Obituaries : E. Vinson; Bluesman, Saxophonist

Bluesman Eddie (Cleanhead) Vinson, whose career as a singer and alto saxophonist dated back to the Big Band swing era, died Saturday in Los Angeles at the age of 70.

Vinson, who had been hospitalized at California Medical Center since mid-June for treatment of cancer of the esophagus, succumbed after suffering a heart attack, hospital officials said.

Vinson, a lanky Houston native who moved to Los Angeles more than 20 years ago, was highly regarded by jazz and blues aficionados alike for his coarse, swinging instrumental style and his mellifluous vocals, which frequently poked fun at his baldness.

“Kidney Stew Blues,” “Cherry Red” and “Somebody’s Got to Go” were among his most popular numbers, which he first performed in the 1940s with the Cootie Williams Big Band and his own 16-piece orchestra.

‘Powerful Blues Singer’

Born Dec. 18, 1917, Vinson made his professional debut with the Milton Larkins band and then played with the Floyd Ray orchestra before joining Williams, a longtime Duke Ellington sideman, in 1942. During his stint with Williams, Vinson, in the words of Times jazz critic Leonard Feather, “established himself as a powerful blues singer with a personal, broken-toned style.”

In 1945, Vinson split with Williams, forming his own band and scoring a hit with “Kidney Stew Blues.” In the late 1940s, he played Broadway clubs and toured the country.

Although his popularity dipped in the the 1950s, Vinson continued to perform regularly and record sporadically, including a 1957 LP session with an all-star band in New York and later albums with titles including “Kidney Stew is Fine,” “Cleanhead’s Back in Town” and “You Can’t Make Love Alone.”

After his first tour of France in 1967, Vinson regularly returned to perform at European summer jazz festivals, including a series of appearances with Count Basie.

Headlined in L.A.

In his later years, Vinson frequently headlined in his adopted home of Los Angeles, belting out his signature tunes at such clubs as Marla’s Memory Lane and the Music Machine, as well as the Long Beach Blues Festival.

One of his last performances was at a club date sponsored by the Southern California Blues Society earlier this year.

“As frail as he was at that last show when I talked to him backstage, when he got up to the stage his voice was very strong and his playing was wonderful,” recalled longtime society officer Betty Miller. “That showmanship always came through.”

Vinson, she said, was one of the last remaining prominent local jazz/blues musicians of his generation. “There was a core of musicians here in Los Angeles--Pee Wee Crayton, Big Joe Turner, Joe Liggins, Lloyd Glenn. Eddie was one of the very last ones.”

“He was one of the outstanding figures in his field both as a singer and saxophonist, really an exceptional artist,” Feather recalled Saturday.

Vinson is survived by his wife of 51 years, Bernice; daughters June Goins and Janice Fortune of Los Angeles and Gail Galloway of New York; five grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

A private funeral service is tentatively scheduled for Thursday at the Angelus Funeral Home on Crenshaw Boulevard.