ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Mose Allison

Updated on January 16, 2015

Mose Allison Is Unique Among Jazz Pianists

There is really no one else quite like Mose Allison and this is the case whether you are speaking of him as a singer, a pianist or as a songwriter. Always good for a laugh and a lesson, Mose Allison has given us lyrics that have contributed entire sentences to the American lexicon. You may have quoted him yourself and not even known it!

Mose Allison was born Mose John Allison, Jr. on November 11, 1927 in Tippo, Mississippi. He played piano in grammar school and trumpet in high school. In 1956 he moved to New York City and began his jazz career performing with such jazz giants as Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, and Phil Woods. His debut album was Back Country Suite on the Prestige label in 1957. He formed his own trio in 1958.

In 1963 his record label finally allowed him to release an album of only piano and vocals. It was entitled Mose Allison Sings and is a collection of songs that paid tribute to artists of the Mojo Triangle: Sonny Boy Williamson, Jimmy Rogers and Willie Dixon. It was an original composition, Parchman Farm, however that brought him the most attention and for more than two decades, it was his most requested song.

His music has influenced countless blues and rock artists, including Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Who, and John Mayall. Blue Cheer and Cactus both recorded versions of Parchman Farm. The Yardbirds and The Misunderstood recorded versions of I'm Not Talking. Look Here was covered by The Clash and Leon Russell covered Smashed, while Van Morrison released an entire album of Allison's songs entitled Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison. Elvis Costello covered Everybody's Cryin' Mercy and Your Mind Is On Vacation on King of America. Monsters of the Id was covered by Stan Ridgway and Greg Brown wrote and performed "Mose Allison Played Here" on his 1997 album, Slant 6 Mind. During the opening credits of the film The Whole Nine Yards, Allison's song I Don't Worry About A Thing plays.

In 2006 Mose Allison was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.

On March 23, 2010, after a twelve years without a new release Allison released the album The Way Of The World. I think you should check it out.

Mose Allison videos!

If you purchase something from this page, you'll automatically make a donation...

to The Acumen Fund.

You'll be helping to solve the problem of global poverty and helping us all to imagine a brighter future.

Now, doesn't that sound good?

Great Mose Allison stuff on Amazon!

More great Mose Allison stuff on Amazon!

More great Mose Allison stuff on Amazon!

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)