Jimmy Gilmer born 15 September 1940

Jimmy Gilmer (September 15, 1940 - September 7, 2024) was better known as the lead singer to the most successful R&R band to emerge from New Mexico, The Fireballs. 

Jimmy Gilmer was born in Chicago, Illinois but grew up in Amarillo, Texas, where he studied music at the Musical Arts Conservatory. Her graduated from Amarillo High School in 1958. He led a rockabilly band, the Jimmy Gilmer Combo, that played at high school and college dances in a 100-mile radius of Amarillo. The Combo’s drummer, Gary Swaffert, also played drums for the Norman Petty Trio and was responsible for introducing Gilmer to Petty.  Jimmy’s first single, released under his own name on Decca in 1958, sold poorly, but Petty saw potential in Gilmer and encouraged him to return and record. 

At Petty’s NorVaJak recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico, Jimmy met a band from Raton, although he didn’t work with them. They were the Fireballs, who scored two instrumental Top 40 hits with ‘Torquay’ (1959) and ‘Bulldog’ (1960). After a major tour, their lead singer Chuck Tharpe suddenly quit and Gilmer joined the Fireballs as both vocalist and rhythm guitarist, though there were still solo releases by Gilmer as well as records by the Fireballs. Jimmy Gilmer first appeared on the UK scene in 1962 with a disc called 'Born To Be With You.' 

He must have liked the song because he recorded it twice – first for Hamilton in 1962 (credited to Chimmy Gilmer and released in the UK on London) and then again for Dot in 1965. ‘Born To Be With you’ was a countrified version of the song made popular by the Chordettes in 1956. A Norman Petty production, the single had hints of the Holly influence, but it’s hard to see who would have been attracted to it. Same goes for the B-side, ‘I’m Gonna Go Walkin’, a simple pop song. In the US, ‘I’m Gonna Go Walkin’ was the top side with ‘Won’t Be Long’ as the B side. 

It was Petty’s decision to eventually market the Fireballs to record companies as Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs, since he’d had previous success marketing the Crickets also as Buddy Holly & The Crickets. In 1962, Norman Petty signed the group to Randy Wood’s Dot label. From that point on Jimmy Gilmer, George Tomsco, Stan Lark and Doug Roberts would climb the ladder to stardom. 

                                    

1963 was a top year for the group as their song ‘Sugar Shack’ hit the top of the charts. Released in May 1963, it didn’t enter the Billboard charts until September 21, but three weeks later ‘Sugar Shack’ was at No.1, where it would stay for five weeks, becoming the biggest selling record of 1963 in the US. The follow-up, ‘Daisy Petal Pickin’ (which, like ‘Sugar Shack’, was co-written by Keith McCormack of The String-a-Longs), peaked at No.15. The group and Jimmy cut various flops for Dot in the mid-60s, and Gilmer recorded a Buddy Holly tribute album on his own. Signing to Atlantic in 1967, the Fireballs had another Top Ten hit with Tom Paxton’s ‘Bottle of Wine’, without giving top billing to Gilmer, although he was still in the band. The Fireballs were one of the very few groups in rock ‘n’ roll history to chart both instrumental and vocal hits on the Billboard Top 100. 

Gilmer’s albums included Sugar Shack (1963), Buddy’s Buddy (1964), Lucky ‘Leven (1965), Folkbeat (1965), Campusology (1966), Firewater (1968), Bottle of Wine (1968) and Come On, React! (1969). He left the Fireballs in 1969 and relocated to Nashville. He was hired by United Artists Music, where he built a 30-year publishing career. Through a number of mergers and acquisitions, he rose to become a vice president at CBS Songs, plus successive executive positions at EMI and SBK. Among the many songwriters he aided were Richard Leigh, Bobby Goldsboro and Pat Alger. He also signed Brad Paisley, whom he also managed through the early years of the star’s career. 

