Jim Jackson (musician)
| Jim Jackson | |
|---|---|
 Jim Jackson (left) and King Vidor on the set of the film Hallelujah! | |
| Background information | |
| Born |
June 1876 Hernando, Mississippi, United States |
| Died |
December 18, 1933 (aged 57) Memphis, Tennessee, United States |
| Genres | Blues, hokum |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1905–1933 |
Jim Jackson (June 1876 – December 18, 1933)[1] was an African-American blues and hokum singer, songster, and guitarist, whose recordings in the late 1920s were popular and influential on later musicians.
Biography
Jackson was born in Hernando, Mississippi, United States.[2] Researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc date his birth as 1876,[1] but other sources give 1884 or 1890.[2] He was raised on a farm, where he learned to play guitar. Around 1905 he started working as a singer, dancer, and musician in medicine shows, playing dances and parties often with other local musicians such as Gus Cannon, Frank Stokes and Robert Wilkins.[2] He soon began travelling with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, featuring Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, and other minstrel shows.
He also played clubs on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. His popularity and proficiency secured him a residency at Memphis's prestigious Peabody Hotel in 1919. Like Lead Belly, Jackson knew hundreds of songs including blues, ballads, vaudeville numbers, and traditional tunes, and became a popular attraction.
In 1927, talent scout H. C. Speir signed him to a recording contract with Vocalion Records. On October 10, 1927, he recorded "Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues",[3] which became a best-seller, and in the melody and lyrics of which can be traced the outline of many later blues and rock and roll songs, including "Rock Around The Clock" and "Kansas City". Following his hit Jackson recorded a series of 'Kansas City' follow-ups and soundalikes. It also led to other artists covering and reworking the song, including Charlie Patton, who changed it to "Gonna Move To Alabama".[4] Jackson moved to Memphis in 1928, and made a series of further recordings, including the comic medicine show song "I Heard the Voice of a Pork Chop". He also appeared in King Vidor's all-black 1929 film Hallelujah!, however it is unclear what role he played.[2]
Jackson ran the Red Rose Minstrels, a travelling medicine show which toured Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama. As a talent scout for Brunswick Records, he discovered Rufus "Speckled Red" Perryman, gaining him his first recording session.[5] Shortly afterwards, in February 1930, Jackson recorded his own last session. He later moved back to Hernando, and continued to perform until his death in 1933.
Legacy
Janis Joplin later recorded a version of "Kansas City Blues", inserting the lines "Babe, I'm leavin', yeah I'm a-leavin' this mornin' / Goin' to Kansas City to bring Jim Jackson home".[6]
Jackson was a major influence on the Chicago bluesman J. B. Lenoir, and his "Kansas City Blues" was a regular fixture of Robert Nighthawk's concert set list.[2] Brownie McGhee said Kansas City Blues was "the first tune that I ever learned to play." (Seattle Folklore Society video).
The song "Wild About My Lovin'" was covered by The Lovin' Spoonful and released on their 1965 debut album, Do You Believe In Magic.
See also
Recommended recording
- Jim Jackson Vols 1-2 (Document Records)[4]
References
- 1 2 Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 516. ISBN 978-0313344237.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Jim Jackson | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
- ↑ Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 12. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- 1 2 Russell (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. p. 121.
- ↑ Peter J. Silvester, A Left Hand Like God: a history of boogie-woogie piano (1989), pp. 112-113, Da Capo Press, ISBN 978-0306803598
- ↑ "Janis Joplin - Kansas City Blues Lyrics". MetroLyrics. Retrieved 2016-07-25.