Biography
Born on 3 January 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and dying on 11 May 1994 in Chicago, Illinois, guitarist and singer Overbea rose from the Chicago R&B circuit as one of rock ‘n’ roll’s earliest trailblazers. He launched his professional music path in 1946 and cut his first sides four years later, supplying vocals on a track by Eddie Chamblee. After signing with Chess Records in 1952, he delivered his signature releases the next year—“Train Train Train,” which climbed to number 7 on the R&B chart, and “40 Cups Of Coffee”—both already steeped in the rock ‘n’ roll idiom well before the label existed. Buddy Morrow took “Train Train Train” into the pop market, while Ella Mae Morse handled “40 Cups Of Coffee.” By 1955, as the new sound broke onto mainstream lists, Bill Haley And His Comets recorded their own “40 Cups Of Coffee”; although it never charted, the track stood among their most effective efforts. Renowned disc jockey Alan Freed repeatedly booked Overbea for his pioneering rock ‘n’ roll package shows in Ohio and New York, where the performer’s acrobatic back-bend to the floor while playing guitar behind his head remained a consistent show-stopper. Equally adept at ballads in the Billy Eckstine manner, Overbea scored his strongest success with “You’re Mine”—later cut by the Flamingos—and “A Toast To Lovers.” He issued his final recordings in 1959 and stepped away from the business entirely in 1976.