In 1989-91, he served as the president of the Nashville chapter of The Recording Academy. He was a 1992 graduate of Leadership Music. Meanwhile in 1989, George Tomsco, Stan Lark, and Chuck Tharp all original members of the Fireballs re-united for the Clovis Music Festival, then continued performing with original members until 2006, when Tharp died of cancer. When Gilmer retired in 2007 he re-joined his old group as lead vocalist and sang occasionally at oldies shows. Stan Lark retired from the group in 2016. 

Gilmer last performed with the Fireballs in February 2022 at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.  He had suffered from Alzheimer’s in recent years and died in his hometown of Amarillo, while in hospice care, on September 7, 2024, eight days before his 84th birthday. 

Edited from 45cat, Wikipedia, Myhighplains.com, & Music Row) 

 

Jimmy James born 13 September 1940

Michael "Jimmy" James (13 September 1940 – 14 May 2024) was a Jamaican-British soul singer, known for songs like "Come to Me Softly", "Now Is the Time" and "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me". Based in Britain, he performed as the lead singer of Jimmy James and the Vagabonds from the mid-1960s. 

Michael James was born in Brown's Town, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica on 13 September 1940. He grew up and began performing in Kingston, Jamaica, where he recorded as a solo artist with producers Coxsone Dodd, Clancy Eccles, and Lyndon Pottinger. His most successful release was an early version of "Come to Me Softly", which found local success and persuaded James to give up a job with the Inland Revenue for a music career. 

The Vagabonds were originally formed in 1960. James teamed up with them under Canadian band manager Roger Smith and in April 1964, they relocated to the UK. Ska-Time (Decca Records) was recorded as Jamaica's Own Vagabonds within two weeks of their arrival, and is one of the first examples of Jamaican ska music to be recorded in the UK. It was reissued as Skatime in 1970 on Decca's Eclipse label. After meeting manager Peter Meaden in 1965, Jimmy James and the Vagabonds supported the Who and Rod Stewart who was with his group the Steampacket at the Marquee Club in London. 

The band played the Shanklin Pier ballroom on the Isle of Wight in June 1965 and returned for two further sold-out concerts that summer. That same year they played the Richmond National Jazz and Blue Festival and they were also on the bill the following year when the festival was at Windsor. He and the Vagabonds shared several bills with Jimi Hendrix's band, the Experience, during the late 1960s when they were both trying to establish themselves. "We used to hang out a lot at clubs like The Bag O'Nails, the Cromwellian and Whiskey A Go Go. A great guy, very quiet and unassuming," James recalled. The Vagabonds and the Experience also played the Ricky Tick and Upper Cut clubs in London in December 1966 and January 1967 respectively, and at the Beachcomber Ballroom in Nottingham. 

                          

They signed a recording contract with Pye Records and released their best known studio album, The New Religion in 1966. The band also played as support for the Who, Sonny & Cher, Rod Stewart (who was also on Pye Records at the time) and the Rolling Stones. The band often used the Abbey Road Studios, once being there at the same time the Beatles were recording. Their live performance was captured in the album London Swings – Live at the Marquee Club, also featuring the Alan Bown Set. Jimmy James and the Vagabonds were labelmates and rivals of Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band. 

The Vagabonds disbanded in 1970, but James, who owned the name, enlisted Alan Wood to form a band with a new, all-white line-up in 1973. They had hits in the UK Singles Chart with "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me" (1976) and "Now Is the Time". In 1976, they recorded funky disco song "Disco Fever" also. Phil Chen performed bass on Rod Stewart songs such as "Hot Legs", "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" and "Young Turks". Former Vagabonds bass player Alan Wood (1973–77) now runs his own management agency and represents Paul Carrack. 

In 1979 a new band, Big Business, was formed by Alan Kirk and Andrew Platts, former Vagabonds and they continue to tour to this day. Big Business toured with Mick Jackson ("Blame It on the Boogie"). Kirk owns Hilltop Studios in Dronfield near Chesterfield. In 1999, drummer Russ Courtenay co-wrote the track "Whatever You Need", which appeared on Tina Turner's album, 24/7, and later on her All the Best, Love Songs and The Platinum Collection compilation albums. 

