{{Short description|American musician (1958–2016)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Barrelhouse Chuck | image = | caption = | image_size = | birth_name = Harvey Charles Goering | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date|1958|7|10|mf=y}} | birth_place = Columbus, Ohio, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|2016|12|12|1958|7|10|mf=y}} | death_place = Libertyville, Illinois, United States | instrument = Piano, keyboards, vocals | genre = Chicago blues, electric blues<ref name="AMG"/> | occupation = Pianist, singer, keyboardist, songwriter | years_active = 1970s–2016 | label = Various | website = {{URL|www.barrelhousechuck.com/index.html}} }}
'''Barrelhouse Chuck''' (born '''Harvey Charles Goering'''; July 10, 1958 – December 12, 2016)<ref name="chicagotribune1">{{cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/reich/ct-barrelhouse-chuck-obit-ent-1214-20161213-column.html |title=Barrelhouse Chuck, dead at 58, celebrated Chicago blues, and enriched it, too |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=2016-12-14}}</ref> was an American Chicago blues and electric blues pianist, keyboardist, singer, and songwriter.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p64492|pure_url=yes}}|title=Barrelhouse Chuck |publisher=Allmusic |access-date=December 11, 2011}}</ref>
He claimed to be the only Chicago blues pianist to have studied under Sunnyland Slim, Pinetop Perkins, Blind John Davis, Detroit Junior, and Little Brother Montgomery.<ref name="Barrelhouse"/> His work appeared on sixteen albums.<ref name="Albums">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=barrelhouse-chuck-p64492/discography/main|pure_url=yes}}|title=Allmusic ((( Barrelhouse Chuck > Discography > Main Albums )))}}</ref>
==Life and career== Goering was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, and learned to play the drums by the age of six.<ref name="Hanson"/> He later graduated to the piano. He relocated with his family to Gainesville, Florida, before he first heard a Muddy Waters record.<ref name="Barrelhouse"/> It was by listening to blues records that Barrelhouse Chuck learned the techniques of blues piano playing.<ref name="Hanson">{{cite book | first= Karen | last= Hanson | year= 2007 | title= Today's Chicago Blues | edition= 1st | publisher= Lake Claremont Press | location= Chicago | pages= 122–3 | isbn= 978-1-893121-19-5}}</ref> He formed his own bands in his teenage years, including the Red Rooster Band, Red House, and Barrelhouse Chuck & the Blue Lights, and followed Muddy Waters around the South, trying to pick up playing tips from Waters's pianist, Pinetop Perkins. In 1979, he drove from Florida to Chicago to introduce himself to Sunnyland Slim. Barrelhouse Chuck spent the next decade and a half studying his playing, along with that of other Chicago blues musicians, including Blind John Davis, Little Brother Montgomery, and Erwin Helfer. In the company of Montgomery for a long time, Barrelhouse Chuck later remarked, "Little Brother was like a grandfather to me".<ref name="Barrelhouse">{{cite web |url=http://www.barrelhousechuck.com/bio.html |title=Barrelhouse Chuck Biography |publisher=Barrelhousechuck.com |access-date=December 11, 2011}}</ref>
Barrelhouse Chuck played or recorded with Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Hubert Sumlin, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, and Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers.<ref name="Barrelhouse"/> For a time in the late 1990s he played with Mississippi Heat, and he undertook a tour with Nick Moss and the Flip Tops.<ref name="Hanson"/>
His debut album, ''Salute to Sunnyland Slim'', released by Blue Loon Records in 1999, contained supporting work from S.P. Leary, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith.<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=salute-to-sunnyland-slim-r388396|pure_url=yes}}|title=Allmusic ((( ''Salute to Sunnyland Slim'' > Barrelhouse Chuck > Overview )))}}</ref> It was reissued in 2005. The follow-up was ''Prescription for the Blues'' (2002), with Erwin Helfer playing on three tracks.<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=prescription-for-the-blues-r599680/review|pure_url=yes}}|title=Allmusic ((( ''Prescription for the Blues'' > Barrelhouse Chuck > Review )))}}</ref><ref name="Albums"/> Barrelhouse Chuck released the album ''Got My Eyes on You'' in 2006, with Kim Wilson playing the harmonica.<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=album/got-my-eyes-on-you-r930752/credits|pure_url=yes}}|title=Allmusic ((( ''Got My Eyes on You'' > Barrelhouse Chuck > Credits )))}}</ref>
In February 2008, Wilson asked Barrelhouse Chuck to assist in recording the soundtrack for the film ''Cadillac Records''.<ref name="Barrelhouse"/> His other credits include numerous appearances at the Chicago Blues Festival.<ref name="Barrelhouse"/>
As at 2012, Barrelhouse Chuck maintained a full performance schedule in Chicago, around the United States, and occasionally abroad, including a regular solo appearance on Wednesday nights at the Barrelhouse Flat, a bar in Lincoln Park.<ref name="Schedule">{{cite web|url=http://www.barrelhousechuck.com/calendar.html |title=Calendar for Barrelhouse Chuck – Chicago Blues Piano |publisher=Barrelhousechuck.com |access-date=2014-01-25}}</ref> On February 24, 2012, Barrelhouse Chuck played at the "Howlin' for Hubert" concert at the Apollo Theater.
