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Chicago Tribune
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Gene ‘Daddy G' Barge, music producer, actor and band leader, dies at 98
South Side saxophonist and songwriter Gene Barge inspired the Gary U.S. Bonds hit 'Quarter to Three,' released several albums of his own, produced music for Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and Natalie Cole and later dabbled in acting, with roles in films including 'The Fugitive' and 'Under Siege.' 'He was very talented, he was funny and he had a great sense of history not just about the music business but he had a worldview of history and would talk on many different levels on things,' said film director and South Side native Andrew Davis, a longtime friend who cast Barge in multiple films. Known as 'Daddy G,' Barge, 98, died of natural causes Feb. 2, said his daughter, Gina. He lived in the South Side Douglas neighborhood, and previously was a longtime resident of the Chatham neighborhood. Born James Garfield Barge Jr. in Norfolk, Virginia, Barge picked up the name 'Gene' at an early age, his daughter said. His father worked in Norfolk's Navy Yard, and he brought young Gene — up to that point a clarinet player — a tenor saxophone that a sailor had left on a torpedo-damaged ship. The sax quickly became his instrument of choice. Barge left high school to join the Air Force, his daughter said, and he returned to school after active duty. Initially interested in becoming an architect, Barge attended West Virginia State College, where he received a degree in music in 1950. Barge taught high school English and history in Norfolk for a time, but felt the pull of music and left teaching to play with area jazz and rhythm and blues bands. He released an instrumental, 'Country,' which became a regional hit in 1955, and also put together his own band. R&B singer Chuck Willis invited Barge to join his touring band and to a recording session. After another saxophonist wasn't delivering in the studio, Willis asked Barge to step in for a take on the classic blues song 'C.C. Rider.' Willis' song topped the R&B chart and crossed over as well, performing nicely on the pop chart. Barge eventually returned to Norfolk, where he worked for a record label run by songwriter and producer Frank Guida. Barge formed a band, the Church Street Five, and wrote an instrumental, 'A Night with Daddy G,' the title providing the source of his nickname. A fellow Norfolk native, Gary U.S. Bonds, took the song and added lyrics, calling it 'Quarter to Three.' It went on to become a hit that was covered by several musicians, including Bruce Springsteen. Around 1964, Barge moved to Chicago to take a job at Chess Records as a staff musician and producer, overseeing the label's rhythm section. Barge played on Fontella Bass' hit 'Rescue Me' and produced Buddy Guy's 1967 album, 'Left My Blues in San Francisco.' Barge later said the label's owners, the Chess brothers, struggled to adapt to rhythm and blues music.. 'They felt the blues, but they really didn't know a lot about R&B,' Barge told the Tribune in 1997. 'They only came up if one of the blues artists came in, like if Muddy was going to do something.' Barge also released his own album, 'Dance with Daddy G,' in 1965. He also assembled a big band for local special occasions, the Gene Barge Orchestra. After Chess closed in 1975, Barge independently produced two hit albums for Natalie Cole. He also briefly worked as a gospel music producer for Memphis-based Stax Records, though he continued to be based in Chicago. Through some work with advertising agencies, Barge connected with Davis, who was working on his first film, 'Stony Island.' The 1978 movie was about an up-and-coming R&B band and Davis hired Barge to play the role of the band's mentor. Tribune film critic Gene Siskel, in his review of 'Stony Island,' praised Barge for bringing 'a quiet dignity to his role' and likening Barge's portrayal as a hip adult who speaks 'young people's language through music.' 'He was perfect in the role,' Davis said. 'I was so grateful to him because he helped me get my career off the ground.' Roles for Barge followed in action films such as 'Above the Law, 'Under Siege,' 'Chain Reaction,' 'The Fugitive,' 'The Package' and 'The Guardian,' all directed by Davis. Music remained front and center for Barge, however, and in the early 1980s, the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger asked Barge to join the band on its 1982 European tour. He also joined the Chicago-based band formerly known as Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows, which was renamed Chicago Rhythm and Blues Kings. Barge remained a part of that band almost until the COVID-19 pandemic, his daughter said. Barge also produced a one-off album by an ad hoc group of Chicago pro athletes, including Dan Hampton, Troy Murray and the legendary Walter Payton. Known as the Chicago Six, the group played together during offseasons in the late 1980s. In the early 2000s, Barge was a consultant for 'The Blues,' a seven-part PBS documentary series made by executive producer Martin Scorsese that examined various aspects of blues music. Carlton 'Chuck D' Ridenhour of the hip-hop group Public Enemy was featured in one episode, and Barge was asked to play a solo on Public Enemy's 2005 album, 'New Whirl Odor.' The result was a lengthy song co-written by Barge and Ridenhour titled 'Superman's Black in the Building.' Barge's self-released 2013 album, 'Olio,' boasted guest appearances from Buddy Guy and Otis Clay. By his early '90s, playing the sax no longer was an option due to battles with sciatica and then with emphysema, his daughter said. A first marriage ended in divorce. Barge's second wife, Sarah, died in 2008. Barge also is survived by another daughter, Gail Florence; two sisters, Celestine Bailey and Kim Williamson; a brother, Milton; two grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren. Services were held.
