Jimmy Grissom

Jimmy Grissom was an American jazz - and rhythm and blues - singer .

Live and act

Jimmy Grissom is a nephew of Dan Grissom , who was a vocalist in the Jimmy Lunceford Orchestra. He recorded his first tracks for Miltone Records in the late 1940s and had his first hit in 1948 with the song "Christmas Brings Me Down". The following year he recorded "California Blues" and "Footsteps Round My Door" for MGM , then played in clubs in the Los Angeles area until the early 1950s . His band consisted of tenor saxophonist Chuck Waller , pianist Willard McDaniel , bassist Reginald Jones and drummer Bob Harvey .

In the summer of 1950, Grissom performed at the Bowery Club in Las Vegas with alto saxophonist Clifton Neil . His first album was released in October of this year with the hit hits "Once There Lived A Fool" and "I'll Still Keep Loving You", which reached # 143 on the R&B charts. In 1952 he sang for the first time in a concert with the Duke Ellington Orchestra . In late 1952 he recorded the track "So Help Me I Love You"; Grissom then made other recordings with Duke Ellington , such as "The Vulture Song" (Columbia # 39942) and "Follow Me" (Columbia # 39961) and participated in the 1953 Pasadena Concert . He was the singer on "What More Can I Say", "I'm Just A Lucky So And So" and "Vagabonds". In April 1955 he recorded the songs "I Had To Find Our for Myself" and "Listen Pretty Baby" in Los Angeles, and in 1956 he performed with the Ellington Orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival .

In the late 1950s, Grissom recorded "Mean And Evil Woman Blues" and "A World Of Trouble" for Argo Records . With a small backing band he performed under the title "Ellington's Indigos Trio" with Billy Strayhorn and the alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges . In 1962 Grissom recorded "I've Got You On My Mind" and "Lover's Reverie" for Verve Records .

Web links / sources

• detailed biography at earthling.net