Jimmy McCracklin

Jimmy McCracklin (born 13 August 1921, St. Louis Missouri) is an American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. His style contains West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career that has spanned seven decades, he says he's written almost a thousand songs and has recorded hundreds of them. McCracklin has recorded over 30 albums, and owns four gold records.

Biography

McCracklin joined the United States Navy in 1938, he later settle 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 the 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 touching down with Modern Records in 1949-1950. He formed a group 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 Clark's American Bandstand in support of his self written single "The Walk" (1957), a good groove that Checker Records put on the market in 1958. It went to #5 on the R&B chart and #7 on the pop charts, 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, the style is of West Coast blues. In 1962, McCracklin recorded "Just Got to Know" for his own Art-Tone label in Oakland, after the record made No. 2 on the R&B charts. For a brief period in the early 1970s Jimmy McCracklin ran the Continental Club in San Francisco, dubbed "the Coliseum of the Oakland blues". He booked major blues acts like 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 (1986) is an album arranged/directed by McCracklin, and produced by World Pacific.

McCracklin continued to tour and produce new albums in the 1980s and 1990s. Bob Dylan has cited McCracklin as a favorite. He has played at the legendary San Francisco Blues Festival in '73, '77, '80, 81, '84 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.

Selected discography

Year	Title	Genre	Label
2007	1951-1954	West Coast blues	Classics
2004	1948-1951	West Coast blues	Classics
2003	1945-1948	West Coast blues	Classics
2003	Jumpin Bay Area 1948-1955	West Coast blues	P-Vine Japan
1999	Tell It to the Judge!	West Coast blues	Gunsmoke
1997	The Walk: Jimmy McCracklin at His Best	West Coast blues, Soul-Blues	Razor & Tie
1994	A Taste of the Blues	West Coast blues	Bullseye Blues
1992	The Mercury Recordings	West Coast blues, Soul-Blues	Bear Family
1991	Jimmy McCracklin: My Story	West Coast blues	Rounder
1991	My Story	West Coast blues	Rounder
1981	All His Bluesblasters	West Coast blues	Ace
1978	Rockin' Man	West Coast blues	Stax
1972	Yesterday Is Gone	West Coast blues	Stax
1971	High on the Blues	West Coast blues	Stax
1969	Stinger Man	Soul-Blues	Minit
1968	Let's Get Together	West Coast blues	Minit
1966	New Soul of Jimmy McCracklin	West Coast blues	Imperial
1966	My Answer	West Coast blues	Imperial
1965	Think	West Coast blues	Imperial
1965	Every Night, Every Day	West Coast blues	Imperial
1963	My Rockin' Soul	West Coast blues	United
1963	I Just Gotta Know	West Coast blues	Imperial
1962	Jimmy McCracklin Sings	West Coast blues	Chess

Wikipedia