Boston Globe
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Gene Barge, R&B saxophonist who played on landmark hits, dies at 98
Galvanized by Mr. Barge's moaning tenor saxophone, 'C.C. Rider' reached No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1957 and stalled just outside the Top 10 on the pop chart. In 1963, Mr. Barge was featured on Jimmy Soul's calypso-derived 'If You Wanna Be Happy,' a No. 1 pop and R&B hit. Mr. Barge also played the wailing tenor part on Fontella Bass's 'Rescue Me' (1965) and supplied the rhythmic drive, with members of the Motown house band the Funk Brothers, for Jackie Wilson's 'Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher and Higher)' (1967). Both records topped the R&B chart and crossed over to become Top 10 pop hits. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up His greatest acclaim, though, came in 1961 with 'Quarter to Three,' a No. 1 pop single recorded with the R&B shouter Gary U.S. Bonds. Hoping to capitalize on the success of 'New Orleans,' his first big hit, Bonds created 'Quarter to Three' by adding lyrics to 'A Night With Daddy G,' a churning instrumental that Mr. Barge had recently written and recorded with his band the Church Street Five. Advertisement 'Oh, don't you know that I danced/ I danced 'til a quarter to 3/ With the help, last night, of Daddy G,' Bonds sings on the opening chorus. ('A Night With Daddy G' would prove to be doubly auspicious when Dion borrowed its melody for 'Runaround Sue,' a finger-snapping wonder that topped the pop chart in late 1961.) Despite having the benefit of Mr. Barge's snaking saxophone runs — and despite the record's affinity with the twist dance craze of the day — 'Quarter to Three' was an unlikely sensation. Muffled and lo-fi, it sounded as if it had been recorded in a bathroom or a stairwell. 'This record is fuzzy, muzzy and distorted,' British television producer Jack Good wrote in a 1961 issue of Disc, the popular weekly music magazine. 'According to present-day technical standards it is appalling. However, for my money, the disc is not just good, it's sensational and revolutionary.' Advertisement An exuberant fusion of doo-wop, Black gospel, and incipient frat rock, 'Quarter to Three' not only inspired the big-beat rock 'n' roll of the Beatles and the garage-rock of bands like the Kingsmen and the Sir Douglas Quintet. It also provided a blueprint for the sax-and-vocal exchanges between Clarence Clemons and Bruce Springsteen, a rapturous call and response that came to define the E Street Band, which often performed 'Quarter to Three' in concert. Breaking into pop music when the saxophone was ascendant (and before it was supplanted by the electric guitar), Mr. Barge was as distinctive and versatile a stylist as King Curtis, if less well known. Over six decades, he played on or produced records by Muddy Waters, the Chi-Lites, and the incendiary Detroit funk band Black Merda. He also toured with Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, and the Rolling Stones. James Gene Barge Jr. was born on Aug. 9, 1926, in Norfolk, Va., the oldest of eight children of James and Thelma (Edwards) Barge. His father played banjo and worked as a welder in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. His mother managed the home. Mr. Barge played clarinet in high school and took up the saxophone only after his father brought home a waterlogged tenor that he had found on a torpedo-damaged ship. He was 20 at the time and had just completed two years in the Army Air Forces. After graduating from West Virginia State College in 1950 with a degree in music, he taught high school and pursued music as an avocation. Jazz was a formative influence, especially the effervescent phrasing of the great tenor saxophonist Lester Young. Advertisement The first recordings Mr. Barge made under his own name were a pair of instrumentals for Checker, a subsidiary of Chess Records, in 1956. 'Country,' his first single, was a hit along the Eastern Seaboard. 'When Chess heard it, they said, 'What the hell is that?' Mr. Barge said of the record in a 2007 interview with Virginia Living magazine. 