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All Music Guide:
Dallas-based vocalist and songwriter Robert Ealey began singing in his local church at age 15 with a quartet group in his native Texarkana. Influenced by the likes of Lightnin' Hopkins, Lil' Son Jackson, Frankie Lee Sims and Aaron "T-Bone" Walker, he began singing blues professionally at 20 after he moved to Dallas. In nearby Fort Worth, he joined the Boogie Chillen Boys and became a featured vocalist at the Blue Bird Club there. After singing there for 20 years, Ealey bought the Blue Bird Club and ran it for another ten years.
In 1990, Ealey hooked up with guitarist Tone Sommer and began touring outside of Texas. The band quickly found an audience for their authentic Texas urban blues in Europe, where they have toured more than a dozen times since 1990. Sommer and Ealey also did TV commercial work that made use of their music. Every September, Ealey performs in his own blues festival, held in Sundance Square, Fort Worth.
After BlackTop Records purchased several master tapes from the Top Cat label in Dallas, they released Ealey's Turn Out the Lights. On the album, he is accompanied by a bevy of the D/FW area's best blues accompanists, including Mike Morgan and Sommer on guitars, Ty Grimes on drums and Mark Rybiski on saxophones. I Like Music When I Party followed in 1997.
Wikipedia:
Robert Ealey (December 6, 1925 – March 8, 2001) was an African American electric blues singer, who performed Texas blues. Among other releases, he recorded a couple of albums for Black Top Records in the 1990s, having earlier formed a duo with U.P. Wilson. Ealey also worked with Tone Sommer, Mike Buck, and Mike Morgan.
Ealey's best known work included "One Love One Kiss" and "Turn Out The Lights". He variously worked with the Boogie Chillun Boys, the Juke Jumpers and the Five Careless Lovers.
Life and career
Robert Daniel Ealey was born in Texarkana, Texas, United States, and in his teens sang in a quartet in his local church.
Following service in the Army in World War II, Ealey moved to Dallas in 1951, having been singing professionally from the age of 20. In Fort Worth, he formed a duo, the Boogie Chillun Boys, with the guitarist U.P. Wilson. The Boogie Chillun Boys provided inspiration to fellow Texan singer and guitarist Ray Sharpe. The Bluebird Club in Fort Worth was Ealey's musical base for more than thirty years. His involvement was such that he co-owned the club from 1977 to 1989. His 1973 live album, Live at the New Bluebird Nightclub, was billed as by Robert Ealey and the Five Careless Lovers, and included contributions from Mike Buck. It was produced by T-Bone Burnett.
By the 1990s Ealey, and his guitarist Tone Sommer, started touring more widely, and their authentic Texas blues found a wider audience in the US and Europe. Television advertisement work also expanded the recognition of Ealey's music. His 1996 album, Turn Out the Lights, issued by Black Top Records, saw Ealey work with blues accompanists including Mike Morgan and Sommer on guitar. The 1997 follow-up, I Like Music When I Party was similarly successful.
Ealey died in Fort Worth on March 8, 2001, of undisclosed causes following an automobile accident the previous December. He was aged 75. He was interred with military honors at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.
In 2003, Aristokraft issued the compilation album, Robert Ealey: Blues That Time Forgot.
