Jimmy McCracklin was born 93 years ago today. A pianist, vocalist and songwriter, McCracklin’s style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues and R&B. Over a career that spanned seven decades, he had written almost a thousand songs and had recorded hundreds of them. McCracklin recorded over 30 albums, and earned four gold records. Tom Mazzolini of the San Francisco Blues Festival said of him, He was probably the most important musician to come out of the Bay Area in the post-World War II years. McCracklin was born James David Walker. Sources differ as to whether he was born in Helena, Arkansas or St. Louis. He joined the United States Navy in 1938, later settled in Richmond, California, and began playing at the local Club Savoy owned by his sister-in-law, Willie Mae Granny Johnson. The room-length bar served beer and wine, and Granny Johnson served home-cooked meals of greens, ribs, chicken and other southern cuisine. A house band composed of Bay Area based musicians alternated with and frequently backed performers such as B. B. King, Charles Brown and L. C. Robinson. Later, in 1963, he would write and record a song Club Savoy on his I Just Gotta Know album. His recorded a debut single for Globe Records, Miss Mattie Left Me, in 1945, and recorded Street Loafin Woman in 1946. McCracklin recorded for a number of labels in Los Angeles and Oakland, prior to joining Modern Records in 1949-1950. He formed a group called Jimmy McCracklin and his Blues Blasters in 1946, with guitarist Lafayette Thomas who remained with group until the early 1960s. His popularity increased after appearing on the TV pop Dick Clarks American Bandstand in support of his self written single The Walk (1957), subsequently released by Checker Records in 1958. It went to No. 5 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 7 on the pop chart, after more than 10 years of McCracklin selling records in the black community on a series of small labels. Jimmy McCracklin Sings, his first solo album, was released in 1962, in the West Coast blues style. Later the same year McCracklin recorded Just Got to Know for his own Art-Tone label in Oakland, after the record made No. 2 on the R&B chart. For a brief period in the early 1970s McCracklin ran the Continental Club in San Francisco. He booked blues acts such as T-Bone Walker, Irma Thomas, Big Joe Turner, Big Mama Thornton and Etta James. In 1967, Otis Redding and Carla Thomas had success with Tramp, a song credited to McCracklin and Lowell Fulson. Salt-n-Pepa made a hip-hop hit out of the song in 1987. Oakland Blues (1968) was an album arranged and directed by McCracklin, and produced by World Pacific. The California rock-n-roll roots music band The Blasters named themselves after McCracklins backing band The Blues Blasters. Blasters lead singer Phil Alvin explained the origin of the bands name: I thought Joe Turner’s backup band on Atlantic records — I had these 78s — I thought they were the Blues Blasters. It ends up it was Jimmy McCracklins. I just took the Blues off and Joe finally told me, that’s Jimmy McCracklin’s name, but you tell ‘em I gave you permission to steal it. McCracklin continued to tour and produce new albums in the 1980s and 1990s. Bob Dylan has cited McCracklin as a favorite. He played at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1973, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984 and 2007. He was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1990, and the Living Legend and Hall of Fame award at the Bay Area Black Music Awards in 2007. McCracklin continued to write, record and perform into the 21st century. He died in San Pablo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, on December 20, 2012, after a long illness. He was 91. Here, McCracklin performs “At the Club” at the Porretta Soul Festival in 2007.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 04:25:06 +0000
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