'They had never heard a saxophone sound like that before. They even gave it a word: funk. That was the reputation I got — that Gene Barge could play funky.' Around 1960 Mr. Barge began his brief but fruitful association with producer Frank Guida, whose Legrand label released 'A Night With Daddy G' and Bonds's early singles. Mr. Barge and Bonds had a second major hit together with 'School Is Out,' which reached the Top 10 in 1961. In 1964, as independent record labels with national distribution increasingly dominated regional markets, Mr. Barge abandoned teaching — and Norfolk's small Legrand imprint — and moved to Chicago to work for Chess Records. He played on R&B hits including Little Milton's 'Grits Ain't Groceries' and Koko Taylor's 'Wang Dang Doodle' and produced albums, including Buddy Guy's acclaimed 1967 effort, 'Left My Blues in San Francisco.' In the late 1960s, he also directed the musical ensemble of the Chicago chapter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Operation Breadbasket, an organization headed locally by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Mr. Barge later ran the gospel division of Stax Records and, over the ensuing decades, worked as a freelance musician, producer, and arranger, most notably on Natalie Cole's Grammy-winning single 'Sophisticated Lady (She's a Different Lady).' In the late 1970s he took a detour into acting, eventually landing roles in Hollywood action thrillers 'Under Siege' (1992) and 'The Fugitive' (1993). Advertisement Mr. Barge remained active into the 2000s, serving as a consultant for Martin Scorsese's 2003 PBS documentary series 'The Blues' and playing on records including Public Enemy's 'Superman's Black in the Building' and with avant-garde jazz trumpeter Malachi Thompson. 'Gene Barge is the flyest octogenarian I know,' Chuck D of Public Enemy told Virginia Living in 2007. 'To go from Muddy Waters to Public Enemy is a good trick.' In addition to his daughter Gina, Mr. Barge leaves another daughter, Gail Florence; three siblings, Celestine Bailey, Kim Williamson, and Milton Barge; two grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren. His wife, Sarah Barge, died in 2008. His first marriage ended in divorce. Mr. Barge's career might not have gotten off to the start it did with Chuck Willis's 'C.C. Rider' were it not for his patience and good humor. After playing the grinding riff on the demo that persuaded Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records to record it as a single, he was flown to New York for the session, only to find that another saxophonist had been hired instead. 'Ertegun and Wexler told me they were going to pay me, but they didn't want me to play,' Mr. Barge told Virginia Living. 'I went down to the liquor store, man, got me a pint and sat down on the floor to listen to them. They did 27 takes and weren't satisfied. So Chuck said, 'Look, why don't you let Gene run down one to get the feel?' So I ran down one and they said, 'Hold it, that's it, you got it. Let's cut it.'' Advertisement This article originally appeared in
Chicago Tribune
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Gene Barge, renowned sax man and producer known as ‘Daddy G,' dies at 98
NEW YORK — Gene 'Daddy G' Barge, an admired and durable saxophone player, songwriter and producer who worked on hits by Natalie Cole, oversaw recordings by Muddy Waters, performed with the Rolling Stones and helped inspire the dance classic 'Quarter to Three,' has died. He was 98. He died in his sleep Sunday at his home in Chicago, according to daughter Gina Barge. Barge's career spanned much of the post-World War II era. He was in college jazz combos in the 1940s, backed Little Richard and James Brown when they were starting out, played a long, sweet solo on the '50s standard 'C.C. Rider' and collaborated with Gary 'U.S.' Bonds on 'Quarter to Three' and other '60s party favorites. He later recorded with such blues greats as Waters, Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon, co-produced Cole's Grammy Award-winning single 'Sophisticated Lady,' toured with the Stones in the early 1980s and even played on Public Enemy's 'New Whirl Odor' album, for which he was credited as 'the legendary Mr. Gene Barge.' Often cited as a precursor to the E Street Band's Clarence Clemons, he held rare status among saxophonists — so well known for a time that he was called out by name on two hits of the early '60s — 'Quarter to Three' and the uptempo doo-wop number 'Bristol Stomp,' in which the Dovells sing: 'It started in Bristol at a dee jay hop/They hollered and whistled never wanted to stop/We pony and twisted and we rocked with Daddy G.' In the 1970s and after, he had success as a character actor in thrillers and crime stories, his films including 'Above the Law,' 'The Package' and 'The Fugitive.' Barge was also a consultant for Martin Scorsese's documentary 'The Blues.' When the musician was in his 80s, Public Enemy's Chuck D called him 'the flyest octogenarian I know.' The eldest of eight children, James Gene Barge was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, and dreamed of professional football before playing clarinet with his high school marching band inspired him to try music. He took up the tenor saxophone shortly after ending a two-year stint in the Air Force and right before enrolling in West Virginia State College: His father, a welder in the Norfolk Navy Yard, had been given one by a visiting British World War II soldier. 