I was born in a little steel town called middletown,ohio between Dayton and Cincinnati where about six or seven i would lay on the floor and watch 'American Bandstand' with my uncle and became fasinated and interested after seeing people like 'Chuck Berry','Little Richard',James Brown','Jackie Wilson' and many others.I somehow got started writing song poems while using the other popular melodies of the day to sing along with my words.I became more interested in wanting to play the guitar instead of electric trains so i asked for a guitar for xmas and my first guitar was a toy western guitar made of cardboard,plastic and wood but didn't have anyone to show me anything so i lost interest until later. I was surrounded by music people because my mothers side of the family were the singers and musicians,my mother sung in the gospel chorus and played piano and it was the same for my aunts who sang in church and played piano and organ,my uncles played sax,trumpet and trombone and sang in church and played their instruments in school and military.My oldest sister played violin and my little brother sax but they didn't continue playing.My father was from georgia where we moved for a couple of years i guess i was about nine when i met a friend who introduced me to the guitar again after giving up years earlier on learning to play.I don't remember his name now but he re-introduced me to the guitar and he taught me a part of a song called 'Honky Tonk' an old blues standard featuring guitar.We moved back to ohio to a larger city called Dayton, there were many musicians, R&B and Funk artist there and places to perform,basically a good night life for entertainers and party goers at the time.At twelve and being in Dayton i became interested again about the guitar and started taking it more serious because i had friends and there parents and family members were singing and recording gospel and that got my juices flowing.I guess it was in me to become a musician/entertainer. I had a few lessons at twelve and asked musicians to show me things on the guitar, i even learned things from pianist,organist,drummers and sax players,different feels,riffs and licks.Some of my first gigs were playing at churches for pastors who wanted to hire me for the sunday. After seeing gospel groups perform with bass,guitar and drums i became hooked. Once i started getting my basic chords and rhythms together i started attracting attention from gospel groups and churchs to play for them on saturdays and sundays.Most of the time they'll take up a collection for me. I later started listening to other music like r&b,soul,jazz,blues and funk and put together a band with friends .I started playing in bands and started getting more offers from my popularity around town. A band had come to town from Macon,Ga. to visit there family in Lima and stopped through Dayton looking for a guitarist for their band which was called 'Frank Cole' and The Night Rockers' who i learned was being booked by 'Otis Reddings' manager 'Phil Walden' from macon.georgia when we arrived in macon. I lefted home during my Thanksgiving and Xmas holidays to travel and perform with them to Muncie,Indiana,Lima,Ohio and on to Macon for a few months.After returning back home in Dayton i started touring all over the midwest with gospel groups and bands to cities like Louisville,Ky.,Pittsburg,Pa.,Cleveland,Columbus and Cincinnati,ohio,Chicago,Atlanta and Memphis and many other cities and states.I worked with another local bandleader called 'Big Jay Bush' and 'The House Rockers' and that was probably more like my first real professional gig before 'Frank Cole and The Night Rockers'.My first country gig was with ocal blues singer 'Piney Brown and his 'Swift Wind Band' and later 'Piney Brown and 'The Blues Toppers'.At eleven and twelve i danced and sang in talent shows,one was a talent TV show in Dayton,i can't remember the name of the show but i think it was called 'The Rising Generation'.At seventeen i had my own band called 'The Ohio Twisters' which lasted until i went to the army even though they tried to keep it going it didn't last but awhile.There are few other bands i've worked with which i can't remember their names now maybe one day i'll remember them.I use to work with 'Little Dottie Peoples' at jazz clubs around Dayton,Cincinnati and Detroit and she often times sang gospel at her church.Dottie is now a renown gospel singer who now resides outside of Atlanta and has become successful and we're still friends.In 1974' i was asked to join the group 'Heat Wave' by Keith Wilder's brother Johnny Wilder who wanted to hire someone else from Dayton so Keith told him about me but i passed on it because i was afraid to travel to london, UK. at the time.It still worked out good in the end because i decided to move to LA. the following year after my father kept erging me to go because i had some family living out here in california for years.I came to LA. in feb.75' to audition for soul singer 'Bobby Womack'.Bobby's PR man told me about Barry White' looking to hire guitarist so i went to Barry's Office to check it out but not before i went to Wolfaman Jack's producer's office 'Burt Sugarman and 'Sammy Davis Jr.'s office because they were all in the same bank building at 9000 west sunset bl.,west hollywood.I was now living in pasadena with one of my auntsand had recieved records from 'Bobby Womack's'office to