Jimmy James
Beat R&B vocalist Jimmy James was born Michael James on September 13, 1940, and grew up in Jamaica. He started performing American soul music in the late '50s. As a solo artist, he notched two number one records in Jamaica as Jimmy James on Tip Top Records: "Bewildered and Blue" and "Come to Me Softly" (the latter reached number 70 in the States). After the two solo smashes, one of Jamaica's most popular bands, the Vagabonds, approached him; they needed a lead singer and Jimmy was hot. James agreed to work with the band, and Jimmy James & the Vagabonds formed in 1960. They found steady work at the Marquee Club in London, where the British clamored to hear their bag of American soul music. The Northern soul boom was still seeding, and American soul singers rarely came to England, so Jimmy James & the Vagabonds filled a void. The Vagabonds were Rupert Balgobin (drums), Phillip Chen (rhythm guitar), Coleson Chen (bass), Wallace Wilson (lead guitar), Carl Noel (organ), Carl Griffiths & Fred Fredericks (sax), and the focal point, next to Jimmy, Count Prince Miller, a crowd-pleaser who got the audience involved in the show.
In London, they got their first contract with Pye Records, but released only a series of unpopular singles. Sales didn't start moving until they recorded a live album at the Marquee Club that did well and another entitled The New Religion. Of the singles, only their 1968 cover of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine" resembled a hit. The Vagabonds called it quits in 1970, gave up the name, and disbanded. Jimmy owned the name and recruited new Vagabonds: a four-piece all-white band consisting of Chris Garfield (guitar), Alan Wood (bass), Russell Courtney (drums), and Alan Kirk (keyboards). They were good, but nowhere near as exciting live as the originals, and they didn't have anyone as charismatic as Count Prince Miller, who scored a solo reggae hit in 1971 with "Mule Train."
Jimmy James and his new Vagabonds scored a minor hit with "A Man Like Me," produced by Biddu on Lanita Records. A few recordings for Trojan Records resulted before they reunited with Pye and Biddu. After scoring with the Biddu-produced "Help Yourself," the band spent the '70s gigging. A handful of singles during the '80s did little, and in the '90s, James reunited for a few gigs with Curtis Winston and Count Prince Miller.
© Andrew Hamilton /TiVo
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Fashionista EP
Electronic - Released by MADE Records on Jan 31, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Meet You There
Alex Hosking, Martin Jensen, Jimmy James
Electronic - Released by One Seven Music on Sep 15, 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Solace in the Sun
Lounge - Released by Jimmy James on Apr 20, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hard Drugs (Gregory Isaacs)
Dance - Released by 3168504 Records DK on Oct 21, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Won't Cry / Come to Me Softly
Reggae - Released by Gorgon Music - VPAL Music on Sep 7, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Woman Like You (Gramps Morgan. V1 Bandance)
Ska & Rocksteady - Released by 3168504 Records DK on Nov 30, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me (UK Chart Top 40 - No. 23)
Soul - Released by Music Manager on Dec 20, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
Christmas Music - Released by K-Tel on Oct 12, 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Cookin' With Hot Grease
Blues - Released by Jimmy James on Nov 22, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Free of All My Sins
Country - Released by Jimmy James on Jul 1, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
oh Bombo Clat (Peter Tosh (Oh Bumbo Klaat) (Bandance Version)
Ska & Rocksteady - Released by 3168504 Records DK on Oct 21, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Little Bit O' Soul
Pop - Released by Jimmy James on May 22, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kissing a Fraud
Electronic - Released by MADE Records on Oct 3, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Red Red Wine (UK Chart Top 40 - No. 36)
Pop - Released by Music Manager on Dec 20, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I'll Wait For You (Bomani)
Dance - Released by 3168504 Records DK on Oct 21, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dreams (feat. Michele Millar)
Lounge - Released by Jimmy James Michele Millar on May 3, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Meet You There
Alex Hosking, Martin Jensen, Jimmy James
Electronic - Released by One Seven Music on Feb 2, 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo