Theodis Ealey, a true “Blues” Legend, learned to play the guitar from his older brother as a toddler. The story goes his first gig in a club he was only 7 years old and at 13 he was playing bass in his brother’s band for $5 a night. He migrated to California in the early 1970’s from Natchez, MS and in 1991 he moved to Atlanta and began recording for Ichiban. Today he’s on his own label, doing his own thing in so many ways. He’s still bringing us great “Blues” music with a new album soon to be released and with the little time he had on his hands, he shared with “THE HEAT“.
HEAT: Welcome to “The Heat”. 
The man known to the industry as “The Guitar Man” as well as, musician, entertainer, vocalist, song writer, and actor, not to mention the man behind the woman’s national anthem, “Stand Up In It”. You da’man!
EALEY: I try to do a little bit of all that.
HEAT: I have to tell you, I’m from Laurel, Mississippi, the home of the “Mother’s Day Blues Fest” and I have to tell you my mother, “Bunchie” just loves you to death. She’d kill me if I didn’t tell you that.
EALEY: Tell her thank you. Yeah, I was on stage two years ago in Laurel for that fest. Actually for the past couple of years. Sadly I want be there this year.
HEAT: Cause you too busy…(he giggles)If you’re not on stage doing your thang, you’re on the big screen showing off. (he giggles again)
EALEY: I be the best I can be.
HEAT: You’ve been giving us great Blues for a long time, since you were four years old. How did that all get started?
EALEY: My brother YZ was the first to show me how to pick on a guitar and I just took it from there and kept on going. I took music theory out in California so that I could learn the theory of music and that helped my skills a lot. I started out a little boy playing blues, country, and western and ending up doing a little funk, soul, jazz, a little bit of this and that which all made me who I am today.
HEAT: And you are something else.
EALEY: I bet you tell that to all the guys…(we laugh)
HEAT: Only the special ones. (we giggle) So I saw what I believe to be your latest movie, “N-Secure”, really great piece starring, Cordell More, Essence Atkins, Denise Boutte, Tempestt Bledsoe (Vanessa- Cosby Show), Lamman Rucker, and BernNadette Stanis (Thelma- Good Times) and on the stage doing his guitar thing, “Theodis Ealey”. So how did you land that part?
EALEY: The production company, Heritage Entertainments, discovered me on the “Blues Is All Right” tour. I’ve been a part of that tour for five years. They needed someone to help with the juke joint scene and hired the juke joint man. Latimore did the vocals, Lamman Rucker, on bass, and yours truly on guitar.
HEAT: It was a great scene. Now let’s talk about your woman’s national anthem, “Stand Up In It”. Did you write that song?
EALEY: I co-wrote it. I had a song called “I’m the Man You Need” 
which did real good in my home town, Natchez, MS. At the time that was the only place I could afford to promote it. I knew it had a good beat and I wanted to put it to use. Then a little old lady told me a story about what a man can do to please a woman. He can do this or he could that, but he hadn’t done nothing til he stand up in it. Then I went to my friend El Willie from The Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose and he helped me write the story.
HEAT: It is definitely a story. Most guitarist name their guitars, is Francine your guitar name?
EALEY: Naw…my guitar name is “guitar”. I ain’t like most people that’s in love with no guitar. I love people. Francine is a story about a young lady when I was sixteen years old and was trying to do the “goony goony goony” for the first time..(we giggle) I went to my grandfather and asked him, “what should I do” and he introduced me to Francine.
HEAT: So did you stand up in it while you were goony goony goony-ing? (we laugh hard)
EALEY: Like the lil’old lady said, ain’t no use in goony goony goony, less’in you stand up in it…(rolling!)
….Continued in Part II
