Born in Decatur, Alabama in 1935, Earl Gaines was amongst the first generation of chitlin circuit R&B road warriors, finding success in 1955 as a solo singer on the Excello label and with Bill Doggett's band, while doing dual duty as a busy session drummer. By the mid 1960's was an associate of producer Bill "Hoss" Allen and a regular performer on Allen's legendary "The !!! Beat" television variety show. He maintained a prolific recording schedule, despite moving from label to label through the early 70's. Gaines worked as a long haul truck driver during his musically lean years but by the early 1990s made a comeback in earnest, recording outstanding records throughout the decade for Appaloosa, Black Top,Magnum and Cannonball Records, both under his own name and as "The Excello Legends" with Roscoe Shelton. ...show more

Born in Decatur, Alabama in 1935, Earl Gaines was amongst the first generation of chitlin circuit R&B road warriors, finding success in 1955 as a solo singer on the Excello label and with Bill Doggett's band, while doing dual duty as a busy session drummer. By the mid 1960's was an associate of producer Bill "Hoss" Allen and a regular performer on Allen's legendary "The !!! Beat" television variety show. He maintained a prolific recording schedule, despite moving from label to label through the early 70's. Gaines worked as a long haul truck driver during his musically lean years but by the early 1990s made a comeback in earnest, recording outstanding records throughout the decade for Appaloosa, Black Top,Magnum and Cannonball Records, both under his own name and as "The Excello Legends" with Roscoe Shelton.

Earl Gaines first got started in music singing demo recordings for Nashville songwriter Ted Jarrett and this led to a gig as singer, and sometimes drummer, with Louis Brooks and The Hi-Toppers in the mid 1950s. Their first effort was the Jarrett penned "It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day)" on Excello Records. The song was a smash hit in 1955, going to #2 on the R&B charts and Earl took this opportunity to go solo, joining the "1955 R&B Caravan Of Stars" when it came through Nashville. Earl's star trip slowed after he put out three more singles on Excello Records under his own name, but none were hits.

In 1957, Earl hooked back up with Ted Jarrett and recorded four singles for his Champion and Poncello labels between 1957 and 1961. Again, no hits were forthcoming, but Earl kept busy on the road, most notably as vocalist with Bill Doggett's band. He also stayed busy as a session drummer. He played on the classic "Baby Let's Play House" by Arthur Gunther and did sessions with Tom " Shy Guy" Douglas, Christine Kittrell, The Skylarks and many Gospel sessions at Nashboro Records. ...show less