He is perhaps best remembered these days for a series of hard-to-find R&B 45s that he recorded and self-released during the 1960's. His career and impact on the Champaign music scene however went far beyond that.
Count Demon was born William Evans in the Canton, Ohio area. An article in the Massillon (OH) newspaper from August 1940 mentions a "Count Demon Evans, a 1940 high school graduate, who plays the drums." By 1947 he was drumming and singing with Duke Jenkins' band in Ohio. Early on Demon was paired with a trumpet player (Satchmo Thompson) and billed as a "novelty duet" as a featured part of Jenkins' floor show.
In May 1949, the Duke Jenkins sextet took up residence at the Brass Rail Club in Chicago. While in Chicago, they recorded several sides for Aristocrat Records (a direct predecessor to Chess Records) though only one single was ever released.
Listed as Duke Jenkins Aristocrats on the record, the group recorded the instrumental "Bercuese" along with "Baby I'm Sick Of You" which was co-written by Jenkins and Demon.
By 1951, Count Demon had left Jenkins' band and started his own group. At first they were known as the Quadratones and then eventually the Demons of Jazz.
Members included Billy Howe (trumpet), Waymon "Punchy" Atkinson (tenor sax), Bob Reeves (bass) and Joe Bradley (piano).
By 1953, they were performing in night clubs across the Midwest. The group was touted as "the band that plays everything - Novelties - Jumps - Blues - Sweet - Rumbas - Modern Sounds." On occasion, the quartet was billed along with an exotic dancer.
Demon himself was advertised as "one of the world's maddest drummers" and "the famous composer and recorder of 'Baby I'm Sick Of You,' 'Double Barrel Boogie' and many others." Another ad lists him as being the composer and recorder of "Beanphobia," "Mi Mi Cato" and "A Woman Is A Wonderful Thing."
Other than "Baby I'm Sick of You," official releases could not be verified for any of the songs mentioned. An acetate of "Beanaphobia" however was shared on Instagram in recent years. It was recorded at James Dooley Productions in Canton, OH with the Duke Jenkins Orchestra. The song is indeed credited to Count Demon and appears to have been a duet with Satchmo (Thompson). It was produced for Revo Records.
In 1955, Count Demon put the Demons of Jazz on hold and joined Champaign-native Jack McDuff and his band on the road. Besides McDuff who was playing piano at the time, the group consisted of Bill Yancey on bass, Kilroy Beatty on sax and singer Dahl Scott. (Ads for the group featured a picture of Count Demon behind a conga drum wearing a sombrero.)
An article in the St. Paul Recorder from February 18, 1955 mentions that Count Demon had just finished a recording of "Slipping and Sliding" with Chance Records in Chicago. If true, it may have been one of the last sessions done for the label which had already folded by the time that article ran.
There is no evidence the track was ever released by Chance or any other label. Count Demon however recorded a live version of "Slippin and Slidin" several years later and released it on his own Po' Boy's Record Company. The flip side of the 1962 single was "Why Did You Leave Me."
Back in 1956 McDuff decided to quit the road and possibly music and returned to Champaign to manage a dry cleaning business. Count Demon, it seems, decided to join him in central Illinois.
Another jazz musician that relocated to the area around that same time was saxophonist Waymon "Punchy" Atkinson. Originally from Akron, OH, Atkinson had played with Count Demon in the Duke Jenkins band and the Demons of Jazz.
McDuff famously did not remain in Champaign long but Count Demon did. By 1958, Demon was performing around the U of I campus, often in the Illini Union at Jazz-U-Like-It. Count Demon's quartet around that time included Punchy Aktinson on tenor sax, Bill Yancey on bass and Joe Bradley on piano.
A review in the Daily Illini from April 1960, described the "Demons" as "a local professional group; they have recorded for World Pacific, and have engagements at places such as the Eldorado, the Porthole, and the Elks." The locations listed were all local clubs. The mention of World Pacific Records may have been a reference to Punchy Atkinson having recorded for the label with Wes Montgomery and his brothers.
The band on this particular evening in 1960 included Tim Byrnes on bass, Joe Bradley on piano, Punchy Atkinson and Roland Clark, both on tenor sax. At some point in the evening a young Denny Zeitlin sat in with the group on piano. Zeitlin was a student at the U of I at the time.
