Jimmy Sings The Blues
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/narrators/mccracklin_jimmy.html for complete oral history transcript. This film, produced and directed by Caroline Crawford, John Lightfoot and Ronnie Stewart, was developed from a series of oral histories of Bay Area blues figures carried out by Caroline Crawford for The Regional Oral History Office of The Bancroft Library. Born in rural Arkansas, Jimmy McCracklin migrated first to St. Louis, then Los Angeles, and in the late 1940s, to Richmond, California. Like thousands of African Americans who relocated to northern cities during and after World War II, McCracklin brought with him the musical culture and styles of the South. His story is profoundly sad in terms of the overt racism, music piracy, illness and loss he has encountered, but equally joyous in the gift of music he possesses and the hundreds of songs he has written. Oral History Transcript will be available at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/projects/arts_ca/.
About Jimmy McCracklin
James David Walker Jr. (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012), better known by his stage name Jimmy McCracklin, was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career that spanned seven decades, he said he had written almost a thousand songs and had recorded hundreds of them. McCracklin recorded over 30 albums, and earned four gold records.
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