'The saxophone was the instrument, coming up, that had the sound closest to the human voice,' Barge told Virginia Living in 2007. 'It was the one with the impact. It was the featured instrument in the band, so that was the one you wanted to play.' By the 1950s, Barge was jamming with local jazz and rhythm and blues groups and leading the Gene Barge Band. The release of his instrumental 'Country,' a minor hit in 1955, helped bring on a bigger commercial breakthrough. Rhythm and blues singer Chuck Willis invited him to join his touring band and brought him to a recording session for Atlantic Records in New York. Willis was recording the sinuous 'C.C. Rider,' which topped the R&B charts in 1957 and was covered by Elvis Presley, the Grateful Dead and many others. The studio saxophone player wasn't working out, so Barge stepped in. 'They did 27 takes and weren't satisfied. So Chuck said, 'Look, why don't you just let Gene run down one to get the feel,'' he told Virginia Living. 'So I ran down one and they said, 'Hold on, that's it, you got it. Let's cut it.' … And two or three takes later, man, we had cut the song.' Barge had even greater success a few years later. He had returned to Norfolk, working with a Legrand label owner Frank Guida and forming the Church Street Five, named for a major city roadway. The Church Street musicians would cut an instrumental, 'A Night With Daddy G,' that was the basis of 'Quarter to Three' and led to Barge's professional nickname. 'Daddy G' originally referred to a local preacher, Bishop 'Daddy' Grace, one of whose churches was near Legrand and the site for local shows that included members of the Church Street Five. 'A Night With Daddy G' was a driving dance track led by Barge's hot tenor sax and influenced by New Orleans rhythm and blues. Bonds, a fellow Legrand artist and childhood friend of Barge's, loved the song. But he thought it needed lyrics, writing in his memoir 'By U.S. Bonds' that it lacked a 'catchy phrase that makes you anticipate the entire melody.' 'The players were setting up and they started playing 'A Night With Daddy G,'' Bonds wrote of the studio session, 'and I started singing some nonsense and it occurred to me that maybe I could add some words.' 'Quarter to Three,' a No. 1 hit in 1961, became a rock standard and a featured part of Bruce Springsteen's concerts. Now known to many as 'Daddy G,' Barge would collaborate on other hits with Bonds, including 'School Is Out' and 'Dear Lady Twist,' and work with a wide range of artists over the following decades. With Chicago's Chess Records, he played on such hits as Fontella Bass' 'Rescue Me' and produced albums by Waters and Little Milton among others. With Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, he arranged the gospel favorites 'Lord Don't Move the Mountain,' by Inez Andrews, and the Beautiful Zion Baptist Church's 'I'll Make It Alright.' Barge's Chicago connection helped lead to his work with Natalie Cole, daughter of Nat 'King' Cole. He befriended the writing-producing team of Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancey and helped produce and arrange the 1970s albums 'Natalie' and 'Unpredictable' among others. In a 2023 podcast with his daughter Gina, Barge remembered the late singer as 'one of the most talented' performers he worked with and most intelligent, 'very knowledgeable' about the music business in part because of her father. Barge's own album, 'Dance With Daddy G,' came out in 1965. More recently, he self-released 'Olio,' which included cameos from bluesman Buddy Guy and soul star Otis Clay, and he was on stage often as a member of the Chicago Rhythm and Blues Kings. 'I'm sitting here looking at my horn now, feeling guilty because I didn't get enough practice time in today — I'm mad because I didn't write a song, or the intro to a song. I got things to do. I'm not looking back,' Barge told Virginia Living. 'My philosophy is that you've got to move forward, stay contemporary, read, keep up with the young people. Because that's the future.'
