Biography
Born on 4 February 1924 in Vivian, West Virginia, Gaddy first encountered the piano as a boy while observing his minister, Clayton Jones, at the keyboard during services. Gospel remained his sole musical pursuit until his induction into the army in 1943. Stationed near San Francisco, he began visiting neighborhood clubs and bars, where associates urged him to perform current boogie numbers. Following his discharge in 1946 he relocated to New York, where he met Brownie McGhee and performed with the Three B’s. He and McGhee soon established the Mighty Houserockers, which held a four-year engagement at Billy’s Tavern in New Jersey. McGhee also arranged Gaddy’s recording sessions for Jackson, Jax, Dot Records and Harlem; in 1955 Gaddy signed with Old Town. During the following five years tracks including “Operator,” “Paper Lady” and “Woe, Woe Is Me” found their strongest reception in New York yet still supported tours through the Midwest and South. The remaining sides from his nine singles largely reworked material by Chuck Willis and Ray Charles. At the close of the decade Gaddy began a partnership with guitarist Larry Dale that continued into the 1970s. Rediscovered in 1986, he was employed as a cook at a Madison Avenue restaurant.