Kip Anderson: Biography

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• Bobby "Blue" Bland
• Solomon Burke
• Fenton Robinson
• Clarence Carter
• Etta James
• Z.Z. Hill
• Robert Cray

• Charles Brown
• Nat King Cole

Born:

Jan 24, 1941 in Anderson, SC

Genres:

Blues Music, R&B and Soul Music, Electric Blues Music

Decades Active:

1950's|1960's|1970's|1980's|1990's

Artistic Quality

Low

Cultural Impact

Low

Popularity

Low

Ratings Guide

Without benefit of anything resembling a chart hit, Kip Anderson amassed an impressive Southern soul legacy spanning several decades. And how many other RB artists were named after Rudyard Kipling, anyway?

Anderson continued to live in the same rural region of South Carolina where he grew up. The singer learned his way around his folks' upright piano as a youth, composing his first tune in 1959. Anderson later bounced from label to label, cutting "I Will Cry" for producer Bobby Robinson in 1963; "That's When the Crying Begins" for ABC-Paramount the following year; and several gems for Checker in 1965-66 (including one of his best-known numbers, "A Knife and a Fork," in Muscle Shoals under the supervision of Rick Hall and Gene "Daddy G" Barge). By 1969, Anderson was inked to Nashville-based Excello, where he waxed the impassioned deep soul gem "I Went Off and Cried."

Anderson's hearty vocal talents also popped up recently on Ichiban Records. He's cut two albums for the Atlanta firm -- A Dog Don't Wear No Shoes and A Knife and a Fork -- and contributed the jolliest track of all, "Gonna Have a Merry Christmas," to the label's 1994 anthology Ichiban Blues at Christmas, Vol. 3.

- Bill Dahl, All Music Guide