He seems to have done the usual tour of duty that those folk who don't fit into any of the nice round pegs end up doing. He would put together bands (and told that his playing was too modern and his singing style too old fashioned) and be stuck without record deals. One such band featured a young John Coltrane who was just starting out on alto sax, and the two would have fun playing each other's instruments.
By the 1950s it looked like his career was going nowhere. Who knows what would have happened if not for Cannonball Adderly being a big fan of his work. Adderly got him into the studio to do a jazz album, getting him back on the scene again. Two albums later he was recording Kidney Stew Is Fine in France.
Aside from this being a damn fine collection of up-tempo Jazz/Blues songs that could get the dead dancing, this disc is also great because T-Bone Walker and his guitar joined Eddie for the one and only time in their careers. Rounding out the band was Jay McShann on piano (who just recently passed in 2006), Hal Singer tenor sax, Roland Lobligeois bass, and Paul Gunther on drums.
This was Eddie's gig all the way, from the opening track through to the close of the album. The way he sings the blues, especially the lively ones, there's almost a teasing note in his voice, like he's daring you not to have fun. The music jumps and Eddie jives. If you don't move, you're not alive.
That's what this type of music can do to you. I'm trying to think of something you might be able to use as a point of comparison and all I can come up with is to ask if you can remember the Blues Brothers band (John Belushi and Dan Akroyd). They are a pale, very pale, imitation of what Eddie Vinson and his band do on Kidney Stew Is Fine.
They may be playing the same type of music as Eddie recorded in 1969 in France, but they aren't performing it the same. Sure it's the same notes and all, but they might as well be from different worlds. Eddie's voice speaks from a place in his heart that can only be found from years of playing the music and believing in it.
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