James Cotton
James Henry Cotton (* 1. July 1935 in Tunica , Mississippi ; † 16th March 2017 in Austin , Texas ) was an American Blues - Harmonica player and - singer .
Life
James Cotton grew up in tunica as the youngest of eight children. He began playing harmonica after hearing Sonny Boy Williamson II on the King Biscuit Time radio show . At the age of nine he visited Williamson, who took him under his wing. He long reported that he had said he was an orphan. It was not until later in life that James Cotton admitted that this story was made up. By the age of fifteen he was already performing with local blues greats and had a 15-minute blues show on KWEM, a radio station in West Memphis , Arkansas . During the week he had to work as a truck driver to earn a living. Sam Phillips , the owner of Sun Records , invited him to record for him, and so the first recordings were made under his name in 1953 and 1954.
From 1954 - when he replaced Little Walter there - until 1966/67 he was a permanent member of the Muddy Waters Band and later played repeatedly on Waters' recordings - also in the late 70s under the production of Johnny Winter . Although he was a member of Waters' band, he was first heard on recordings in 1958, as the record company Chess Records insisted on Little Walter as the harmonica player. In 1965 he formed the Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet, with Otis Spann played the piano. In 1966 he toured with Janis Joplin , but he was also the opener for various other bands of the late 1960s such as The Grateful Dead or Led Zeppelin , but also for other blues musicians such as Freddie King or BB King .
As a result of a throat cancer operation since the mid-1990s, Cotton was forced to appear only as a harmonica player and no longer as a singer. With the James Cotton Trio (James Cotton, harmonica; David Maxwell, piano; Rico McFarland, guitar; alternating Mojo Buford or Darrell Nulisch , vocals) he was still on tour regularly.
James Cotton died on March 16, 2017 in a hospital in Austin, Texas, at the age of 81 of complications from pneumonia.
Awards
grammy
- Grammy Award, 1996 - Deep in the Blues - Traditional Blues Album
- Grammy nomination: High Compression , 1984
- Grammy nomination: Live from Chicago: Mr. Superharp Himself!
- Grammy nomination: Take Me Back , 1987
- Grammy nomination: Living the Blues , 1994
Recording in …
- Blues Hall of Fame 2006
- Smithsonian Institution 1991
WC Handy Award
- Handy Award, 2003 35th Anniversary Jam - Traditional Blues Album
- Handy Award, 2001, 1997 - Traditional Male Artist of the Year
- Handy Award, 1997 - Acoustic Album of the Year - Deep in the Blues
- Handy Award, 1991, 1987 - Instrumentalist of the Year - Harmonica
- Handy Award, 1991 - Contemporary Album of the Year - Harp Attack
Others
- Premier Harmonica Player Award, 2000, 1999 Memphis Chapter of National Academy of Record Arts and Sciences
- Down Beat 45th Annual Critics Poll, 1997 Deep in the Blues - Blues Album of the Year
- Down Beat 62nd Annual Readers Poll, 1997 Deep in the Blues - Blues Album of the Year
- Lifetime Achievement Award, 2000 - The Pocono Blues Festival
- Blues Legend Award, 2002 - The New England Blues Society
- Howlin 'Wolf Award, 2002 - The Blues Foundation
- Theresa Needham Blues Award, 1994 for outstanding service to the Blues community
- Honorary and Lifetime Member, 1993 - Sonny Boy Blues Society
Discography
Solo albums and with other artists
| Appeared under | Album name | Record label | Publication date |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Cotton and Otis Spann | The Blues Will Never Die | Prestige Records | 1965 |
| James Cotton | Cut You Loose! | Vanguard Records | 1968 |
| James Cotton | Cotton in Your Ears | Verve Records | 1967 |
| James Cotton | Pure cotton | Verve Records | 1968 |
| The James Cotton Band | 100% cotton | Buddah Records | 1974 |
| The James Cotton Band | High energy | Buddah Records | 1978 |
| James Cotton Blues Band | Taking Care of Business | Capitol Records | 1971 |
| James Cotton | High compression | Alligator Records | 1984 |
| James Cotton and His Big Band | Live from Chicago - Mr. Superharp Himself | Alligator Records | 1986 |
| Various artists | Tenth Anniversary Anthology: Vol. I. | Antone's Records | 1986 |
| James Cotton with Matt "Guitar" Murphy and Luther Tucker | Live at Antone's | Antone's Records | 1988 |
| James Cotton | Take me back | Blind Pig Records | 1987 |
| James Cotton, Junior Wells, Carey Bell, Billy Branch | Harp Attack! | Alligator Records | 1990 |
| Various artists | Anthology: Vol. 2 | Antone's Records | 1991 |
| James Cotton | Mighty Long Time | Antone's Records | 1991 |
| James Cotton | Living the blues | Verve Records | 1994 |
| James Cotton | 3 Harp Boogie | Tomato Head Records | 1994 |
| James Cotton | Best of the Verve Years | Verve Records | 1995 |
| James Cotton with Joe Louis Walker and Charlie Haden | Deep in the blues | Verve Records | 1996 |
| Collector's Classics - James Cotton | Seems Like Yesterday | Justin Time Records | 1998 |
| Collector's Classics - James Cotton | Late Night Blues Live at the New Penelope Cafe 1967 | Justin Time Records | 1998 |
| James Cotton | Best of the Vanguard Years | Vanquard Records | 1999 |
| James Cotton, Billy Branch, Charlie Musselwhite, Sugar Ray Norcia | Superharps | TELARC | 1999 |
| James Cotton | Fire Down Under the Hill | Telarc Records | 2000 |
| James Cotton Blues Band | 35th Anniversary Jam | Telarc Records | 2002 |
| James Cotton | Baby, don't you tear my clothes | Telarc | 2004 |
| Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter & James Cotton | Breakin 'It Up, Breakin' It Down | Epic Records | 2007 |
| James Cotton | Giant | Alligator Records | 2010 |
| James Cotton | Cotton Mouth Man | Alligator Records | 2013 |
Guest appearances
| Appeared under | Album name | Record label | Publication date |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Muddy Waters Tribute Band | You're gonna miss me | TELARC | 1996 |
| Ronnie Earl | and friends | TELARC | 2001 |
| Omar Kent Dykes, Jimmie Vaughan | On the Jimmy Reed Highway | call | 2007 |
| Omar Dykes | Big Town Playboy | call | 2008 |
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Obituary in the New York Times (English)
- James Cotton at Discogs (English)
- James Cotton on MusicBrainz
Individual evidence
- ↑ Andrew Flanagan: James Cotton, Giant Of The Blues Harmonica, Dies At 81. In: npr.org. March 17, 2017, accessed March 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Blues musician James Cotton has died. In: The time . Zeitverlag Gerd Bucerius , March 16, 2017, accessed on March 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Bill Friskics-Warren: James Cotton Blues Harmonica Legend, this at 81. In: The New York Times . The New York Times Company, March 17, 2017, accessed March 17, 2017 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cotton, James |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cotton, James Henry (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American blues musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 1, 1935 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tunica , Mississippi , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 16, 2017 |
| Place of death | Austin , Texas , United States |