The Independent
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Gene Barge death: Renowned saxophonist and producer known as 'Daddy G' dies at 98
Gene 'Daddy G' Barge, an admired and durable saxophone player, songwriter and producer who worked on hits by Natalie Cole, oversaw recordings by Muddy Waters, performed with the Rolling Stones and helped inspire the dance classic 'Quarter to Three', has died. He was 98. He died in his sleep on Sunday at his home in Chicago, according to daughter Gina Barge. Barge's career spanned much of the post-World War II era. He was in college jazz combos in the 1940s, backed Little Richard and James Brown when they were starting out, played a long, sweet solo on the 1950s standard 'CC Rider', and collaborated with Gary 'US' Bonds on 'Quarter to Three' and other '60s party favourites. He later recorded with such blues greats as Waters, Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon, co-produced Cole's Grammy Award-winning single 'Sophisticated Lady', toured with the Rolling Stones in the early 1980s and played on Public Enemy's 'New Whirl Odor' album, for which he was credited as 'the legendary Mr Gene Barge'. Often cited as a precursor to the E Street Band's Clarence Clemons, he held rare status among saxophonists – so well known for a time that he was called out by name on two hits of the early '60s – 'Quarter to Three' and the uptempo doo-wop number 'Bristol Stomp', in which the Dovells sing: 'It started in Bristol at a dee jay hop/They hollered and whistled never wanted to stop/We pony and twisted and we rocked with Daddy G.' In the 1970s and after, he had success as a character actor in thrillers and crime stories, his films including 'Above the Law', 'The Package', and 'The Fugitive'. Barge was also a consultant for Martin Scorsese 's documentary 'The Blues'. When the musician was in his 80s, Public Enemy's Chuck D called him 'the flyest octogenarian I know'. The eldest of eight children, James Gene Barge was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, and dreamed of professional football before playing clarinet with his high school marching band inspired him to try music. He took up the tenor saxophone shortly after ending a two-year stint in the Air Force and right before enrolling in West Virginia State College. His father, a welder in the Norfolk Navy Yard, had been given one by a visiting British World War II soldier. 'The saxophone was the instrument, coming up, that had the sound closest to the human voice,' Barge told Virginia Living in 2007. 'It was the one with the impact. It was the featured instrument in the band, so that was the one you wanted to play.' By the 1950s, Barge was jamming with local jazz and rhythm and blues groups and leading the Gene Barge Band. The release of his instrumental 'Country', a minor hit in 1955, helped bring on a bigger commercial breakthrough. Rhythm and blues singer Chuck Willis invited him to join his touring band and brought him to a recording session for Atlantic Records in New York. Willis was recording the sinuous 'CC Rider', which topped the R&B charts in 1957 and was covered by Elvis Presley, the Grateful Dead, and many others. The studio saxophone player wasn't working out, so Barge stepped in. 'They did 27 takes and weren't satisfied. So Chuck said, 'Look, why don't you just let Gene run down one to get the feel,'' he told Virginia Living. 'So I ran down one and they said, 'Hold on, that's it, you got it. Let's cut it.' ... And two or three takes later, man, we had cut the song.' Barge had even greater success a few years later. He had returned to Norfolk, working with a Legrand label owner Frank Guida and forming the Church Street Five, named for a major city roadway. The Church Street musicians would cut an instrumental, 'A Night With Daddy G', which was the basis of 'Quarter to Three' and led to Barge's professional nickname. 'Daddy G' originally referred to a local preacher, Bishop 'Daddy' Grace, one of whose churches was near Legrand and the site for local shows that included members of the Church Street Five. "A Night With Daddy G' was a driving dance track led by Barge's hot tenor sax and influenced by New Orleans rhythm and blues. Bonds, a fellow Legrand artist and childhood friend of Barge's, loved the song. But he thought it needed lyrics, writing in his memoir 'By US Bonds' that it lacked a 'catchy phrase that makes you anticipate the entire melody'. 