Earl Oliver | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1948-06-23)June 23, 1948 (age 77) Indianapolis,Indiana, United States |
| Occupation | Writer, musician,variety andstreet entertainer |
| Genre | Professional wrestling |
| Spouse | Lonna Oliver (c. 1974–present) |
| Relatives | wrestler Ray "Rip the Crippler" Oliver (uncle) |
| Website | |
| earloliver | |
Earl Oliver (born June 23, 1948) is an American writer, musician,variety,street entertainer, andgraphic artist. An accomplishedblues andjazz guitarist and singer inNorthern California and theSan Francisco Bay Area, popularly known as theWalkin' Blues Man, he hosted a popularcable-access television program, "Earl Oliver & Friends: Live from LaVal's", later called "Live on Location", that aired in 16 stations throughout the region from 1992 to 1995. He has also been the lead vocalist for several California-based bands, most recently, the Groovinators.
From May, 2005 until August, 2013, Oliver was a regular performer on theSkunk Train, aheritage railway which runs daily fromFort Bragg andWillits, California, and at events such as the Palo Alto Art Walk andProject Read for theSan Francisco Public Library. In 2001, he was called "one of San Francisco's undiscovered treasures" bySan Francisco Arts Magazine.
The nephew ofprofessional wrestler Ray "Rip the Crippler" Oliver, Oliver is a longtime wrestling columnist and historian. He is perhaps best known in theinternet wrestling community as the founder ofSolie's Vintage Wrestling, ahistorical professional wrestling website dedicated to the memory of announcerGordon Solie, which is the oldest continually active pro wrestling website on the internet.
Earl Oliver was born inIndianapolis,Indiana, but later moved with his family toSouthern California. At age 14, Oliver began playing as a professional musician and in 1969 moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he performed at localjazz and rock musicnight clubs such asThe Melting Pot,La Bohème,The Vintner,Family Farmacy, and theSeventh Seal Coffee-House by the early-1970s.[1] While studying music, he was given singing lessons from one-timeMetropolitan Operadiva Margo Weiss.[2] He also became involved instage acting within a few years with memorable performances inBye Bye Birdie,George M! andDon't Drink the Water at the Glendale Center, as well performing as amagician atThe Magic Castle. In 1977, he portrayed the "evilsorcerer" inAladdin atPamela and Walter Gilmore's Golden Mall Playhouse. Around this time, he began producing a variety show,The Showcase, which included musicians, singers, comics,clowns,fire eaters,poetry readers and other entertainers. It was very successful on the night club circuit, being regularly featured atthe Horn inSanta Monica, and received praise from theLA Weekly in July 1979.[3]
In the 1980s, Oliver returned to the music scene finding limited success with the bandsJUMP CITY andThe Sphere. He also entered the recording business producingradio advertisements for local camera stores and shoe emporiums, doingvoice overs and writingadvertising jingles. Also during this time, he began developing the stage persona of "a blues shouting, guitar playing" singer called the "Walkin' Blues Man". The character would become a familiar sight at countless parades, music and art festivals, county fairs, farmers markets and other outdoor events throughout theWest Coast of the United States and in Canada for the next 20 years.[4]
By the end of the decade, Oliver had also developed a uniquevariety act by incorporatingmagic into his musical performances, such as draping a scarf over his guitar at the end of his set and making it disappear, which was favorably reviewed by theSan Fernando Valley Daily News in October 1989.[2] In 1992, Oliver began producing a monthly cable-access television program, "Earl Oliver & Friends: Live from LaVal's", later called "Live on Location", which featured variety acts atLa Val's Subterranean basement club.[5] The show became very popular in San Francisco and was eventually broadcast in 16 stations throughout the region until 1995.
Oliver held a number of entertainment and music-related occupations throughout his life including as a disk jockey,carnival barker,broadcast journalist,answering service operator,voice artist, andring announcer. However, he was primarily employed as agraphic production artist and later, with rise of the internet during the 1990s, as aweb designer andcorporate trainer.
As a young man, he developed an interest inprofessional wrestling, being the nephew of Rip "The Crippler" Oliver, and was especially a fan of famedChampionship Wrestling from Floridaplay-by-play announcerGordon Solie. In 1995, Oliver started a website in his honor, Solie's Vintage Wrestling, dedicated to thehistory of professional wrestling.[6] It was the first of its kind at the time of its opening and remains the oldest professional wrestling website still active. He was also the editor of the weeklySolie's Wrestling Newsletter from 1996 to 2003.
In addition to Solie's Vintage Wrestling, Oliver has also occasionally contributed to WrestlingClassics.com and was later interviewed in The Wrestling Channel Radio Network's first original productionJeremy Hartley's Up Close and Personal.[7] In 1999, he publicly criticizedSLAM! Wrestling columnist Eric Benner for a controversial article on theHart family following the ring death ofOwen Hart.[8] He was occasionally in contact with Solie, who later endorsed the website, shortly before his death in 2000 and was quoted by both wrestling websites and the mainstream media upon the publishing of Solie's biographyGordon Solie: Something Left Behind five years later.[9]
In 2001, he was called "one of San Francisco's undiscovered treasures" bySan Francisco Arts Magazine.[10] In October 2003 he moved to Fort Bragg, California where Oliver and his wife Lonna settled in a 90-year-old farmhouse. After beinglaid off fromIKON Office Solutions'Print on Demand Division in 2005, Oliver left the corporate world to become a full-time musician and writer. In his familiar "Walkin' Blues Man" act, he has appeared at such civic events such as the Palo Alto Art Walk andProject Read for theSan Francisco Public Library. He has been a regular performer on theSkunk Train, aheritage railway running betweenFort Bragg andWillits, California,[11] and was on hand with Greg Schindel, The Trainsinger and The Black Bart Gunfighters to celebrate its 120th anniversary.[12]
Oliver also formed a partnership with Mendocino Coast music legend, Butch Kwan, releasing theSkunk Train Blues album, and performed together for over two years appearing at the 2004 and 2006 Caspar World Folk Festival, "Art in the Gardens" at theNorth Coast Botanical Gardens, and headlined the 12th annual "Local Licks Live" concert sponsored byKOZT 95.3 FM. Beginning in 2005, they were regular performers at Fort Bragg's annual "World's Largest Salmon BarBQ". In recent years, he has revisited several of these events as the lead vocalist for The Groovinators.[13][14]
On May 8, 2010, and again on May 26, 2012, Oliver sang with the Symphony of the Redwoods during their annual POPS Benefit Concerts. At the 2012 concert, Earl was asked to perform with the orchestra for the finale of the show, a "Tribute to Old Blues Eyes" medley of Frank Sinatra hits.[15][16][17]
Oliver launched Solie's Vintage Wrestling, ahistorical professional wrestling website, in 1995, named in honor of announcerGordon Solie, and one of the earliest known pro wrestling website on the internet. It had a number of innovative features, most notably, the most extensive collection ofwrestling title histories on the internet. It was also home to "Solie's Wrestling Newsletter", which Oliver edited, and all 753 editions were put online following the end of its run in November 2003. Solie.org is considered a valued reference among wrestling fans and theinternet wrestling community.[18] As of 2010, it is the oldest continually active pro wrestling website on the internet.
Oliver createdUncle Earl's Classic TV Channel in early 2010 in conjunction with his work atMendocino Coast Television (MCTV), the cable access (PEG) TV station in Fort Bragg, CA. The Uncle Earl site is a free repository of streaming classic television programs and movies, organized in an easily navigated library format.[19]