James regularly performed around the UK with former Foundations frontman, Clem Curtis. The pair, along with Flirtations vocalist Earnestine Pearce toured with 'The Soul Explosion'. In 2007 he contributed to the track "The Other Side of the Street" for Ian Levine's Northern Soul album. In April 2007, James performed at the Classic Gold Weekender along with Marmalade, Love Affair and Showaddywaddy.  In 2013, they toured with James' early hero, Ben E. King. 

At the age of 80, James continued with concert appearances into the latter half of 2021, but he later retired from performing due to Parkinson’s disease and a heart condition. He died at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, London on 14 May 2024, at the age of 83. 

(Edited from Wikipedia) 

 

Caravelli born 12 September 1930

Caravelli (12 September 1930 – 1 April 2019) was a French orchestra leader, composer and arranger of orchestral music. 

Claude Vasori was born in Paris, France. The son of an Italian father and a French mother, Vasori was initially instructed in music by his mother in piano and voicing/harmony at seven years old, and later, when he was thirteen he began to attend the Paris Conservatoire. At twenty he was professionally touring, accompanying singers on piano, and at 26 years old he started as an orchestra conductor. 

Vasori took his stage name in 1956 from the newly introduced twin-jet Caravelle from Caravelle Aerospatiale. This plane was the first jet created for the short-haul market. The first Caravelle entered service for Air France on May 9, 1959. He made it more Italianate in honor of his father's origins, changing the last letter: “Caravelli et son Violons Magiques/& his Magnificent Strings”. 

In 1959 with the help of the French jazz musician Ray Ventura, he obtained a contract to form his own orchestra oriented to popular music. He signed a contract with the French record label Versailles. His first album Dance Party was recorded. Under licenses these early recordings were released internationally (20th Century Records in the USA, Ariel in Argentina, Fermata in Brasil, and Discophon in Spain). In 1962, he composed Et Satan conduit le bal original soundtrack under his real name. It was a French film starring a young Catherine Deneuve. In 1963, he composed "Accroche-toi Caroline!" which was used by the BBC as the theme to the Vision On television series. 

                                    

The Versailles label was acquired by Columbia Records in 1964. The wider distribution of their product led to gold records in France, Japan, Israel and South America. In Brazil his first released CBS album was titled Voyage Musical, in Argentina Merci Cherie. With his orchestra he also made recordings with Maurice Chevalier and Charles Trenet (La mer/Beyond the Sea) among other singers. In 1970 he composed the music for the film L'Homme Qui Vient De La Nuit, starred by Ivan Rebroff, and in the same period recorded an album in USA. His first Japan Live Concert is recorded in 1972 by CBS. 

In 1973, one of his own compositions was included in the Frank Sinatra album Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back: “Laisse moi le temps” / “Let Me Try Again”, original French lyrics by Michel Jourdan, English lyrics by Paul Anka. This song was previously presented in competition at the Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar, Chile, by singer Romuald representing France and obtaining the second prize, although it was considered the best song by critics and people. Making a delayed justice, a few years ago, it was proclaimed the Best Song in the history of this Festival, in its 41st Anniversary, something unusual for a non-first prize in any song contest. This song was also covered by Raymond Lefevre. 

In 1978, he composed and recorded the title song of "Goldorak et les 2 Mazingers", for the Japan anime/cartoon. In 1981 he toured the Soviet Union with his orchestra performing in Riga and Moscow with great success (all concerts were sold out). The summer of following year, he returned to the country, this time to make a record for the Melodiya label with Russians musicians and female singers (in his style without lyrics). This record In Moscow included 12 tracks, the majority written by young pop Russian composers, with a couple of traditional tunes. Two of the pieces were recorded in Paris with his own orchestra. In 1983 Caravelli plays Seiko Matsuda was recorded in Japan. In the middle 1980s, in order to update his sound he used rhythm arrangements by his son Patrick Vasori. 

Japan being a country in which he has a following, Caravelli is one of the few Western artists who have been invited to conduct the Japanese TV Network's NHK Orchestra, In November 2001, he was touring Japan with an orchestra composed of 32 musicians (tour N° 7 ), invited by the Sony Foundation (the previous tour was in 1996). At this time, Sony Music Japan assembled a 2-CD set Caravelli plays Michel Polnareff and ABBA, being the first (Polnareff) a selection from 1960 and 1970 albums (including his cover of "Love Me, Please Love Me") and the second (ABBA) a selection from 1970's recordings. 

