Marshall, Texas: The Birthplace of Boogie Woogie

 A Letter from Jack Canson About

the Boogie Woogie Tribute to Omar Sharriff March 24, 2012

Dear Friends,

Boogie Woogie is all about having fun. This Saturday night you can have a lot of fun and help show the rest of the world that Marshall, Texas is a great town with a big heart.

The late Omar Sharriff was a self-taught master of his instrument.  In 1977, when he was performing as Dave Alexander, Keyboard Magazine ranked him the second best Blues piano player on earth, second only to Ray Charles!   Although he never enjoyed the widespread fame and financial success he deserved, throughout his career he was recognized by music critics and astute followers of blues and Boogie Woogie around the world as an “overlooked genius” and one of the all-time greats.  He never got a bad review.  Not once.

Omar was an interesting and complex man who was totally immersed in his art. When extraordinarily gifted people are so intensely focused on the creative world their minds inhabit, it can sometimes make them difficult for others, and cause difficulties for themselves.  Such was the case with Omar.

Omar, who grew up in Marshall as David Alexander Elam, had many problems when he was discovered living in difficult circumstances in Sacramento, California by musicologist, medical doctor, and Boogie Woogie piano man John Tennison.   He had been unable to perform for some time and was in constant pain from coronary and circulatory problems compounded by decades of hard living.  When Omar was brought to Marshall for the Boogie Woogie Homecoming concert in June of 2010, it was the first time he had played before a large audience since performing at the 2007 Chicago Blues Fest. Most of his fans throughout the world thought that he had died.

Omar created a local sensation with his masterful performance at the Homecoming concert.  He returned that December for another triumph when he shared the stage with the legendary Bob Seeley and Chuck Berry’s piano player, Bob Baldori at the 2010 Boogie Woogie Christmas Concert.  In February of 2011, Omar accepted an offer to return to Marshall as artist-in-residence.  Here he performed for free on numerous occasions. He entertained seniors at Extra Steps, school children on field trips, at the Fall Festival, and on Second Saturdays.  He performed for the Faux Paws dog Walk, the Relay for Life, at Josey Reunion Round-Up, the Fireant Festival, and numerous charity events. Omar donated his services to help raise approximately $8,000 for Marshall’s Main Street Program at the first Annual Boogie Woogie Benefit Ball. He never turned down a request to perform and he never insisted on being paid.

Along the way, the story of Omar’s return to the hometown he had left in 1955 attracted major national and international attention.  He was recognized as the last living link to the generations who created Boogie Woogie music in the Marshall area by the Texas Historical Commission, the State Historian, National Public Radio, the Dallas Morning News, and other publications.  Omar gave much to Marshall with his frequent performances and the numerous television and newspaper stories that recognized Marshall as a city with a unique and admirable music heritage.  His presence here, and his music, helped jump start the many activities that are making our town a hub of live entertainment.

Unfortunately, in spite of excellent medical care provided by area specialists, Omar’s coronary and circulatory problems worsened and he was never free of agonizing pain in his legs. A two week tour of France, bookings in New Orleans, and a new recording session had to be cancelled.  In the last weeks of his life, he confided in friends in California, and to me, that he thought what the people of Marshall had done for him was a “miracle.”  He felt he had come home to a town that loved him.  He knew that his artistic genius was appreciated at last by everyday people, not just the cognoscenti.

No one can ever know all that is in the mind and heart of a person who chooses to end his own life. But I know beyond any doubt that the last year of Omar’s life was made better, and the attention of the world to his musical genius was reignited, by the “welcome home” he was given by the people of Marshall.

Omar died penniless, as most Blues and Boogie Woogie musicians of his and earlier eras did.  But because of his greatness, and all he had given to Marshall, his friends could not abide the thought of a pauper’s grave for Omar.  A funeral celebrating his life was held January 14^th at the Marshall Convention Center.  Sullivan’s Funeral Home generously donated graveside services and a prominent burial site in Algoma Cemetery North.  People’s Funeral Home provided first-class services at steep discounts.  Musicians performed for free.  Bandstand Music provided sound at no cost.

