Jerry McCain born 18 June 1930

Jerry McCain, often billed as Jerry "Boogie" McCain (June 18, 1930 – March 28, 2012), was an American electric blues musician, best known as a harmonica player.

Born near Gadsden, Alabama, United States, he was one of five children of a poor family. Jerry began playing his harp and singing along with jukebox records at his father’s barbecue stand, the Green Front Cafe. Many of his siblings also became involved in music. In his teens he earned a regular gig at a local station WETO fronting a jug band, for which Jerry made a homemade bass. The strings were made out of an inner tube.

McCain with Christopher Collins  1951

McCain was a fan of the music of Little Walter and met the artist when, in 1953, he traveled to Gadsden for a show. McCain's recording debut came via Trumpet Records the same year under the name "Boogie McCain", with his brother Walter on drums. The two tracks were "East of the Sun" and "Wine-O-Wine". After recruiting Christopher Collins, who would be with him throughout most of his career, he went on to the Excello label. McCain's 1954 Trumpet encore, "Stay Out of Automobiles"/"Love to Make Up," was solid Southern blues, but barely hinted at the galvanic energy of his subsequent output.

Jerry McCain signed with Ernie Young's Nashville-based Excello logo in 1955, cutting "That's What They Want" with his usual sidekick Christopher Collins on guitar. "Run, Uncle John! Run," 
"Trying to Please," the torrid "My Next Door Neighbor" and "The Jig's Up" ranked with McCain's best 1955-1957 Excello efforts.

The harpist is probably best-known for his two-sided 1960 gem for Rex Records, "She's Tough"/"Steady." The Fabulous Thunderbirds later appropriated the insinuating mid-tempo A-side, while McCain's harp chops were strikingly showcased on the flip. McCain waxed three 45s for OKeh in Nashville in 1962, utilizing Music Row mainstays Floyd Cramer, Grady Martin, and Boots Randolph as his backup for "Red Top" and "Jet Stream." A series of 1965-1968 sides for Stan Lewis' Shreveport-based Jewel Records included a tailor-made tribute to the company, "728 Texas (Where the Action Is)" (Jewel's address).

                               

McCain never lacked self-belief. In his youth he drove round Gadsden in an old Ford truck with the titles from his first record painted on the side, and in later years his voicemail message ran: "You've reached the blues man Jerry 'Boogie' McCain, the baddest harmonica player in the world." He bore a striking resemblance to Sammy Davis Jr, and dressed for the stage in black and bling, sometimes wearing a holstered gun.

He could play two harmonicas at once, one with his mouth and the other with his nose. So could the better-known Sonny Boy Williamson II, who said he invented the technique, but McCain always contested that. Less of a harmonica virtuoso than Williamson, he was happiest when playing medium-tempo instrumentals, such as Steady and Red Top, with a fat sound like that of a saxophone or, as on 728 Texas (the title was the address of Jewel Records), an accordion.

Throughout the 1960s McCain gigged around Alabama and Georgia with lesser known bands, but music could not support him so he became a bounty hunter, delivered furniture, and worked at a foundry in Gadsden. Welfare Cadillac Blues (1970), a response to an implicitly racist country song, put his name back on the 

jukeboxes, but soon afterwards his recording career faded. not to be fully revived until many years of obscurity he rejuvenated his fortunes in 1989 by signing with Ichiban Records and releasing Blues 'n' Stuff He followed this  three years later with Struttin' My Stuff and Love Desperado.

In 1996 McCain was selected by the Etowah Youth Orchestras as the most well-known musician from Gadsden. He performed the solo harmonica part of the "Concerto for Blues Harmonica and Orchestra" at the Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts in New York City in June 1997, with McCain, the EYSO, and Julius Williams conducting.

In 2000, McCain released an all-star album This Stuff Just Kills Me for the Jericho label featuring Johnnie Johnson, John Primer, Anson Funderburgh, Jimmie Vaughan, along with the Double Trouble rhythm section of Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton. McCain resurfaced on Ichiban in 2002 with the release of American Roots: Blues.

The City of Gadsden honoured McCain by including his own day at their annual Riverfest Event; a four-day music event. The addition of The Jerry McCain Broad Street Blues Bash rounded out the entertainment and allowed many local citizens to experience McCain.  

He continued to work on his home ground, and in 2007 he received an Alabama folk heritage award. Since 2008 he had appeared several times at First Friday, a monthly Gadsden street festival. Jerry “Boogie” McCain died March 28, 2012 in Gadsden, Alabama, aged 81.

(Edited from AllMusic, The Guardian & Wikipedia)