'The players were setting up and they started playing 'A Night With Daddy G,'' Bonds wrote of the studio session, 'and I started singing some nonsense and it occurred to me that maybe I could add some words.' 'Quarter to Three', a No 1 hit in 1961, became a rock standard and a featured part of Bruce Springsteen's concerts. Now known to many as 'Daddy G', Barge would collaborate on other hits with Bonds, including 'School Is Out' and 'Dear Lady Twist', and work with a wide range of artists over the following decades. With Chicago's Chess Records, he played on such hits as Fontella Bass' 'Rescue Me' and produced albums by Waters and Little Milton among others. With Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, he arranged the gospel favorites 'Lord Don't Move the Mountain' by Inez Andrews and the Beautiful Zion Baptist Church's 'I'll Make It Alright'. Barge's Chicago connection helped lead to his work with Natalie Cole, daughter of Nat 'King' Cole. He befriended the writing-producing team of Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancey and helped produce and arrange the 1970s albums 'Natalie' and 'Unpredictable' among others. In a 2023 podcast with his daughter Gina, Barge remembered the late singer as 'one of the most talented' performers he worked with and most intelligent, 'very knowledgeable' about the music business in part because of her father. Barge's own album, 'Dance With Daddy G', came out in 1965. More recently, he self-released 'Olio', which included cameos from bluesman Buddy Guy and soul star Otis Clay, and he was on stage often as a member of the Chicago Rhythm and Blues Kings. 'I'm sitting here looking at my horn now, feeling guilty because I didn't get enough practice time in today – I'm mad because I didn't write a song, or the intro to a song. I got things to do. I'm not looking back,' Barge told Virginia Living. 'My philosophy is that you've got to move forward, stay contemporary, read, keep up with the young people. Because that's the future.'
The Independent
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Gene Barge, renowned sax man and producer known as 'Daddy G,' dies at 98
Gene 'Daddy G' Barge, an admired and durable saxophone player, songwriter and producer who worked on hits by Natalie Cole, oversaw recordings by Muddy Waters, performed with the Rolling Stones and helped inspire the dance classic 'Quarter to Three,' has died. He was 98. He died in his sleep Sunday at his home in Chicago, according to daughter Gina Barge. Barge's career spanned much of the post-World War II era. He was in college jazz combos in the 1940s, backed Little Richard and James Brown when they were starting out, played a long, sweet solo on the '50s standard 'C.C. Rider' and collaborated with Gary 'U.S.' Bonds on 'Quarter to Three' and other '60s party favorites. He later recorded with such blues greats as Waters, Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon, co-produced Cole's Grammy Award-winning single 'Sophisticated Lady,' toured with the Stones in the early 1980s and even played on Public Enemy's 'New Whirl Odor' album, for which he was credited as 'the legendary Mr. Gene Barge.' Often cited as a precursor to the E Street Band's Clarence Clemons, he held rare status among saxophonists — so well known for a time that he was called out by name on two hits of the early '60s — 'Quarter to Three' and the uptempo doo-wop number 'Bristol Stomp,' in which the Dovells sing: 'It started in Bristol at a dee jay hop/They hollered and whistled never wanted to stop/We pony and twisted and we rocked with Daddy G.' In the 1970s and after, he had success as a character actor in thrillers and crime stories, his films including 'Above the Law,' 'The Package' and 'The Fugitive.' Barge was also a consultant for Martin Scorsese's documentary 'The Blues.' When the musician was in his 80s, Public Enemy's Chuck D called him 'the flyest octogenarian I know.' The eldest of eight children, James Gene Barge was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, and dreamed of professional football before playing clarinet with his high school marching band inspired him to try music. He took up the tenor saxophone shortly after ending a two-year stint in the Air Force and right before enrolling in West Virginia State College: His father, a welder in the Norfolk Navy Yard, had been given one by a visiting British World War II soldier. 