b. 24th May 1945, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Terry Callier hails from Chicago, Illinois.
He was a childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield's.
Terry grew up singing on the streets as a member of several competing doo-wop groups.
He was first recorded by Chess Records in 1963, releasing the single 'Look At Me Now'.
Recorded in 1965, his debut album for Prestige was delayed for almost four years when the producer went AWOL.
Eventually released in 1968, the album showcased a blossoming talent.
Terry never received the wider acclaim that ought to have been, however, there followed a series of excellent albums for Cadet and Elektra in the 70's.
Many of these albums have been, subsequently, re-released at the turn of the millennium.
In amongst these pieces of excellence is the 1978 album 'Fire On Ice', including the excellent 'African Violet'. A soul masterpiece.
'Turn You To Love' followed a year later and that contained a re-working of 'Ordinary Joe', 'Sign Of The Times' and the, quite excellent, 'Pyramids Of Love'.
He retired from music in 1983 to become a computer programmer at the University Of Chicago.
In the early 90's, English acid jazz DJs Gilles Peterson and Russ Dewbury revived dancefloor interest in Callier's music, echoing his earlier popularity on the 70's Northern Soul scene.
Drawn back to performing in Europe, Terry recorded his first album of new material in over 20 years for the London based Talkin' Loud label.
The resulting 'Time Peace' gained strong reviews and became a success on the U.K. soul scene.
Terry had collaborated with Orton the previous year on her 'Best Bits' EP.
His follow up album 'Lifeline', released in 1999, was less well received by the music industry but was regarded very highly by soul punters.
By 2001, all of Calliers' back catalogue became available on CD.
In 2002, Terry's vocals graced an album by Swedish group Koop on the track 'In A Heartbeat' and an album followed the same year entitled 'Speak Your Peace' on Mr Bongo Records.
Terry collaborated with Bluey from Incognito of a couple of tracks.
Terry Callier has achieved 'cult' status in the U.K. amongst soul followers and rightly so.
Albums:
The New Folk Sound Of Terry Callier (Prestige 1968)
Occasional Rain (Cadet 1972)
What Colour Is Love? (Cadet 1973)
I Just Can't Help Myself (Cadet 1975)
Fire On Ice (Elektra 1978)
Turn You To Love (Elektra 1979)
I Don't Want To See Myself (Without You) mini-album (Acid Jazz 1991)
TC. In D.C. (Premonition 1997)
First Light (Premonition 1998)
Time Peace (Talkin' Loud 1998)
Lifetime (Talkin' Loud 1999)
Alive (@ The Jazz Cafe in London) (Talkin' Loud 2001)
Speak Your Peace (Mr Bongo Records 2002)
Lookin' Out (Mr Bongo 2004)