In 2013 and 2014, Barrelhouse Chuck was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the category Pinetop Perkins Piano Player. In 2014 ''Drifting from Town to Town'' was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the category Traditional Blues Album of the Year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blues.org/#ref=bluesmusicawards_nominees|title=Blues Music Awards Nominees – 2013 – 34th Blues Music Awards|publisher=Blues.org|access-date=2013-03-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://blues.about.com/od/bluesawards/a/2014-Blues-Music-Awards.htm |title=2014 Blues Music Awards Nominees and Winners |publisher=Blues.about.com |access-date=2014-05-16 |archive-date=2013-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222020203/http://blues.about.com/od/bluesawards/a/2014-Blues-Music-Awards.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
On December 12, 2016, Barrelhouse Chuck died after a long battle with prostate cancer, at the age of 58.<ref name="chicagotribune1"/>
==Discography== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !Title !Record label |- | 1999 || ''Salute to Sunnyland Slim'' || style="text-align:center;"|Blue Loon Records |- | 2000 || ''25 Years of Chicago Blues Piano'', vol. 1 || style="text-align:center;"|Viola Records |- | 2002 || ''Prescription for the Blues'' || style="text-align:center;"|The Sirens Records |- | 2002 || ''8 Hands on 88 Keys'' || style="text-align:center;"|The Sirens Records |- | 2006 || ''Slowdown Sundown'' || style="text-align:center;"|Viola Records |- | 2006 || ''25 Years of Chicago Blues Piano'', vol. 2 || style="text-align:center;"|Viola Records |- | 2006 || ''Got My Eyes on You'' || style="text-align:center;"|The Sirens Records |- | 2008 || ''25 Years of Chicago Blues Piano'', vol. 3 || style="text-align:center;"|Viola Records |- | 2008 || ''25 Years of Chicago Blues Piano'', vol. 4 || style="text-align:center;"|Viola Records |- | 2008 || ''25 Years of Chicago Blues Piano'', vol. 5 || style="text-align:center;"|Viola Records |- | 2010 || ''Combo Classics'' || style="text-align:center;"|Viola Records |- | 2011 || ''Blues Calling'' || style="text-align:center;"|Viola Records |- | 2012 || ''Son of the Seventh Son''<br/>with Mud Morganfield|| style="text-align:center;"|Severn Records |- | 2013 || ''Drifting from Town to Town'' || style="text-align:center;"|The Sirens Records |- | 2013 || ''35 Years of Chicago Blues Piano'', vols. 1 & 2 || style="text-align:center;"|Viola Records |- | 2014 || ''For Pops (A Tribute To Muddy Waters)''<br/>with Mud Morganfield & Kim Wilson|| style="text-align:center;"|Severn Records |- | 2016 || ''Remembering The Masters'' || style="text-align:center;"|The Sirens Records |}<ref name="Albums"/>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrelhouse Chuck}} Category:1958 births Category:2016 deaths Category:American blues pianists Category:American blues singers Category:20th-century American male singers Category:Chicago blues musicians Category:Electric blues musicians Category:Boogie-woogie pianists Category:Songwriters from Ohio Category:Singers from Ohio Category:Musicians from Columbus, Ohio Category:Songwriters from Illinois Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in Illinois Category:American male songwriters Category:20th-century American songwriters Category:20th-century American pianists Category:20th-century American male pianists