Wild Jimmy Spruill

Jimmy Spruill (June 9, 1934-February 3, 1996), also known as Wild Jimmy, was a New York-based session guitarist.

Early Life and Success

Spruill was born into a sharecropping family in Fayetteville, North Carolina on June 9, 1934. As a budding guitarist he was weaned on equal proportions of country music and blues. By the time he made it to New York in 1955, he'd progressed from a "diddly bow" made from a cigar box and an elastic band to a Fender Telecaster and Standel amplifier. Later in his career, he took to playing a Gibson Les Paul which he "modified" by sawing off most of the body.

In New York, he worked steadily as a session sideman, appearing on records by King Curtis, Little Anthony & the Imperials, the Shirelles, Tarheel Slim and Elmore James, in addition to putting out singles under his own name. He most frequently worked for producers Danny and Bobby Robinson, who ran record labels called Fire, Fury, Everlast, Enjoy and VIM out of Bobby's Happy House of Hits record store at 125th St. and Eighth Ave. in Harlem.

In May 1959, "The Happy Organ" by Dave "Baby" Cortez shot to the #1 spot on the Billboard charts, before giving way only one week later to Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City", both of which feature classic guitar solos by Spruill. He almost duplicated this feat in 1961 when Bobby Lewis's "Tossin' and Turnin'", featuring Spruill's guitar solo, hit #1 was followed up the charts by the Shirelles' "Dedicated To The One I Love", which peaked at #3. Another well-known recording on which Spruill plays is "Fannie Mae" by Buster Brown, which hit the top of the R&B charts in early 1960. He provides some classic guitar on "Bad Motorcycle" by The Storey Sisters. His rhythm work in the background of some of Elmore James' last records is also notable. He is rumored to have played on Aretha Franklin's "Respect" sessions, and, although uncredited, may be somewhere in the mix of that great record, providing his original "scratching" rhythm guitar. He undoubtedly played without credit on many other well-known rhythm and blues and rock and roll records.

Spruill was a great showman, known for playing guitar with his teeth. His sound was unconventional, notable for its hard attack and sense of freedom, unexpectedly going from assertive lead parts to rhythmically dynamic, scratching rhythms. At no time did Spruill use picks or any effects on his guitar - his sound was solely the result of his fingers! Among his most interesting solo records is "Hard Grind" (Fire 1006), which was originally issued as the B-side to "Kansas City March". Other solo sides include "Slow Draggin'", "Cut and Dried", "Scratchin' Twist", and "Slow Draggin".

Later Life and Death

Spruill formed an East Coast nightclub trio in the mid-sixties, with singer Tommy Knight and drummer Popsy Dixon (now with The Holmes Brothers). In the 1970s and 1980s. He worked as an interior decorator in New York City, working occasional music gigs when the opportunity arose, and made at least one European tour with guitarist/singer Larry Dale and pianist/singer Bob Gaddy whose older records he had played on. He died from a heart attack while traveling on a bus from Florida (where he had been visiting his family and saxophonist Noble "Thin Man" Watts) back to his home in the Bronx on February 3 1996.

"Hard Grind" is on the CD "Great R&B Instrumentals" (Ace 819).

Several of his greatest solo and sideman efforts are featured on a Japanese CD called "New York Wild Guitars" (P-Vine).

External links

* [http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/jimmy_spruill.htm www.rockabilly.nl]
* [http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/rhythmnblues.htm rhythmnblues.htm]
* [http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/jimmyspruill.htm jimmyspruill.htm]