learn.Bobby even called my aunts one day looking for me and when i answered i didn't believe it was him so i hung up the phone because i thought my cousin was joking and he called back and i was shocked and sorry that i hung up on him, we talked a few times but six weeks later 'Barry White' hired me to join his 'Love Unlimited Orchestra'.I wrote music,toured and recorded with Barry White from 75 - 79' and i later worked with Barry White for another four years from 86' - 90'.I worked in 'The Blues Brother' movie where i met 'Isaac Hayes' drummer 'Willie Hall' whom it had met three or four years earlier because i had another friend named 'Boots' who played guitar for 'Isaac' in the mid seventies before i came along in 1980'. I recorded on 'soul singer 'Linda Cliffords' album 'I'm Yours' which was colaborated on between Isaac Hayes' and 'Curtis Mayfield' where 'Isaac arranged and composed the music and 'Curtis' wrote the lyrics.The music was recorded in Atlanta at 'Master Sound Studios'.I also visited with drummer 'Bohanon' who use to record with 'Motown Records.With Barry White' i toured central and south america and europe and was on tv in London,Paris,Germany,Mexico City and in america in hollywood we performed 'The Merv Griffin's Show,'The Dinah Shores Show' and 'The Pat Sajacs Show at CBS -TV and 'The Johnny Carson's Show at NBC - TV. I use to live,tour and record in london from 81'-84'.In london i worked with reggae singing group 'Chosen Few' then 'Clem Curtis' and 'The Foundations' and from 88' to 98' i traveled and lived again in london and worked with friends writing and recording my 'In The Zone' smooth jazz cd which was written and recorded in london.It was released in june 95' and debuted on Jazz FM radio and in september we debuted the album at london's 'Jazz Cafe' in camdentown.There are other artist i had the priviledge to work on stage with in london was jamaican singers 'Barry Biggs' and 'Denis Brown'.When i first moved to london in 81' i was asked to do a session for a black female group at the 'Beatles' 'Abbey Road Studios on abbey road.In london i got a chance to record a song called 'Nothing Looks The Same In The Dark' written by singer 'George Michael' and recorded with the group 'The Funkmasters' band and produced by 'Tony Williams'.'While living in Atlanta working with Isaac i played with the band at a record company party backing a singing group called 'Oddessy'.While living in london i also worked with a popular DJ/Producer called 'Tony Williams' who had a reggae show on 'Radio London' later he put together some musicians to do a session for a recording called 'It's Over' a song that went to the top of the british charts and soon was asked to appear on london's famous 'Top of the Pops' TV Show'.Another tv show i did while living in london was with 'Clem Curtis' and the Foundations' on a show called 'Unforgettable' TV show' which catered to yesterdays hit groups.In 1982' i met soul singer 'Marvin Gayes' bass player while performing in london's west end with The Foundations' at at famous club called 'Guillivers' and he turned me on to a guy called Freddy Couseart from belgium who was managing Marvin' and we talked by phone and faxes for years from the eighties until the nineties about him getting me work in europe bur we didn't come together until years later in 98' when he booked me a show in Parlermo,Sicily and he introduced me to 'Pete Lamont and 'The Atlantic Soul Machine' who had been around recording and touring for twenty years.They were to be my backing band for the tour so we rehearsed and went to Palermo and had a successful show after returning back to london the band asked me to join them as a regular.Freddy signed me as an artist and two months after our tour Freddy had a bike accident in belgium and died and i recorded,toured and mained with the band until september 99'.We recorded an old school R&B Funk album called 'Black,White & Blue'.We toured belgium,holland,finland,the UK. and sicily.There was a time i spent back home in Dayton after my first Barry White' stent i got to join a group called 'The David Julian Experience' an italian guy with two female dancers and a four piece band that performed hotels and resorts.We travelled to places in the states i had never been or seen like Fargo N.Dakota,Syracuse,New York,minnesota then canada to Lloydminster,Regina,Moose Jaw,Calgary,Lefbridge and some other cities.It's where i first seen the 'Northern Lights' in the sky.While touring with Barry White' we had other artist that was on our shows sometimes like 'Millie Jackson',Mikki Howard','Mary Wilson' and a detroit group called 'Santa Esmeralda'. Barry played the 'Radio City Music Hall' featuring 'the famous 'Rockets' before we came on each year from 75' - 79' when i was there. 'George Benson' has been one of my biggest influences so my style is simular but i had other influences like Wes Montgomery,Miles Davis,BB.King,Quincy Jones and many others who play sax,drums,bass and keyboards too many to mention. My myspace bio has been updated and is more intensive but you can see other of my bios at these sites-my official website: /or .I hope that you have enjoyed my music and my life sincerely,Emmett North Jr. aka Emilio Norte'.
Live at the Katalin Club in Uppsala Sweden Sept 16, 2006Emmett North Jr & Jackalope Gang Live In Sarezzo 2006 Show Start
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