Biography
Born in Austin in 1948, Calvin Russell embodied the authentic Texas cowboy, his face marked by lines that traced years of hardship after a life that began there. Researching the details of his existence and troubles often proves difficult for admirers of the state and his particular style of country music, since the bulk of published accounts about the American singer—including his time behind bars—exists in French or occasionally other European tongues rather than in English, his native language. That scarcity stems from the fact that Russell attained his greatest professional and personal accomplishments far from home: he owned a business and operated a nightclub in Switzerland, his wife came from that country, and a substantial share of his albums were cut on the continent.
One of nine children raised by working-class parents Red and Daisy, he grew up on an unpaved street near the local wrecking yard, where his mother waited tables and his father cooked at the same modest café. The fourth child in the family, young Russell devoted his early years to assembling hot rods until he picked up the guitar before turning thirteen; within another year he was performing with a group known as the Cavemen. A turbulent adolescence drew the notice of authorities, resulting in juvenile detention followed by prison terms, among them a stretch in a Mexican facility during the mid-1980s where he slept on a concrete floor. After his release he returned to Austin and lived in reduced circumstances, sleeping outdoors beneath a house in the dirt. He took to traveling the highways on a motorcycle and began composing songs amid the Texas hill country.
By 1985 he already held a single release. A chance encounter four years later with record executive Patrick Mathe at Austin’s Continental Club secured him a deal with New Rose Records, the French label that would issue many of his albums; when that company later collapsed he moved to Sony. The 1990 New Rose album A Crack in Time generated immediate interest and drew festival bookings across Europe alongside the Kinks and Little Village. Additional New Rose projects followed, including the 1993 live set Le Voyageur, captured in Rennes and Paris. As the label foundered and its assets were frozen during bankruptcy, Russell faced the prospect of his own career becoming entangled in the proceedings until Dick Rivers, who had enjoyed an earlier pop career, purchased his contract and freed him; Sony soon signed the artist as well.
Throughout the rest of the 1990s and the opening decade of the new century, the prolific songwriter continued issuing recordings on independent European and American labels rather than major ones, among them Dream of the Dog (1995), Calvin Russell (1997), This Is My Life (1998), Sam (1999), Crossroad (2000), Rebel Radio (2002), A Man in Full (2004), In Spite of It All (2005), Unrepentant (2007), Dawg Eat Dawg (2009), and Contrabendo (2011). Between studio sessions he performed regularly in Austin’s smaller clubs, favoring understated appearances that featured his own material alongside lesser-known traditional numbers. Calvin Russell died of liver cancer on April 3, 2011, at age sixty-two in Garfield, Texas.
One of nine children raised by working-class parents Red and Daisy, he grew up on an unpaved street near the local wrecking yard, where his mother waited tables and his father cooked at the same modest café. The fourth child in the family, young Russell devoted his early years to assembling hot rods until he picked up the guitar before turning thirteen; within another year he was performing with a group known as the Cavemen. A turbulent adolescence drew the notice of authorities, resulting in juvenile detention followed by prison terms, among them a stretch in a Mexican facility during the mid-1980s where he slept on a concrete floor. After his release he returned to Austin and lived in reduced circumstances, sleeping outdoors beneath a house in the dirt. He took to traveling the highways on a motorcycle and began composing songs amid the Texas hill country.
By 1985 he already held a single release. A chance encounter four years later with record executive Patrick Mathe at Austin’s Continental Club secured him a deal with New Rose Records, the French label that would issue many of his albums; when that company later collapsed he moved to Sony. The 1990 New Rose album A Crack in Time generated immediate interest and drew festival bookings across Europe alongside the Kinks and Little Village. Additional New Rose projects followed, including the 1993 live set Le Voyageur, captured in Rennes and Paris. As the label foundered and its assets were frozen during bankruptcy, Russell faced the prospect of his own career becoming entangled in the proceedings until Dick Rivers, who had enjoyed an earlier pop career, purchased his contract and freed him; Sony soon signed the artist as well.
Throughout the rest of the 1990s and the opening decade of the new century, the prolific songwriter continued issuing recordings on independent European and American labels rather than major ones, among them Dream of the Dog (1995), Calvin Russell (1997), This Is My Life (1998), Sam (1999), Crossroad (2000), Rebel Radio (2002), A Man in Full (2004), In Spite of It All (2005), Unrepentant (2007), Dawg Eat Dawg (2009), and Contrabendo (2011). Between studio sessions he performed regularly in Austin’s smaller clubs, favoring understated appearances that featured his own material alongside lesser-known traditional numbers. Calvin Russell died of liver cancer on April 3, 2011, at age sixty-two in Garfield, Texas.
Albums
Live