'The saxophone was the instrument, coming up, that had the sound closest to the human voice,' Barge told Virginia Living in 2007. 'It was the one with the impact. It was the featured instrument in the band, so that was the one you wanted to play.' By the 1950s, Barge was jamming with local jazz and rhythm and blues groups and leading the Gene Barge Band. The release of his instrumental 'Country,' a minor hit in 1955, helped bring on a bigger commercial breakthrough. Rhythm and blues singer Chuck Willis invited him to join his touring band and brought him to a recording session for Atlantic Records in New York. Willis was recording the sinuous 'C.C. Rider,' which topped the R&B charts in 1957 and was covered by Elvis Presley, the Grateful Dead and many others. The studio saxophone player wasn't working out, so Barge stepped in. 'They did 27 takes and weren't satisfied. So Chuck said, 'Look, why don't you just let Gene run down one to get the feel,'' he told Virginia Living. 'So I ran down one and they said, 'Hold on, that's it, you got it. Let's cut it.' ... And two or three takes later, man, we had cut the song.' Barge had even greater success a few years later. He had returned to Norfolk, working with a Legrand label owner Frank Guida and forming the Church Street Five, named for a major city roadway. The Church Street musicians would cut an instrumental, 'A Night With Daddy G,' that was the basis of 'Quarter to Three' and led to Barge's professional nickname. 'Daddy G' originally referred to a local preacher, Bishop 'Daddy' Grace, one of whose churches was near Legrand and the site for local shows that included members of the Church Street Five. "A Night With Daddy G' was a driving dance track led by Barge's hot tenor sax and influenced by New Orleans rhythm and blues. Bonds, a fellow Legrand artist and childhood friend of Barge's, loved the song. But he thought it needed lyrics, writing in his memoir 'By U.S. Bonds' that it lacked a 'catchy phrase that makes you anticipate the entire melody.' 'The players were setting up and they started playing 'A Night With Daddy G,'' Bonds wrote of the studio session, 'and I started singing some nonsense and it occurred to me that maybe I could add some words.' 'Quarter to Three,' a No. 1 hit in 1961, became a rock standard and a featured part of Bruce Springsteen's concerts. Now known to many as 'Daddy G,' Barge would collaborate on other hits with Bonds, including 'School Is Out' and 'Dear Lady Twist,' and work with a wide range of artists over the following decades. With Chicago's Chess Records, he played on such hits as Fontella Bass' 'Rescue Me' and produced albums by Waters and Little Milton among others. With Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, he arranged the gospel favorites 'Lord Don't Move the Mountain,' by Inez Andrews, and the Beautiful Zion Baptist Church's 'I'll Make It Alright.' Barge's Chicago connection helped lead to his work with Natalie Cole, daughter of Nat 'King' Cole. He befriended the writing-producing team of Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancey and helped produce and arrange the 1970s albums 'Natalie' and 'Unpredictable' among others. In a 2023 podcast with his daughter Gina, Barge remembered the late singer as 'one of the most talented' performers he worked with and most intelligent, 'very knowledgeable' about the music business in part because of her father. Barge's own album, 'Dance With Daddy G,' came out in 1965. More recently, he self-released 'Olio,' which included cameos from bluesman Buddy Guy and soul star Otis Clay, and he was on stage often as a member of the Chicago Rhythm and Blues Kings. 'I'm sitting here looking at my horn now, feeling guilty because I didn't get enough practice time in today — I'm mad because I didn't write a song, or the intro to a song. I got things to do. I'm not looking back,' Barge told Virginia Living. 'My philosophy is that you've got to move forward, stay contemporary, read, keep up with the young people. Because that's the future.'
