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Flea was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1930, reportedly played with New Orleans legend Papa
Celestin when he was 11 years old and with territory bands as a teenager before joining the U.S.
Navy during the Korean War.

During the 1950s Flea really came
to be a force to be reckoned with,
joining the sensational Johnny Otis
Show, leaving to feature with the
Ray Charles Orchestra, then with
Dinah Washington before
returning to the Otis show in time
to feature his terrific playing in the
Clint Eastwood movie, “Play Misty
for Me”. The Monterey Jazz
Festival sequence (left) is a killer.
As Clint wanders amiably through
the crowd, the Otis Band rocks
everybody into bad health with the
Flea feature, “Preacher’s Blues”. A
visibly impressed Johnny Otis
announces “That was triple-
tonguing, baby, The Mighty Flea.
Let’s give his tongue a big hand!”

By the time the Otis show reached the 100 Club, Flea wasn’t quite showing Otis quite the respect
he should have, according to his bandleader, and there had been a couple of squabbles. On the
second rehearsal day, Flea insisted we stay in the Green Man for another taste while the rest of the
musicians returned to the rehearsal. When we did get back to the 100 Club, Johnny Otis was not at
all pleased and proceeded to give Flea a tongue-lashing, which in the circumstances was probably
unwise.

A small, fiercely proud man, Flea did not take kindly at being bawled at in front of the band,
particularly the girls, vocal groups The Three Tons of Joy and The Otisettes. Tiring of the situation,
Flea packed away his trombone, told Otis that he was quitting, and instructed me to follow him,
only pausing long enough to yell, “Otis. Go get yourself a restaurant like all them other Greeks.”

Outside, on Oxford Street, Flea displayed a typically American lack of knowledge of UK’s geography
by saying, “You live here. Call a cab, let’s go home”.

Back in Birmingham, he stayed with me a few days before moving to France to live with a girl he
had met on tour. We stayed very much in touch and I produced his Big Bear album, “Let the Good
Times Roll”, which also featured Mickey Baker with a largely Brummie team: Mike Burney, Bob
Hall, Graham Gallery and Pete York.

Flea continued to be a star turn. We later recorded his “Boogie Down Wit’ The Boogie Man” with
Birmingham soul funk band Muscles and in 1995 he guested on the King Pleasure & The Biscuit
Boys album "Blues & Rhythm Revue Volume One", along with Charles Brown, Val Wiseman and
Howard McCrary. He always claimed that his vocal on "So Tired" was the best he ever did.

Flea was a regular for many years at The Birmingham Jazz Festival where he was always a great
attraction. In the meantime, where he lived depended on where his current squeeze lived,
following his heart from France to Copenhagen and finally to Germany. He stayed there until
returning to the States to live in Arizona, where he died of lung cancer in 2010. He was 79 years
old.

Jim Simpson