Still, a substantial debt remains and additional funds are needed for a tombstone.

Saturday, March 24^th, we are presenting a Boogie Woogie Tribute to Omar at Charlie’s Back Yard Bar in Marshall.  This event is a benefit to help pay these expenses.

We promise that all who attend will enjoy one of the most spectacular shows ever.  This tribute will be covered by journalists representing major media and it will be recorded in multicam HD video. A one hour program combining this Tribute Concert with the excellent recordings of Omar performing at the Homecoming Concert will be distributed free to broadcast TV, cable, & satellite services worldwide. This program will tell the story of Marshall, Texas the Birthplace of Boogie Woogie as nothing else can.

Even in death Omar will be giving to Marshall.  Now we want to give back to Omar.

You can help pay Omar’s funeral expenses by purchasing VIP tickets at $100 each, and receive All Access privileges, which include the upstairs private cash bar at Charlie’s and  complimentary appetizers. You can also help by buying General admission tickets at $15 each. It will be a great show, no matter what ticket you buy!

Tickets are available at 903.217.7486, at Charlie’s Back Yard, and at www.boogie.ticketleap.com.  We will be happy to deliver tickets on request.  We recommend you buy them now.  VIP seating is limited. And all our Boogie Woogie concerts in the past have sold out!

Take a look at the amazing line up of talent that will perform at the Tribute to Omar and give us a call or email – or go to the www.boogie.ticketleap.com web site for easy purchase.  We will also appreciate any donations to help us retire the debt and pay for a tombstone.  Contributions may be made at the website or by check to BOOGIE WOOGIE MARSHALL and mailed to 3109 Victory Drive, Marshall, TX 75672.

Thanks – Jack Canson

jackcanson@att.net  903-217-7458

The Boogie Woogie Benefit Concert – Tribute to Omar – SATURDAY, March 24 at Charlie’s Backyard Bar.  Great line-up of musicians. Tickets on sale now. Proceeds will help pay funeral costs.

Thursdays will never be the same in Marshall, Texas. RIP Omar Sharriff. In addition to his larger concerts and benefits, Omar performed every Thursday night at the OS Pub on our Downtown Square. His presence here attracted a diverse, devoted, admiring crowd every week, and visitors from Austin, Dallas, Houston, Ft. Worth, Nashville, New York, San Francisco, Utah, Alabama, Washington D.C., the Silicon Valley, Many Other Places, and one nice lady who came all the way from Alaska. In Omar’s memory, the music lives on. Tonight – Thursday, Jan. 19 – and every Thursday, see Omar’s Band of Brothers – musicians who performed with Omar, and at his Memorial Tribute. Mike Mitchell, Carl Mitchell, Andre Lewis and Barney Canson will play the incredible Omar originals heard at the service, and other Blues and Boogies – THURSDAYS at the OS Pub from 7 to 9.

Barney Canson created this slideshow for the Omar Sharriff Memorial Tribute.

Comments for Omar Sharriff’s Memorial Service

by John Tennison, MD

             David Alexander Elam, Dave Alexander, the Rattler, Mr. Boogie, The Boogie Woogie Man, Omar Hakim Khayyam, Omar Sharriff, Omar the Magnificent, or just plain Omar….these are all names by which the complex man who touched the lives of so many was known.

I am fortunate to have been able to have met and gotten to know Omar Sharriff, and I am grateful for having been asked to speak today.

I am deeply moved by the outpouring of goodwill shown to Omar Sharriff both before and after his tragic death on Sunday, January 8, 2012.

I was first invited by the people of Marshall to present my research on Boogie Woogie almost exactly 2 years ago on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 18, 2010.  Of course, I never imagined that I would be returning to Marshall just 2 days shy of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2012 to speak at a memorial service for Omar Sharriff.

