Arthur Adams (singer)

Early life

Adams was born on December 25, 1943, in Medon, Tennessee. He sang in a church choir at age six and learned guitar as a teenager by copying his mother's finger positions. Inspired by B.B. King and other radio artists, he formed the Gospel Travelers with cousins, touring Tennessee and Arkansas.

Professional career

Adams began playing blues professionally at the Club Baron, a student bar. He toured as a backup singer with Gene Allison, whose 1957 hit "You Can Make It If You Try" appeared on Vee-Jay. Stranded in Dallas after a tour, Adams stayed from February 1959 until April 1964, working in local nightclubs and playing with Lightnin' Hopkins, Chuck Berry, Elmore James, and Lowell Fulson. He once supported Buddy Guy.

Tenor saxophonist Jimmy Beck hired Adams in 1959. In the early 1960s, Adams produced singles including "If It Ain't One Thing It's Another"/"Willin' To Die" on Jamie Records, produced in Dallas by Al Klein. He released "I Had A Dream" on Dutchess in 1961, and "The Same Thing"/"Tend To Your Business" on Valdot, owned by Ted Jarrett. Until the late 1960s, some records credited him as Arthur K. Adams, a marketing idea from Scotty McKay.

In 1964, Adams moved to Los Angeles after a Fort Worth DJ recommended him to Vee-Jay Records; a recorded session went unreleased. That year he began full-time session work, collaborating with Quincy Jones, recording singles for the Bihari Brothers on Kent, and for Hugh Masekela on Chisa. He became a prolific studio musician, contributing to movies and soundtracks and playing on hundreds of sessions with artists from Lou Rawls to Henry Mancini.