In December 2003, he toured Japan again; the six concerts were sold out. In November and December 2006, he recorded an album titled A New Day Has Come with his Grand Orchestre in Brussels, Belgium, for Reader's Digest. 

He died in Cannet, France, on 1 April 2019, at the age of 88. 

(Edited from Wikipedia)

Barbara Morrison born 10 September 1949

Barbara Morrison (September 10, 1949 – March 16, 2022) was an American jazz singer and three-time Grammy-nominated performer and record producer. Though she never had a pop or R&B hit, Morrison was a spectacular singer who could pull all the flavor and nuance out of a jazz or soul song and give it her own feel. From the 1980s to 2021, Morrison recorded 22 albums. 

Barbara Morrison was born in Ypsilanti, and raised in Romulus, Michigan. From a young age, she showed a deep passion for music, particularly jazz and blues. Her love for singing was evident, and she honed her vocal skills while performing in church choirs and school events. It wasn’t long before her remarkable talent began to shine through catching the attention of those around her.

Morrison recorded her first appearance for radio in Detroit at the age of 10. In 1973 when she was 23, she moved to Los Angeles and sang with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson's band. Between the mid-1970s and early 1990s, she recorded several albums with Johnny Otis and soon blended the phrasing of Dinah Washington and Little Jimmy Scott in her club delivery. Where she excelled was on covers of soul hits, and she easily would have had hits of her own and become a household name if record producers and management had steered her to record in the style of the day. 

                                     

In 1986, Morrison toured with the Philip Morris Superband, completing a 14-city one-month tour of Canada, Australia, Japan, and the Philippines, playing with jazz organist Jimmy Smith and backed by saxophonist James Moody, guitarist Kenny Burrell, trumpeter Jon Faddis and Grady Tate on drums. Morrison also completed a 33-city tour in the US in an all-star tribute to composer Harold Arlen. In 1995, Morrison appeared in a televised tribute to Ella Fitzgerald with Mel Tormé, Diane Reeves, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick and Lou Rawls. 

Morrison worked with Gerald Wilson, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Ron Carter, Etta James, Esther Phillips, David T. Walker, Dr. John, Kenny Burrell, Terence Blanchard, Joe Sample, Cedar Walton, Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Keb' Mo, Count Basie Orchestra, Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra and Doc Severinsen. 

She performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Nice, Pori, Carnegie Hall, North Sea, Darling Harbour, Sydney Opera House, Monterey, Long Beach, and in tributes to Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Golson. A notable festival in Montreal, Switzerland brought together on stage Blues Guitar legend Buddy Guy with Barbara Morrison and Carlos Santana for an unforgettable performance in July 2004. In 2011, Morrison began performing with Jack Hale, a guitarist, arranger and bandleader. 

Morrison began teaching voice lessons at UCLA In the mid-’90s, when she was one of the first hires by jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell, director of the then-new jazz studies concentration. She continued teaching at UCLA, even performing at the school’s Lani Hall Theater opening ceremony in December 2019. In 2020 she established the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center in Leimert Park, California (a section of Los Angeles) where it provided a venue for performers of all ages and all cultures, promoting music and dance. 

Morrison didn’t let health setbacks slow her down. Despite having both of her legs amputated due to diabetes, she continued to perform in person and through livestreams. In early March 2022, Morrison was working on her latest album “Blues Mama” but was hospitalized for cardiovascular disease. Vocalist Dwight Trible, who saw Morrison perform shortly before she went to the hospital, said she sounded just as good as ever. She died on March 16, 2022, at the age of 72.  The City of Los Angeles named the intersection in front of her venue Barbara Morrison Square in her honor in 2022. 