The review continues, "In the second half, Count Demon surrendered the drums to Swede Perkins, and sang three songs fairly well. The last, 'In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down,' was a slow pulsating blues of the Count Basie variety. The audience reaction was overwhelming."
All but one of Count Demon's later recordings feature him behind the mic. In 1962, he released four singles on Po' Boy's Record Company (54 E. Columbia, Champaign, Ill.):
#300 - My Isabella / I Don't Believe#301 - Slippin' and Slidin' / Why Did You Leave Me#302 - Take It Upstairs Pt 1 / Take It Upstairs Pt 2#303 - Wanderin' Child / Slow Train
Other than "My Isabella" and "I Don't Believe," all of the songs were recorded live (where exactly is unknown). Most are credited to Count Demon and A. Yarber although "My Isabella" appears to be a cover of Danny Cobb's tune of the same name released in 1955.
Count Demon's most notable song however was the risqué "Take It Upstairs."
The song, which is full of double entendres and suggestive lyrics, was clearly a crowd favorite. Advertisements for live performances in the mid-1960's often refer to Count Demon as "Mister Take It Upstairs." (Listen closely to the lyrics and you can hear him name check "Jack McDuffy" and the Elks where the two of them played often.)
In 1964 the University of Illinois changed their policy regarding the Jazz-U concerts held in the student union making them reserved for students and faculty only. Count Demon and other local musicians not affiliated with the university were no longer allowed to perform there.
The next year he released a single on Star Record and Recording Company (206 1/2 North First Street, Champaign) under that moniker:
Count Demon & His Four Members - "I Got To Work With It" / "C.C. Rider"
The group performed regularly in Indianapolis, Lafayette and Kokomo, Indiana throughout 1967. They also spent a few weeks at Sasto's in Des Moines, Iowa and Allen's Showcase in Omaha, Nebraska that same year.
In the late 1960's and early 70's, Count Demon stayed closer to home, playing and singing around Champaign with the Tony Zamora Ensemble. Pictured below is LaMonte Parsons, Count Demon, Cecil Bridgewater, Dee Dee Garrett (Bridgewater), Tony Zamora and Milton Knox. (Date unknown)
In a 1977 Daily Illini article about black jazz musicians in Champaign, several people commented on Count Demon's life and legacy. "Count Demon was one of the 'connecting links.' He stayed a long time, he played a lot of places, he gave jazz a continuity in the black community. " George Pope Jr. remembers his as "a helluva sing and entertainer. He wasn't a song and dance man, but he sang real good jazz, very similar to Mose Allison."
Richard Davis, described as one of the Count's best friends, remembers him as being "tall and thin. He could eat a lot but he'd never eat right. He led that musician's life. He didn't drink that much, he didn't use drugs or anything. He just didn't need those crutches."
Regarding his place in the community, Davis adds, "He used to operate a record store across the street from Tommy's Barber Shop (at First and Church Streets in Champaign). A lot of people used to confide in Count Demon. He was not only a musician, he was also a teacher. At the same time he was helping you learn about music, he could also help you learn about all that stuff out there (in the world), because he'd been there. Lot of people that set up shop in that record store turn out to be very involved in the civil rights movements of the '60s."
Candy Foster, a Champaign-area soul and blues legend that is still active today at age 89, regards Count Demon as a mentor. In a 2015 interview, Foster said this about Demon:
"He did a whole lot for me, took me under his wing as a young man, 19, 20, and...and showed me the ropes, ‘cause he was an entertainer, he get up there and he’d sing, and dance, and do everything, people were crazy about him. And he did novelties, songs. And all kind of things to keep people laughing, and when he danced, he had long legs, well he goin’ down, had a Mexican sombrero (laughter), he was a great hit, and – and, so, he just – he just knew how to entertain."
Earlier this year Illinois Public Media produced the documentary, Candy Foster: A Musical Witness. At the 15:30 mark, Foster and others talk directly about Demon which includes a rare clip of a television appearance Count Demon recorded in Champaign-Urbana sometime in the 1960s.