Kip Anderson (January 24, 1938 – August 29, 2007)
was an American soul blues and R&B singer and songwriter. He is best
known for his 1967 single, "A Knife and a Fork." He recorded for a
plethora of record labels, worked as a radio DJ, and maintained a career
lasting from the late 1950s to the 1990s, despite undertaking a decade
long custodial sentence. At various times Anderson worked with
Sam Cooke, The Drifters,
Jerry Butler and
Jackie Wilson. Biography
He was born Kipling Taquana Anderson in Starr, Anderson County, South
Carolina.
Anderson had his first musical exposure in church, where he both sang
and played the piano. After featuring in his high school band, Anderson
met his future business partner, Charles Derrick, at Columbia's radio
station, WOIC. In 1959, Anderson's debut single "I Wanna Be the Only
One", was eventually released by Vee-Jay Records. His follow up release
"Oh My Linda," featured guitar work from
Mickey
Baker. Lack of
commercial gains led to Anderson working as a disc jockey.
Everlast Records released Anderson's third single "I Will Cry" (1962),
and "Here I Am, Try Me," and "That's When the Crying Begins" (1964)
followed; the latter reaching #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. His stock
rose further with "I'll Get Along," "Woman How Do You Make Me Love You
Like I Do," and "Without a Woman" (1966).
In 1967, Anderson released "A Knife and a Fork" on Checker, which had
been recorded at the Fame Studios in Alabama. "A Knife and a Fork" was a
mid-tempo warning concerning his girlfriend's food consumption – "girl,
you gonna let a knife and a fork dig your grave". The single entered the
US Billboard R&B chart. A follow-up release, "You'll Lose a Good Thing",
issued on Excello, also made the Top 40 in the same chart. "I Went Off
and Cried" (1968) remains alongside "A Knife and a Fork" as his most
fondly remembered output. " A Knife and a Fork" was covered by Rockpile
on their 1980 album, Seconds of Pleasure.
A dependency on heroin started to affect his work by 1970, and Excello
cancelled his recording contract. Despite continuing to both record and
perform in the 1970s, a ten year jail sentence in 1974 for possession of
heroin, halted his activities. Later, Anderson opined about that time,
"It probably saved my life." While inside he formed a gospel group with
other inmates, who performed under surveillance at local churches and
community events.
On release Anderson recorded a gospel album, before issuing more soul
based material via Ichiban. His career as a DJ was also revived when he
moved back to Anderson County.[2] He also hosted a gospel show on
WRIX-FM, and served as vice president of Electric City Record's gospel
division.[4] In 1996, Anderson duetted with Nappy Brown on the Best of
Both Worlds joint album.
Kip Anderson died in Anderson, South Carolina, in August 2007, at the
age of 69.