In her career, Morrison has been the recipient of awards including the Living Legend Award from the Living Legend Foundation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art/LA Jazz Society’s LA Treasures Award and Motown’s Hal Award. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, Broadway World, Jazzwax & Random Lengths News)

Danny Kalb born 9 September 1942

Daniel Ira Kalb (September 9, 1942 – November 19, 2022) was an American blues guitarist and vocalist. He was an original member of the 1960s group the Blues Project. 

Kalb was born in Brooklyn but raised in Mount Vernon, New York, in Westchester County, the son of a lawyer father and a homemaker mother. Like British kids who picked up on the blues after seeing blues musicians live, Kalb had a revelatory moment when he first heard John Lee Hooker perform "Tupelo," about the great 1920s flood in Tupelo, Mississippi. The year was 1964, Kalb recalled in a 2009 interview, "...and the whole performance was just so mesmerizing, I didn't think about race matters, I didn't think about anything, I just knew that in my reaction to this great musician, that suddenly, the blues had tapped me on the shoulder. I didn't even know where it was going to lead me, but I knew I wanted to play this music." 

Kalb had already been messing around with guitar by the time he saw Hooker. At the age of 15 Kalb formed the band Gay Notes and performed with Bob Dylan on a WBAI-FM concert broadcast in 1961. When he got back to Mount Vernon he began to accelerate the pace of his guitar lessons and he looked up Dave Van Ronk, who was then living in Greenwich Village. Van Ronk's music was being played on several then-underground FM radio stations around New York City, and in 1963 he took the train down to Washington Square Park the following Sunday to find Van Ronk. They both performed in the Ragtime Jug Stompers. In1964 he recorded as Folk Stringers, produced by guitarist and writer Sam Charters, who has written: "It was generally conceded  that Kalb was the most exciting of the new players." In 1964 Kalb played second guitar on Phil Ochs's album All the News That's Fit to Sing and in 1964 appeared on Judy Collins's Fifth Album. 

                                    

As he continued to develop his skills on acoustic and electric guitars, Kalb realized that electric rock & roll music would soon eclipse the folk and blues renaissance that had been going on in the first half of the '60s, so in 1965 he formed the Blues Project with Steve Katz, Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld and Tommy Flanders. Flanders later left the band and was replaced by Al Kooper, who later went on to a successful solo career. Other original founding members also included Artie Traum and Tommy Flanders. The Blues Project's first album, Live at the Café Au Go Go, sold in excess of 100,000 copies the year it was released, signaling that Kalb and Kooper's instincts were correct about blues-rock eclipsing acoustic blues and folk music. 

In 1965 the Blues Project performed an eleven-minute rendition of Muddy Waters's "Two Trains Running" in electronic form, with Waters in the audience. When asked what he thought of it, Waters said, "You really got me." Kalb later said, "If I'd dropped dead at that point on the spot because of what we thought of Muddy Waters, then my life would have been well spent." Personality clashes, drugs and the 1960s lifestyle took their toll on the band. The group played to sold-out crowds in San Francisco and three massive Central Park concerts in New York City in 1966. In 1968 Kalb released the album Crosscurrents with Stefan Grossman. 

After the Blues Project had pretty much run their course as a group by 1972 or so, Kalb began to establish a career as a solo artist, but he  was fairly quiet for the next twenty years, but joined Al Kooper for a Blues Project reunion, recorded at the Bottom Line in 1996. In the 21st century, Kalb performed solo acoustic gigs, played acoustic and electric music with the Danny Kalb Trio, including Bob Jones on acoustic bass and Mark Ambrosino on drums and occasionally performed with Stefan Grossman and Steve Katz and with his brother Jonathan Kalb. 

His live shows usually included some of the Blues Project songs that had always been part of his repertoire, and he typically worked with a trio that included drummer Mark Ambrosino and bassist Bob Jones. Kalb recorded a terrific studio album for Sojourn Records, I'm Gonna Live the Life I Sing About (2008), which received critical acclaim in the blues media. This was followed in 2013 by Kalb's first double-CD Moving in Blue, also on the Sojourn label, featuring various sidemen and guest artists. With this album he parlayed the full range of his musical interests and creativity. 

