Charles Wayne 'Chuck' Day, also known as Bing Day, was an American guitarist, singer and baritone bluesman from Chicago's South Side. He recorded his first single as a teenager in 1957, worked as a bassist and guitarist with Johnny Rivers and the Mamas & the Papas, and became a well-known performer in Fairfax, California.
Background
Charles Wayne Day was born on August 5, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois. Genealogical records name his parents as Paul Noah Day and Mary Ruth Day, whose maiden name was Vandal.
Chicago was a major industrial and cultural city in the mid-twentieth century, and its South Side developed a strong blues tradition that shaped many musicians of the postwar decades. Day grew up in that setting, and blues and rhythm and blues formed the core of his musical identity.
According to a product biography, he began playing guitar at about the age of seven, drawing inspiration from Hank Williams and Jimmy Reed. Biographical accounts also state that his musical talents began to develop at age three.
Career
At fifteen, in 1957, Day recorded the single 'Pony Tail Partner' under the name Bing Day at Federal Records. Over the following decade he issued several singles as 'Bing Day' and as 'Ford Hopkins'. These included 'Rain Silver Dollar' for Fraternity Records in 1958, with Danny Bell and the Bell Hops, and 'Poor Stagger Lee' and 'Mary's Place' for Mercury Records in 1958 and 1959. He also recorded 'Memphis' for Cameo-Parkway in 1964.
Day moved to Los Angeles in 1965 and became bassist in Johnny Rivers' band. He is credited with originating the guitar riff heard in Rivers' 1966 recording 'Secret Agent Man'. In 1967 he worked with the Mamas & the Papas as a bassist and played second guitar on 'Monday, Monday' and 'California Dreamin''. The vocal group, formed in Los Angeles in 1965, recorded for Dunhill Records and disbanded in 1968.
Day settled in Fairfax, Marin County, California, in 1969. Fairfax, incorporated as a town in 1931 and named for Lord Charles Snowden Fairfax, became known in the 1960s and 1970s for its music scene. He remained a sought-after session player, contributing to soundtracks for films including Fritz the Cat, Switchblade Sisters and Blacula. During the 1970s and 1980s he also played on recordings including Shel Silverstein's Freakin' at the Freaker's Ball and performed with Luther Tucker and Merl Saunders.
He formed his own band in 1986, which became known as the Chuck Day Band. For about fifteen years he hosted the Blue Monday Jam at 19 Broadway, a Fairfax club. In 1997 the band released the blues album Desperate Measures, and in 2006 he recorded 20th Century Wolf, Volume I with Steve Wolf. He self-released Live at Peri's in 2007, recorded at Peri's Silver Dollar in Fairfax. Illness that year prevented him from attending a tribute to him at the Fairfax Festival.
Day died on March 10, 2008, in Healdsburg, California, after a long illness. A memorial parade was held in Fairfax on March 22, 2008. He is buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.
Achievements
Credited with originating the lead guitar riff used in Johnny Rivers' 1966 recording 'Secret Agent Man', a riff that became one of the best-known guitar passages in 1960s rock.
(Blues album credited to the Chuck Day Band and issued on ...)
1997
20th Century Wolf, Volume I
(Album recorded with Steve Wolf, with whom Day also co-wro...)
2006
Freakin' at the Freaker's Ball
(Shel Silverstein album on which Day performed as a musician.)
1971
single
Pony Tail Partner
(Debut single, recorded at age fifteen under the name Bing...)
1957
Personality
The Marin Independent Journal's obituary described him as remarkably astute and highly intelligent, and quoted an acquaintance who called him a brilliant conversationalist.
Physical Characteristics:
An obituary described him as an imposing man who played guitar left-handed, sang in a bluesy baritone, and almost always performed seated on a stool.
Quotes from others about the person
Tim Bush, who played bass in Day's band the Burning Sensations, called him 'the best musician I've ever played with in my life.'
Connections
Day is recorded as the father of Owen Vanessa Elliot, whom he is documented as having been survived by. Singer Cass Elliot was Owen's mother. Cass Elliot did not publicly identify Day as the father before her death in 1974, and he learned that Owen was his child decades later.
Genealogical records list Paul Noah Day and Mary Ruth Day as his parents and Donald Paul Day as his brother.
Father:
Paul Noah Day
Mother:
Mary Ruth Day
Daughter:
Owen Vanessa Elliot
Daughter of singer Cass Elliot; Cass Elliot did not publicly identify Day as the father before her death in 1974.
Brother:
Donald Paul Day
References
Marin Independent Journal
Obituary by Paul Liberatore, published March 11, 2008, describing Day's career and his place in the Fairfax music scene.
2008
Wikipedia
Encyclopedia article summarizing Day's recordings, session work, Fairfax years and death.
AllMusic
Artist biography covering Day's move to Fairfax in 1969, his soundtrack and session work, and his later bands.
Find a Grave
Memorial record giving Day's birth and death dates and his burial at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.
