Richard
'Beau' Shelby
 STLBlues:
Welcome to STLBlues, and thanks for doing our online interview.
Let's start with where you were born.
Beau Shelby: I was born in
Indianola, Miss.
STLBlues: How long have you
lived in St. Louis?
Beau Shelby: Since 1969.
STLBlues: What is your preferred
musical instrument?
Beau Shelby: My first love
is guitar.
STLBlues: Who are some of
your musical influences?
Beau Shelby: Quite a few
- Mountain, Yes, Black Oak Arkansas, Leon Russel, Jackson
5, Temptations, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Nektar, Chick & R.T.F.,
Rufus & Chaka Khan, Eddie Harris, Houston Person,
Dexter Gordon, Stevie Wonder, Tyrone Davis, Jr. Walker,
Billy Preston, Kansas, Hughes Corp., Spinners, Eddie Arnold,
Ray Charles, Albert King, B.B. King, Yellowjackets, Marvin
Gaye, Al Green, Johnnie Taylor, George Benson.
Locals - Sheer Energy
Oliver Sain, Johnnie Johnson, Chuck Berry, Clayton Love,
Joe Bethly, Bill Lawton, Afterbirth, 13th Floor, Buzzy
Morton, Phil Westmoreland (Oliver Sain), Marty Abdullah,
Bill Tucker, Ralph Butler, Sreetcorner Symphony, Constellation,
Al Caldwell, Doc Terry, Eugene Johnson, The Bunch, Jabon,
the Unpredictd , Drama Five, Charles Drain, Blues Randy,
Billy Gayles, Gus Thornton, Steve Kirby, Tony Saputo,
Greg Glover, JoAnn Lewis, Eric Foreman.
STLBlues: Was there music
around the house as you were growing up?
Beau Shelby: My mother, my
daughter, Betty Wright is a distant cousin, Roosevelt
Wright was a writer for the Impressions back in the day
(cousin) Albert Collins was a member of the Kansas City,
Mo "Shelby" clan of which I am a member.
STLBlues: Who do you like
to listen to?
Beau Shelby: Ptah Williams,
Billy Barnett, Ralph Butler, Bennie Smith, Rich Mcdonough,
Soulard Blues Band, Matt Murdick, Williie Aikens, Angela
Udo.
STLBlues: Have you done any
recordings?
Beau Shelby: A summer 2000
release titled "Stand Up" which can be heard
on Monday nites on "Curran Events, WGNU 920 AM &
WGNU.net (10pm- Midnite) Oliver Sain's 2003 release "Soul
Serenade", David Dee's "Goin'Fishin", "Rockin'
88's" featuring Johnnie Johnson, Clayton Love and
Jimmie Vaughn. Four different CD releases from Al Caldwell
("Vanessa Williams Show,coming in May '05) in 2004,
Jimmie "Ironhead" Matthews, Kayja ("Played
Me For a Fool) and others.
STLBlues: What is your favorite
musical moment, and why?
Beau Shelby: Meeting Albert
King and hanging out backstage @ Fair St. Louis in '88.
Why is self-explanatory!
STLBlues: What is your favorite
gig, and why?
Beau Shelby: In town it's
hands down (smile) BB's!!
Why? Saturday nights!!
STLBlues: Describe your musical
path.
Beau Shelby: I could always
sing back an entire simple song since the age of 2 according
to my ooldest siblings. I used this skill to "samle",if
you will, my current preferences and began to enlarge
my personal database of grooves and figure out how to
play them on guitar. I got my hands on one for the first
time in the fall of '73 while living in St. James. I took
my first lessons from a guy named Harlan Marshall from
Kentucky. He was in his 50's and was very impressed with
my sincerity and aptitude of learning the guitar.
He tutored me for about a year, teaching me Country tunes
as this was the only style he could play, but, DAMN, could
he play!! I came back to St. Louis in '74 and got my first
guitar & amp (Teisco) out of the "Tradin' Times
for $30!! I never had another teacher to this day, but,
I became like a sponge for the knowledge of how to make
that mother talk to me!
About a year later, I joined my first band alongside my
older nephew Alex King who played percussion and sang
his ass off. We rehearsed about once a week until the
Spring of '75 and got an invitation play a neighborhood
block party in John Thomas's front yard and it was then
and there that I got my first taste of stage fright! Oh,
man!! It was awful!(lol) I wood shedded and jammed as
much as possible for the next year or so until I ended
up at Visual & Performing Arts High School (Humboldt
School) where I met Al Caldwell & Warner Harrison
(bass) and we began to get our jam on like nobody's business.
A couple of months later, Warner asked me to join a group
he had bee playing with and I jumped at the chance. All
was well for about 3 weeks until some members who couldn't
keep up & decided to quit. Subsequently we added other
personnel and that was the birth of my first project called
"Jabon"
STLBlues: What are some of
your musical goals?
Beau Shelby: To attract investors
for both my current CD project and a wealth of St. Louis
talent that is yet untapped and is potentially worth untold
millions. I interact with these people regularly and am
personally aware of their ability to kick ass as soon
as the funding is available to implement my strategy.
Creating a new record label is a possible feature of this
proposal, but not entirely necessary as I am confident
that many well known labels and distributors would be
clamoring for signees out of the project.
STLBlues: What do you think
of the state of St. Louis Blues?
Beau Shelby: I think that
the most important element of any viable music style such
as the Blues is that it continues to develop. There is
a highly commendable amount of emphasis placed on archiving
the history and encouraging modern players to love and
appreciate it from that perspective, but, the new blood
of innovators such as myself have virtually no outlet
for all these fantastic ideas that would, I think, really
put the St. Louis Blues scene on the map.
I see others from out of town with very lame attempts
at such innovation constantly booked to the hilt at the
better blues venues and festivals. This puts the lions
share of Blues economics in the pockets of out-of-towners
who don't represent St. Louis.
The other thing is: Politics. It is a given that it's
going to be present to some extent, but,political games
are being played to such an extent with regard to choice
bookings and high exposure events that no one is thiinking
of this one fact; You keep seeing all the same acts who
are "like" someone and you get numb.
I think what's needed is that acts like Beau Shelby &
Flyy and others be featured more often at The Pageant,
tours to Europe, the festivals, and other high profile
events that take place in St. Louis in order to shock
the lightning out of people every now and then. This would
break up the stagnation that has set in with everybody
working the history angle |