His earlier releases under his own name are available on compact disc, and include Livin' with the Blues (1990), All Together, Now (2003), and Live in Brooklyn! (2006). Originally issued in 1969, the Danny Kalb-Stefan Grossman duo outing Crosscurrents was re-released by Collectables in 2005. Kalb died on November 19, 2022 in Brooklyn, New York after a protracted battle with cancer. He was 80 years old. 

(Edited from AllMusic & Wikipedia)

 

Earl Nelson born 8 September 1928

Earl Nelson (September 8, 1928 – July 12, 2008), who also performed as Jackie Lee, Chip Nelson, Earl Cosby and Jay Dee, was an American soul singer and songwriter. He started his career in the doo-wop group the Hollywood Flames in the 1950s before founding the R&B duo Bob & Earl with Bobby Byrd. As Jackie Lee, he was best known for his hit song "The Duck" (#14 Pop, #4 R&B). 

Born in Lake Charles, LA, on September 8, 1928, Nelson cut his teeth singing in his church's gospel choir. His family relocated to Los Angeles in 1937, and at age 17 he enlisted in the U.S. Army, working on the construction of the Panama Canal. Upon returning to civilian life he began singing with a variety of Los Angeles-area doo wop and R&B acts, usually in collaboration with vocalist Bobby Byrd (aka Bobby Day). Nelson's lead tenor graces the Hollywood Flames' 1954 single "Buzz Buzz Buzz," and a year later he and Byrd teamed as the Voices to record "Two Things I Love" for the Cash label.

A series of little-noticed efforts followed, credited to various acts including Bobby "Baby Face" Byrd & the Birds as well as Bobby Day & the Satellites, and in 1957 Nelson even headlined the Class label release "I Bow to You." The first Bob & Earl single, "You Made a Boo-Boo," appeared later that same year. Both Nelson and Day were nevertheless working at the Revell Toy Factory when the long-dormant "Buzz Buzz Buzz" emerged as a surprise hit in 1958. While a reassembled Hollywood Flames went on to record a clutch of new material for Class and Ebb, Day also scored a massive solo hit with "Rockin' Robin," and when the Flames sputtered out in the wake of 1960's "Gee Whiz," Nelson revived the Bob & Earl partnership, albeit recruiting former Laurels vocalist Bob Relf to replace the otherwise occupied Day. 

                                     

This incarnation of Bob & Earl first recorded in 1962, cutting a pair of singles ("Don't Ever Leave Me" and "Deep Down Inside") for the Tempe label. After a move to the Marc imprint they recorded "Harlem Shuffle" in 1963, with their friend Barry White on piano, arrangement by Gene Page and production by Fred Smith.

Relf admitted that the track was basically a reworking of "Slauson Shuffletime" by Round Robin, with the location switched from Slauson to the better known New York neighborhood. The gritty, sinuous track remains an R&B landmark, reaching the U.S. Top 50 and becoming an even bigger hit in the U.K.  In a further twist, Bob & Earl later sued Smith, and each won a third of the royalties derived from the track. 

Despite the success of "Harlem Shuffle," Bob & Earl's follow-up releases -- including "My Woman," "Your Lovin' Goes a Long, Long Way," and "Baby I'm Satisfied" -- fared poorly. In 1965 Nelson launched a solo career with the Mira single "Ooh Honey Baby," credited to Earl Cosby. His next effort, the Mirwood label release "The Duck," was instead attributed to Jackie Lee -- the single cracked the R&B Top Five and hit the Top 20 on the pop charts as well, guaranteeing Nelson would continue recording under this latest alias. While he did not return to the charts, Mirwood releases including "Do the Temptation Walk," "The Shotgun and the Duck," "Oh! My Darlin'," and "Darkest Days" all later made Lee an immortal within the ranks of Britain's Northern soul revival culture. 

Singles for ABC-Paramount and Uni followed, and after reuniting with White, who produced the 1974 Warner Bros. comeback attempt "Strange Funky Games and Things" (credited to Jay Dee), his recording career ground to a halt. Nelson nevertheless continued playing live across L.A. for decades to follow -- after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, he died in Los Angeleson  July 12, 2008, at the age of 79. At the time of his death, he had been married three times and he had nine children. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic & The Independent) 

Little Milton born 7 September 1934

James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his number-one R&B single "We're Gonna Make It" His other hits include "Baby, I Love You", "Who's Cheating Who?", and "Grits Ain't Groceries (All Around The World)". 

