Robert Daniel Ealey was an American electric bluessinger, who performed Texas blues. Among other releases, he recorded a couple of albums for Black Top Records in the 1990s, having earlier formed a duo with U.P. Wilson. Ealey also worked with Tone Sommer, Mike Buck, and Mike Morgan. Ealey's best-known work includes "One Love One Kiss" and "Turn Out the Lights". He variously worked with the Boogie Chillun Boys, the Juke Jumpers and the Five Careless Lovers.
Life and career
Ealey was born in Texarkana, Texas. In his teens he sang in a quartet in his church. Following service in the Army in World War II, Ealey moved to Dallas in 1951, having been singing professionally from the age of 20. In Fort Worth, he formed a duo, the Boogie Chillun Boys, with the guitarist U. P. Wilson. The Boogie Chillun Boys provided inspiration to fellow Texan singer and guitarist Ray Sharpe. The BluebirdClub in Fort Worth was Ealey's musical base for more than thirty years. His involvement was such that he co-owned the club from 1977 to 1989. His 1973 live album, Live at the New Bluebird Nightclub, was billed as by Robert Ealey and the Five Careless Lovers, and included contributions from Mike Buck. It was produced by T-Bone Burnett. By the 1990s Ealey and the guitarist Tone Sommer started touring more widely, and their authentic Texas blues found a wider audience in the United States and Europe. Television advertisement work also expanded the recognition of Ealey's music. His 1996 album, Turn Out the Lights, issued by Black Top Records, saw Ealey work with blues accompanists including Morgan and Sommer on guitar. The 1997 follow-up, I Like Music When I Party, was similarly successful. Ealey died in Fort Worth on March 8, 2001, at the age of 75, of undisclosed causes following an automobile accident the previous December. He was interred with military honors at the Dallas–Fort Worth National Cemetery. In 2003, Aristokraft issued the compilation albumRobert Ealey: Blues That Time Forgot.
