SKEETER BRANDON

Artist Biography by Richard Skelly in allmusic !

Keyboardist, singer, and songwriter Skeeter Brandon was born in 1949 and raised in Goldsboro, NC. He and his band, Highway 61, made a name for themselves as a touring act up and down the East Coast and nearby in the 1980s and '90s. He began singing in the church as a six-year-old and began playing piano at age nine. Blind since early childhood, he was sent to the Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh, NC. He had some success as a teenager leading his own band around Raleigh and Goldsboro, NC, where he was raised. Through his youth, Brandon sang and played keyboards, trumpet, and drums. He later specialized by sticking mostly to keyboards and vocals. After playing trumpet through most of the 1960s with bands that were doing classic R&B covers by Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett, he formed the Soul Stars Band. They became so popular they were the house band for the Playboy Club in Goldsboro.

He caught his first big break with Clarence Carter, who hired him for his band in 1970 when Carter was playing at the Playboy Club in Goldsboro. Brandon toured the world with Carter and his band before joining the Chi-Lites in 1973. By the mid-'70s, he felt he was ready to record and tour under his own name and went to Muscle Shoals Studios in Alabama with producer Charles Johnson. He recorded a single, "Kept on Smiling" b/w "24 Hour Love Man" for Hit Man records. It sold well enough around the south that Atlantic Records became interested and re-released it on Atlantic in 1975. This led to a tour with Stax Records singer William Bell, and Brandon came home to Goldsboro in 1974. After some time touring in the late '70s, Brandon returned to Goldsboro again to be closer to his family and stick closer to home. He plied his craft in the local gospel scene, recording with two North Carolina gospel groups, Slim and the Supreme Angels and Willis Pittman and the Burden Lifters in the early '80s.

Hi-Test BluesBrandon and Highway 61 released several solid albums in the '90s when they were at the height of their tours in support of them: Hi-Test Blues, I'm a Man of My Word, and License to Thrill. These albums included the same band that accompanied Brandon on his festival and club tours; Armand Lencheck on guitar and vocals; bassist Chris Grant, and drummer Wes Johnson. Guests on Hi-Test Blues (1993) include Mark Wenner of the Nighthawks, Ann Rabson of Saffire -- The Uppity Blues Women, and Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin. Lenchek's background includes working with Lightning Bug Rhodes since 1989, touring with Nappy Brown and sitting in regularly with the likes of Eddy Clearwater, Bob Margolin, and Tom Principato. Aside from Brandon, Lenchek has recorded on albums by Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, Buddy Skipper, Bob Margolin, and David Nelson and the Prowlers.

Brandon's backing band was the former Lightning Bug Rhodes Blues Band. After Rhodes passed unexpectedly, the band regrouped mentally and spiritually and began accompanying Brandon at clubs in the Charlotte, NC area. His recordings for New Moon Music led to subsequent tours around the U.S.Brandon passed away in March 2008. He had stopped performing in the Charlotte area just four months before that in December 2007.

Calvin Thomas Brandon , hijo de Ivory Royster y Mary Brandon, nació en Halifax, Virginia , Estados Unidos.  Tuvo nada más ni nada menos que dieciséis her,manos ] Brandon era ciego desde niño,  cantó en su iglesia local a la edad desde la edad de  seis años , a los nueve  tocaba el piano. Fué educado en la escuela del gobernador Morehead para ciegos en Raleigh, Carolina del Norte , después de su encuentro por primera vez en 1954. Aprendió tocar la trompeta y el tambor , y tenía cierto éxito en sus años adolescentes como el líder de su propia banda tocando en Raleigh y Goldsboro, Carolina del Norte . Se especializaron en reproducir versiones de covers de canciones populares de artistas como Sam & Dave , Otis Redding y Wilson Pickett . Llegó a formar su propia banda a la que denominó  Stars Band, y por lo oído  eran lo suficientemente buenos para ganarse la vida en una residencia en el Playboy Club en Goldsboro.  Brandon se dedicó principalmente a los teclados y cantando lo que haría hasta  el resto de su vida. En el Playboy Club, Brandon fue apoyado  por Clarence Carter quien, en 1970, contrató a Brandon en su banda de acompañamiento. Esto llevó a Brandon a hacer apariciones en todo el mundo y a grabar en diferentes ocasiones junto al propio Carter.