James Tigner, Jr. (July 20, 1938 – September 21, 2007), known as Jimmy Tig, was an American R&B singer, drummer, bandleader and songwriter who recorded and performed between the 1950s and 1970s.

Biography

He was born in

Atlanta, Georgia 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 ...

, and began playing drums as a child. He worked as a professional musician from his early teens, and over the years performed with such musicians as

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded more than 50 songs that made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the '' ...

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

the Tams The Tams are an United States, American list of vocal groups, vocal group from Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, who enjoyed their greatest record chart, chart success in the 1960s, but continued to chart in the 1970s, and the 1980s. Two ...

the Drifters The Drifters are an American pop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1959 and ...

and

Gladys Knight and the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as sim ...

. Kay Powell, "Obituary, Rev. James Tigner, Jr.", ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', September 23, 2007, reprinted at ''Memorial Networks''
Retrieved June 5, 2014 He also led his own band, Jimmy Tig & The Rounders, and recorded his song "Small Town Girl" for the small Jora label; it was later reissued by the larger Spar label in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in about 1965. The record is thought to feature the band Johnny Jones and the King Casuals, including Jones (guitar),

Billy Cox William Cox (born October 18, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix. Cox is the only surviving musician to have regularly played with Hendrix: first when both were in the Army, then in 1969 with the interim g ...

(bass), Ted Jarrett (piano) and Freeman Brown (drums). Jimmy Tig, ''SirShambling.com''
Retrieved June 5, 2014 Although the record was unsuccessful, Tig and his band continued to perform and tour in the southern states. Other members of the Rounders included Mighty Sam McClain and Ben Moore (who later sang as "Bobby Purify"). In 1968, Tig and his wife recorded a version of Oscar Toney, Jr.'s song "A Love That Never Grows Cold" in

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

for

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benn ...

with producer Papa Don Schroeder, the same label and producer as had recorded Toney's original. The record, credited to Jimmy and Louise Tig and Company, was again not a commercial success, despite Louise Tig's "emotionally compelling" lead vocal, but was later included on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

''Bell's Cellar of Soul – Two'', and was released in the UK by

Dave Godin David Edward Godin (21 June 1936 – 15 October 2004) was an English fan of American soul music. As a journalist and record shop owner, he made a major contribution internationally in spreading awareness and understanding of the genre, and by e ...

as a single on his Deep Soul label and again, in the 1990s, on his ''Deep Soul Treasures: Vol.2''. Tig's final record release was "Everybody's Laffing", credited to Jimmy Tig & The Tig Family and issued on the Tuska label in Atlanta in about 1970. In 1971, his song "Peace Brother Peace" was recorded by his 7-year-old son Eric, and released on

Hi Records Hi Records is an American soul music and rhythm & blues label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch (formerly producers for Sun Records), and three silent ...

as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of Eric's version of

Roy Head Roy Kent Head (January 9, 1941 – September 21, 2020) was an American singer, best known for his hit song "Treat Her Right". Head and fellow high school student Tommy Bolton founded musical group The Traits in 1957, with the band, billed as Roy ...

's song "

Treat Her Right Treat Her Right was an American rock group, formed in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in 1985. The band originally featured Mark Sandman on "low guitar", Billy Conway on cocktail drum, David Champagne on guitar and Jim Fitting on har ...

"; Eric appeared on the syndicated TV program ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...

''. Jimmy Tigner also wrote both sides of Eric Tig's 1978 single, "Mr. D.J."/"Heaven". Tigner lived in California during the 1970s, and performed in clubs where he met

Redd Foxx John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Foxx gained success with his raunchy nightclub act before and during the civil rights movemen ...

, gaining work with the ''

Sanford and Son ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom '' Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC1 in the United Kingdom from 1962 to ...

'' production company as a result. He returned to live in Atlanta in the 1980s, and in 1982, was seriously injured when, riding a motorcycle, he was hit by an

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

on his first day at work for a company at Hartsfield International Airport outside Atlanta. As a result, he was left with some brain damage and physical disabilities which reduced his ability to work. He took legal action against the company which had failed to place adequate road signs on the highway, winning financial compensation of $2 million as a result; however, he later lost most of the settlement as a result of actions by his broker and had to take further legal action to recoup it. He became a minister at a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church in Atlanta. During the 1980s, he returned to work in entertainment, founding Dynasty Records and hosting a weekly cable television show where he campaigned against

substance abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...

after one of his sons was killed in a drug-related shooting. In 1987 he promoted a "Rapper's Rap Off" in Atlanta, to reward the

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

with the best anti-drugs message."James Tigner, Jr., with poster...", ''Digital Library of Georgia''
Retrieved June 5, 2014 He later worked as a driver and

anger management Anger management is a psycho-therapeutic program for anger prevention and control. It has been described as deploying anger successfully.Schwarts, Gil. July 2006. Anger Management', July 2006 The Office Politic. Men's Health magazine. Emmaus, PA: ...

trainer under Robert McMichael, sheriff of Fulton County, and managed an electronic monitoring program. He also performed in later years as a member of his son Eric's band, Lil' Eric Tig and the Tig Family. He died in Atlanta in 2007 at the age of 69.

References

External links

Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tig, Jimmy 1938 births 2007 deaths American rhythm and blues drummers American soul singers Musicians from Atlanta 20th-century American singers American rhythm and blues singers 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Drummers from Georgia (U.S. state)