A native of the Mississippi Delta, Milton began his recording career in 1953 at Sun Records before relocating to St. Louis and co-founding Bobbin Records in 1958. It wasn't until Milton signed to Checker Records that he achieved success on the charts. Other labels Milton recorded for include Meteor, Stax, Glades, Golden Ear, MCA, and Malaco. Milton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1988. 

Milton was born James Milton Campbell Jr. on September 7, 1934, in Inverness, Mississippi. He was raised in Greenville, Mississippi, by a farmer and local blues musician. According to some accounts the ‘Little’ handle was  used to differentiate him from his father, Big Milton, a farmer and local performer. By age twelve he was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker and his blues and rock and roll contemporaries. He joined the Rhythm Aces in the early part of the 1950s, a three piece band who played throughout the Mississippi Delta area. One of the members was Eddie Cusic who taught Milton to play the guitar. In 1951, Milton recorded several sides backing pianist Willie Love for Trumpet Records. 

In 1953, while still a teenager playing in local bars, he was discovered by Ike Turner, who was a talent scout for Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Milton signed a contract with the label and recorded a number of singles. None of them broke through onto radio or sold well at record stores, so Milton left the Sun label in 1955. The next two years he released singles on Modern Records' subsidiary, Meteor Records. 

In 1958, Milton moved to East St. Louis and set up the St. Louis-based Bobbin Records label, which ultimately scored a distribution deal with Leonard Chess' Chess Records. As a record producer, Milton helped bring artists such as Albert King and Fontella Bass to fame, while experiencing his own success for the first time. After a number of small format and regional hits, his 1962 single, "So Mean to Me," broke onto the Billboard R&B chart, eventually peaking at #14. 

                                   

Following a short break to tour, managing other acts, and spending time recording new material, he returned to music in 1965 with a more polished sound, similar to that of B.B. King. After the ill-received "Blind Man" (R&B: #86), he released back-to-back hit singles. The first, "We're Gonna Make It," a blues-infused soul song, topped the R&B chart and broke through onto Top 40 radio, a format then dominated largely by white artists. He followed the song with #4 R&B hit "Who's Cheating Who?" All three songs were featured on his album, We're Gonna Make It, released that summer. Milton's song "Let Me Down Easy" was recorded by the Spencer Davis Group on The Second Album (1965), but his authorship was not acknowledged on the record. He released a single of it himself in 1968 on Checker. It was also chosen by Etta James as the final track in her final album The Dreamer in 2011. 

Throughout the late 1960s Milton released a number of moderately successful singles, but did not issue a further album until 1969, with Grits Ain't Groceries featuring his hit of the same name, as well as "Just a Little Bit" and "Baby, I Love You". With the death of Leonard Chess the same year, Milton's distributor, Checker Records fell into disarray, and Milton joined the Stax label two years later Adding complex orchestration to his works, Milton scored hits with "That's What Love Will Make You Do" and "What It Is" from his live album, What It Is: Live at Montreux. He appeared in the documentary film, Wattstax, which was released in 1973. Stax, however, had been losing money since late in the previous decade and was forced into bankruptcy in 1975. 

After leaving Stax, Milton struggled to maintain a career, moving first to Evidence, then the MCA imprint Mobile Fidelity Records, before finding a home at the independent record label, Malaco Records, where he received his second GRAMMY nomination for "Welcome To Little Milton" in 1999. He remained with the label for much of the remainder of his career. His last hit single, "Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number," was released in 1983 from the album of the same name. In 1988, Milton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and won a W.C. Handy Award. His final album, Think of Me, was released in May 2005 on the Telarc imprint. He was an avid touring act and made one of his final appearances in May 2005 on a bill with The Allman Brothers. 

Milton died at the age of 70 on August 4, 2005, from complications following a stroke in his adopted hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Inverness. 

(Edited from Wikipedia)