really cool guy to be honored at blues festival...

from the 4.15 edition of the herald-gazette.

It’s all about the horns

By Walter Geiger

Classic soul music is all about the horns.

Imagine the work of Wilson Pickett or Al Green without a horn section. Can’t do it, can you?

Newton Collier’s life has been all about the horns.

At age eight he was taking piano lessons from Gladys Wilson in Macon. Wilson played professionally. Se was acquainted with Pearl Bailey. She had a son who toured with the musical Porgy & Bess.

Miss Gladys was connected.

“One day there was a Rolls Royce outside. It was Sammy Davis Jr. He was in the house playing trumpet with Gladys and I asked if I could try it,” says Newt.

And, a career was born.

Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers were the hot act in Macon back then. The group included a singer by the name of Otis Redding. The group practiced in a house across the street from Newt’s home.

Mama wouldn’t let him cross the street so he sat on the steps and imitated the music from across the street on his horn. The pro players noticed the talented youngster. Gladys taught him the theory behind the music he picked up on the fly.

“She could tell I was going to do rock and roll not the classics so that’s what she taught me,” Newt says.

Later, he snuck out to see the Pinetoppers at a club. Also in the audience that night was a left-handed bass player by the name of Jimi Hendrix. Inspired by Jenkins, Hendrix took up lead guitar and adapted Jenkins’ tricks of playing with his teeth and behind his back.

It wasn’t long before Newt was on the club stages himself. Soul acts snuck him out of the house at night to play and snuck him back in before school the next morning. He cut his teeth on a steady diet of horn-driven soul music delivered at the source.

It paid off.

“I was playing with the Pinetoppers at the National Guard Armory. There was an Augusta band there. I was better than their horn player and they invited me to Augusta. I went, did some gigs and somebody noticed me. I got a call that Sam & Dave were looking for a horn player. I got on their bus and wouldn’t get off. They took me with them. They called me ‘Baby’. To this day, Sam Moore calls me ‘Baby’,” Newt says.

At 17 years of age, Newt was off touring the world with one of the greatest soul acts in history. He appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. When Sam & Dave took breaks from touring, Newt sat in with all the great Stax Records acts - Arthur Conley, Wilson Pickett, Johnnie Taylor.

Harvey Scales also worked with Taylor. He has a platinum record and Grammy award for writing Taylor’s hit Disco Lady. He met Newt when the horn virtuoso was 18.

“I opened a show for Wilson Pickett. Newt stood out in Pickett’s band because he had that strong tone. He was one of the best musicians but, out of all the guys, he was the easiest to get along with. He loved to play. He loved to tour. He loved the music. If not for the tragedy, he would be playing today with somebody like Issac Hayes or Little Richard,” Scales said.

The tragedy occurred on a Boston street in 1974.

“Sam & Dave had broken up. After awhile, the horn section started a band called LTD. I was working my way back in. I went down into a club area to hear the Osborne Brothers. There was a lot of racial tension in Boston so I took a different exit. I noticed a car that stayed behind me. They pulled up next to me and shot me in the side of the face with a .38 and took my money,” Newt says.

And, a career died.

So, nearly, did Newt.

He had multiple surgeries to rebuild his face. He reacquired the ability to talk with little impediment but could not muster the wind to play his beloved horns.

He fell back on the electronics knowledge he picked up from working with every sound system known to mankind. He worked for awhile at MIT. Later he opened a music and memorabilia shop in Macon.

Now, he drives a cab and organizes soul music concert series. He can even play a little on an electronic, synthesized trumpet.
The horns died out in soul music. Advanced keyboards took their place. Both Newt and Scales say Memphis is the only area where the horns held steadfast.

Things are changing.

“I just played the South by Southwest Festival. The average age of the crowd was about 30. They didn’t want to hear R. Kelly and that rap junk. They wanted to hear Soul Man and Mustang Sally. The horns are coming back. All that old stuff is fresh again,” Scales said.

On Saturday, April 26, Newt will receive the Georgia Music Legend Award at the Barnesville BBQ & Blues Festival. Scales is rearranging his schedule to be at the event. He says he will perform.

Newt is bringing his synthesized trumpet and a stable of musicians.

It will be all about the horns!

For information on BBQ & Blues ’08, call 770-358-5884.