James Gary Harman (June 8, 1946 – May 23, 2021) was an American
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
harmonica player, singer, and songwriter. The music journalist Tony Russell described Harman as an "amusing songwriter and an excellent, unfussy
blues harp
The Richter-tuned harmonica, 10-hole harmonica (in Asia) or blues harp (in America), is the most widely known type of harmonica. It is a variety of diatonic scale, diatonic harmonica, with ten holes which offer the player 19 notes (10 holes tim ...
player".
Biography
Born in
Anniston, Alabama
Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama, Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area, Anniston–Oxford Metropo ...
, Harman began taking piano lessons at the age of four. He also sang in his local church choir. Harmonicas owned by his father were stored in the piano bench, and James tried playing them after his piano lessons ended. In time, he learned to play several other musical instruments, including the guitar, electronic organ, and drums.
In 1962, he relocated to
Panama City, Florida
Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Route 98 in Florida, U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee and Pensacola, Florida, Pe ...
, where he played in many
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...
bands, of which the Icehouse Blues Band was the last. Earl Caldwell, the manager of the
Swinging Medallions, signed Harman to a recording contract. In 1964 in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, Georgia, Harman recorded the first of nine early singles, which were variously released on five different record labels.
Harman performed as a blues harmonica player and singer in Chicago, New York City, and elsewhere before moving to southern California in the 1970s.
There, his Icehouse Blues Band played alongside
Big Joe Turner
Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fa ...
,
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...
,
Freddie King
Freddie King (born Fred Christian; September 3, 1934December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King a ...
,
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...
,
Albert King
Albert King ( Nelson; April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps best known for his popular and ...
,
B. B. King,
T-Bone Walker
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''R ...
,
Lowell Fulsom,
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson,
Johnny "Guitar" Watson
John Watson Jr. (February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996), often known professionally as Johnny "Guitar" Watson, was an American musician. A flamboyant showman and electric guitarist in the style of T-Bone Walker, his recording career spanned 40 year ...
, and
Albert Collins
Albert Gene Collins (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993)Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. He was noted for his powerful playing ...
.
In 1977 he formed the James Harman Band. Over the years the band's lineup has included
Phil Alvin and Bill Bateman, who left in 1978 to form the
Blasters;
Gene Taylor, who departed in 1981, also to join the Blasters before moving on to the
Fabulous Thunderbirds; and
Kid Ramos. Among other members of the band was
Hollywood Fats
Michael Leonard Mann (March 17, 1954 – December 8, 1986),Liner notes from Al Blake's album ''Dr. Blakes Magic Soul Elixir'' by Eric LeBlanc known as Hollywood Fats, was an American blues guitarist, active in Los Angeles, California.
Biogra ...
, who left his own band in 1980 to play alongside Harman for five years.
Harman became known as a skilled, reliable musician, whether for a backing band or leading his own ensemble. His band recorded several albums during the 1980s, before settling in 1990 at
Black Top Records
Black Top Records was an American, New Orleans, Louisiana-based independent record label, founded in 1981 by brothers Nauman S. Scott, III and Hammond Scott. The label specialized in blues and R&B music. The first release was "Talk To You By Hand" ...
.
Numerous songs by Harman have been used in films and on television, including "Kiss of Fire" (from the album ''Those Dangerous Gentlemen''), which was used for the soundtrack of ''
The Accused''. Harman has received several
W. C. Handy Blues Award nominations, for songs on his own releases and on other artists' albums. He was inducted into the
Alabama Music Hall of Fame
The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, first conceived by the Muscle Shoals Music Association in the early 1980s, was created by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board, which then oversaw construction of a facility after a statewide referendum in 1987 ...
and received an award for Best Blues Album of the Year from ''Real Blues'' magazine.
In 1995, Harman recorded "Everybody's Rockin' (At the Zoo Bar)", a song about the
Zoo Bar, a club in
Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...
, for the album ''Black & White''. Harman has performed at the
Long Beach Blues Festival
The Long Beach Blues Festival, in Long Beach, California, United States, was established fully in 1980, and was one of the largest blues festivals and was the second oldest on the West Coast (first being the San Francisco Blues Festival). It w ...
and in concerts staged around the world.
In 2003, Harman contributed to the
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...
album ''
Mescalero
Mescalero or Mescalero Apache () is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-central New Mexico.
In ...
'', on the song "Que Lastima" and, in 2012, on ''
La Futura
''La Futura'' is the fifteenth studio album by American rock band ZZ Top, released on September 8, 2012. It is the band's first album in nine years, following '' Mescalero'', and peaked at number 5 on the ''Billboard'' "Top Rock Albums" chart. '' ...
'', on the song "Heartache In Blue". ''Bonetime'', his first studio album in over 12 years, was released in 2015. ''Fineprint'' followed in 2018.
Death
Harman died of a heart attack on May 23, 2021. He had been undergoing chemotherapy during a five-month battle with stage 4
esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer (American English) or oesophageal cancer (British English) is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include dysphagia, difficulty in swallowing and weigh ...
. Harman's legacy was celebrated in depth on the May 31, 2021, edition of
Dr Boogie's radio show, which included a rare recording of Harman's 1971 guest performance fronting
Canned Heat
Canned Heat is an American blues rock band that was formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The group has been noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and ...
.
Dr Boogie 31-05-2021 The 80 minute Harman section of the show starts after 30 minutes, with the Canned Heat recording at 90'
, ''Rtbf.be''
Discography
* ''This Band Just Won't Behave'' (1981, Ice Pick -inch EP
* ''Thank You Baby'' (1983, Enigma)
* ''Those Dangerous Gentlemen'' (1987, Rhino
A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...
)
* ''Extra Napkins (Strictly the Blues)'' (1988, Rivera; reissued 1997 on Cannonball Records)
* ''Strictly Live...In '85! (Vol. 1)'' (1990, Rivera; reissued 2005 on Pacific Blues/Gulf Coast as ''Strictly Live In '85 ...Plus! (Vol. 1)'')
* ''Do Not Disturb'' (1991, Black Top)
* ''Two Sides to Every Story'' (1993, Black Top)
* ''Cards on the Table'' (1994, Black Top)
* ''Black & White'' (1995, Black Top)
* ''Icepick's Story'' (1996, Continental Record Services/CRS; reissued 1999 on Me & My Blues Records) note: compilation of Black Top recordings
* ''Takin' Chances'' (1998, Cannonball)
* ''Mo' Na' Kins, Please! (Strictly the Blues, Vol. 2)'' (1999, Cannonball)
* ''Lonesome Moon Trance'' (2003, Pacific Blues)
* ''Side Dishes'' (2007, Gulf Coast) note: 13-track compilation
* ''James Harman's Bamboo Porch: Live at Little Village, Volume One'' (2012, Gulf Coast)
* ''Bonetime'' (2015, Electro-Fi)
* ''Fineprint'' (2018, Electro-Fi)
References
External links
James Harman Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2019)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harman, James
1946 births
2021 deaths
American blues harmonica players
American blues drummers
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
American male singers
Songwriters from Alabama
Blues musicians from Alabama
People from Anniston, Alabama
Guitarists from Alabama
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American pianists
21st-century American pianists
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians
American male songwriters