Jimmy Wilson (possibly January 21, 1918, 1921 or 1923Komara, Edward and Lee, Peter (2004). ''Blues Encyclopedia''. Routledge, p. 1092 – February 5, 1965 or February 24, 1966) was an American

West Coast blues West Coast blues is a type of blues music influenced by jazz and jump blues, with strong piano-dominated sounds and jazzy guitar solos, which originated from Texas blues players who relocated to California in the 1940s. West Coast blues also f ...

singer, best known for his 1953 hit "Tin Pan Alley".

Career

Details of Wilson's life are sketchy and uncertain. He may have been born Jimmie Ned Wilson in Gibsland, Louisiana in 1918, or (according to other sources) near

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the county seat, parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles (Louisiana), Lake Char ...

a few years later. Wilson was singing with a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

quartet, the

Pilgrim Travelers The Pilgrim Travelers were an American gospel group, popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Musical career Formed in 1936 in Houston, Texas, United States, They achieved popularity after moving to Los Angeles in 1942, where their new manage ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, when

Bob Geddins Robert L. Geddins (February 6, 1913 – February 16, 1991) was an American San Francisco Bay Area blues and rhythm and blues musician and record producer. Geddins was born in Highbank, Texas, United States, a town ten miles south of Marlin, who ...

began to record him in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

in 1951, initially with his band Bob Geddins' Cavaliers. Further recordings were made under Wilson's own name, often accompanied by guitarist Lafayette Thomas. Some of the masters were purchased by

Aladdin Records Aladdin Records was a record company and label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by brothers Eddie and Leo Mesner. It was originally called Philo Records before changing its name in 1946. Philo Records Philo's releases included 78 RPM singles of ...

which was based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and Wilson recorded for Aladdin in 1952 before returning to record for Geddins' Big Town Records in 1953.Leadbitter, M., Fancourt, L. and Pelletier, P. (1994): Blues Records 1943–1970 Vol 2, London: Record Information Services, pp. 715–717 The first side released, "Tin Pan Alley", reached number 10 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

and helped to establish Geddins as a major figure in West Coast blues.Santelli, Robert (2001). ''The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia''.

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, p. 524, Wilson continued to record for Big Town and a few other labels, but failed to capitalize on the success of "Tin Pan Alley". He returned to

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

where he recorded for Goldband Records; his 1958 song "Please Accept My Love" was later recorded by B. B. King and

Elton Anderson Elton Anderson (February 9, 1930 – November 13, 1984) was an American singer and swamp pop pioneer who had a chart hit on Mercury Records. Anderson was born in Ville Platte, Louisiana, United States. From 1956 to 1957, Anderson was the featured ...

. His last recordings were for

Duke Records Duke Records was an American record label, started in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1952 by David James Mattis (WDIA program director and DJ) and Bill Fitzgerald, owners of Tri-State Recording Company. Their first release was Roscoe Gordon singing "He ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

in 1961. Jimmy Wilson Discography, ''Wirz.de''
Retrieved November 2, 2016 Wilson became an alcoholic and died in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

either on February 5, 1965 or on February 24, 1966.

Discography

* "Honey Bee" / "Please Believe Me" (recorded 1948) (

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

3087, 4/51) * "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie" / "Mistake In Life" (rec. 1948) (Cava-Tone 252, 1949; Aladdin 3140, 9/52) * "Every Dog Has His Day" / "Lemon Squeezer" (rec. 7/52) (Aladdin 3169, 2/53) * "It's Time To Change" / "Any Man's A Fool" (rec. 7/52) (Aladdin 3241, 1953) * "Tin Pan Alley" / "Big Town Jump" nstrumental(Big Town 101, 4/53) * "Call Me A Hound Dog" / "Instrumental Jump" nstrumental(Big Town 103, 1953) * "A Woman Is To Blame" / "Blues At Sundown" (Big Town 107, 10/53) * "Ethel Lee" / "Tell Me" ('7-11' 2104, 1953) * "Baby Don't Want Nobody But Me" / "Crying Like A Baby Child" ('7-11' 2105) scheduled for 1953, but never issued * "Strangest Blues" / "I Used To Love A Woman" (Rhythm 1765, 1954; Elko 915, 1954) * "Trouble Trouble" / "Frisco Bay" (Rhythm 1766, 1954) * "Teardrops On My Pillow" / "Mountain Climber" (Big Town 113, 4/54) * "Louise" / "Alley Blues" (Chart 610, 1956) * "Send Me Your Key" / "Poor Poor Lover" (Chart 629, 1956) * "Jumping From Six To Six" / "Trouble In My House" (Big Town 115, 1956) * "I've Found Out" / "Oh! Red" (rec. 11/55) (Big Town 123, 1956) * "Oh! Red" / "Blues In The Alley" Alley Blues(Irma 108, 1956) reissues * "Big Wheel Rolling" / "Please Accept My Love" ( Goldband 1074, 8/58; Imperial 5549, 10/58) * "Don't You Know" / "Could I Be Wrong" (rec. 1958) (Goldband 1091, 7/59) * "Yanky Danky Doodle" / "That Is Why I'm Happy" (rec. 1958) (Goldband 1095, 1960) * "Easy Easy Baby" / "My Heart Cries Out For You" (

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

331, 1/61) * "I Don't Care" / "Patiently" (Duke 339, 1961) * "Tin Pan Alley" e-make/ "Nobody But You" (recorded in August 1959) (Goldband 1142, 1963)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Jimmy 20th-century births 1966 deaths Blues musicians from Louisiana American blues singers West Coast blues musicians 20th-century American singers Singers from Louisiana