When I first presented my Boogie Woogie research to the people of Marshall almost exactly 2 years ago, I was surprised to learn that there was limited awareness of Omar Sharriff.  Indeed, I even encountered a mistaken belief among some in the Arklatex that the Dave Alexander who recorded “The Rattler” album was dead and was not the same man as the musician named Omar Sharriff who lived in California.  Naturally, I clarified matters by pointing out that Omar Sharriff was the same man as Dave Alexander, and was still alive and living in California.  I told the people of Marshall that Omar Sharriff was the most important living link of which I knew to Marshall’s Boogie Woogie heritage.  The people of Marshall expressed interest in possibly inviting Mr. Sharriff to Marshall for a homecoming Boogie Woogie concert.  I told the people of Marshall that I was planning a trip to California to meet and interview Omar Sharriff.  I told the people of Marshall that I would share my impressions of Omar Sharriff with them after I interviewed him in California.

When I first met Omar on March 25, 2010 in Sacramento, California, I found Omar teetering on the edge of homelessness.  His only regular music gig had dried up only a few weeks before my arrival.  He could not pay his bills.  He suffered from multiple medical problems.  He was at risk of being evicted from his apartment.  He looked frightened.

Given what I already knew about Omar’s musical legacy at the time we met, I was deeply troubled by his degree of obscurity and the conditions in which I discovered him to be living in Sacramento.

Subsequently, I was deeply moved by the immense compassion shown by the people of Marshall, Texas when they invited Omar to move back to Marshall to become Marhshall’s Boogie Woogie ambassador and artist-in-residence.

Having personally witnessed Omar’s living conditions in Sacramento, California, I know he had a much better life during what was almost a full year back in Marshall, Texas.  There were many people in California and in Sacramento specifically who had been very good to Omar.  However, if Omar had died in Sacramento in the state of existence that I found him, I doubt anything approaching the magnitude of honor, respect, and memorial that you are bestowing upon him today would have occurred.

The memorial events that are occurring today will help to secure the place in history that Omar Sharriff rightfully deserves.

Despite the tragedy of Omar’s untimely death, such a tragedy has a way of focusing our attention on things we might otherwise take for granted or not have learned about in the first place.

I have many thoughts about Omar.  However, I would like to call attention to what impressed me the most about Omar.

Although I first became aware of Omar because of his reputation as a Boogie Woogie player, what I came to admire most about Omar was his desire to truly be creative, to be innovative, to make new music, rather than merely copy what had come before him.

In 1994, Omar was quoted in Living Blues Magazine.  He said:

“When I play music now, I want to break out of the gravitational pull of what everybody is doing and has been doing for so long.  I give all the great music a long, hard look and bring it into my blues.  I am consistently experimenting to enlarge the way I play.  I don’t think of other people.  I wander through the hallways of my mind.”

But even if Omar did not focus on other people when wandering through the hallways of his mind to create his unique way of playing music, his music was nevertheless very much related to other people, as he also said:

“I’d like for people to understand what I’m talking about with my music.  It’s about life, about real people, about feelings.  I want, even if it’s just for one moment or one beat, to reach them, to find that point of human contact.  I’d like to open people up, to help them find compassion in their souls for their fellow human beings, and to offer help where they can.”

The close of that Living Blues article from 1994 also quoted these words by Omar:

“You know, Jesus said you should love the lord and love your neighbor as you love yourself.  And Muhammed said mankind is one and God is one and we are all brothers.  People today have forgotten these teachings.  I want to cry out, “Stop hate!  Stop violence!”  I agree with what Jack Kennedy said, that if we don’t live together in peace, we will perish together in flames.  I’d like to send a message of love and hope.  That’s what my music is about.  I hope people will hear.”

Even though he is physically no longer with us, Omar left behind something that is immortal, namely his music.  As long as we choose to remember, Omar’s music will live forever.

Nothing can take away that beautiful legacy that Omar Sharriff gave to the world.

Rest in Peace, Brother Omar Sharriff.