Houston s Grady Gaines, legendary blues tenor saxophonist, dies at 86 KTRK
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Grady Gaines, the Houston-based blues tenor saxophonist whose career brought six decades of backing for a wide range of musicians, has died at 86.
Gaines died Thursday night in his sleep, his management company said. Grady was a big man, with a big sound, but with an even bigger heart, Susan Criner with Gulf Coast Entertainment said in a statement to ABC13. He was a pioneer in American popular music, serving as band leader for groundbreaking stars Little Richard and Sam Cooke, and touring and recording with some of the biggest names in R&B and soul for decades. Still, he would say he was just an everyday person. I liked to treat people the way I liked to be treated.
Gaines died Thursday night in his sleep, his management company said. Grady was a big man, with a big sound, but with an even bigger heart, Susan Criner with Gulf Coast Entertainment said in a statement to ABC13. He was a pioneer in American popular music, serving as band leader for groundbreaking stars Little Richard and Sam Cooke, and touring and recording with some of the biggest names in R&B and soul for decades. Still, he would say he was just an everyday person. I liked to treat people the way I liked to be treated.
Gaines was born on May 14, 1934, in Waskom, Texas, and was the fifth of seven children to Merkerson and Ethel Harris Gaines. He moved to Houston in 1943 with his family, who lived in Houston s Fifth Ward. Gaines and his younger brother, Roy, began playing music at a young age. After music lessons at E.O. Smith Jr. High, he became a band leader for Houston record producer Don Robey. Robey, a well-known R&B music promoter, signed a then-unknown Richard Penniman