappa had long admired Harris's playing and bailed him out of prison, resurrecting his career and ushering in a long period of creativity for the forgotten violin virtuoso. He played a couple of live concerts with Zappa's band in 1969.
During the early 1970s, Sugarcane fronted the Pure Food and Drug Act which included drummer Paul Lagos, guitarists Harvey Mandel and Randy Resnick, and bassist Victor Conte, who was the founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO). Conte replaced Larry Taylor who was the original bass player. His first solo album (with back cover art by underground poster artist Rick Griffin) is a forgotten masterpiece of blues, jazz, classical and funk compositions, and his 1973 live album Sugarcane's Got The Blues, recorded at the Berlin Jazz Festival show an accomplished musician at the top of his game.
In the 1980s, Sugarcane was a member of the Los Angeles-based experimental rock band Tupelo Chain Sex.
Harris died on November 27, 1999 in Los Angeles, California.
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Artist biography from last.fm




Some other places to look for information:
last.fm
Discogs
MusicBrainz