Jim O'Neal (born November 25, 1948,

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, United States) is an American blues expert, writer, record producer, and record company executive. He co-founded America's first blues magazine, ''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van ...

'', in Chicago in 1970, and wrote the column "BluEsoterica". O'Neal also co-founded

Rooster Blues Rooster Blues is an American independent record label founded in 1980. The label is dedicated to blues music from the Mississippi Delta. Rooster Blues was co-founded by Jim O'Neal in Chicago, and initially released 14 albums by South Side blues m ...

Records and, as of 2007, operated the Stackhouse

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, with bases in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and Kansas City. O'Neal produced Lonnie Shields' debut album, ''Portrait'', on Rooster Blues in 1993, which achieved notable critical acclaim, being cited as one of the best debut albums of that year. In addition, ''Portrait'' won the ''Living Blues'' Critics' Poll as Best Album. He is co-editor with Amy van Singel of the book, ''The Voice of the Blues: Classic Interviews from Living Blues Magazine'' (Routledge, 2002, ). O'Neal was inducted into the

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum located at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1 ...

in 2002.

References

External links

BluEsoterica old websiteBluEsoterica blogBluEsoterica new website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneal, Jim 1948 births Living people Record producers from Indiana American music industry executives