- Jim Jackson (musician)
Jim Jackson (c.1884 - 1937) was an
African American blues andhokum singer ,songster andguitarist , whose recordings in the late 1920s were popular and influential on later artists.Career
Jackson was born in Hernando,
Mississippi [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fifixq95ldke~T1 All Music Guide biography - accessed January 2008] ] and was raised on a farm, where he learned to play guitar. Around 1905 he started working as a singer, dancer, and musician inmedicine show s, playing dances and parties often with other localmusician s such asGus Cannon ,Frank Stokes andRobert Wilkins . He soon began travelling with theRabbit Foot Minstrels , featuringMa Rainey andBessie Smith , and otherminstrel show s.He also played clubs on
Beale Street in Memphis,Tennessee . His popularity and proficiency secured him a residency at Memphis's prestigiousPeabody Hotel in 1919. LikeLeadbelly , 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 arecording contract withVocalion Records . On October 10 1927, he recorded "Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues ", which became a best-seller, and in themelody andlyrics of which can be traced the outline of many later blues androck 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.cite book
first= Tony
last= Russell
year= 1997
title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
edition=
publisher= Carlton Books Limited
location= Dubai
pages= p. 121
id= ISBN 1-85868-255-X] He 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 inKing Vidor 's all-black, 1929film , "Hallelujah!".Jackson ran the Red Rose Minstrels, a travelling
medicine show which toured Mississippi,Arkansas andAlabama . As a talent scout forBrunswick Records , he discovered Rufus "Speckled Red " Perryman, gaining him his first recording sessionPeter J. Silvester, "A Left Hand Like God : a history of boogie-woogie piano" (1989), page 112-113.] . 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 1937.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".Jackson was a major influence on the
Chicago bluesmanJ. B. Lenoir , and his "Kansas City Blues" was a regular fixture of Robert Nighthawk'sconcert set list.The song "Wild About My Lovin'" was covered by
The Lovin' Spoonful and released on their first "best of" album in 1967.ee also
*
List of blues musicians
*First rock and roll record Recommended recording
*"Jim Jackson Vols 1-2" (Document Records)
References
External links
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/jim_jackson.htm Biography]
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