Jimmy Norman
Jimmy Norman | |
---|---|
New York City, New York, U.S. | |
Genres | R&B, jazz |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Years active | 1950s–2011 |
Labels | Wildflower |
James Norman Scott (August 12, 1937 – November 8, 2011) was an American
Early life and career
James Norman Scott[1] was born on August 12, 1937, in Nashville, Tennessee.[2] He relocated to California as a teenager, beginning his career as a touring musician throughout the Midwest and southern regions of the United States before settling in New York City.[3][4] There, he wrote music for Broadway and performed.[4] In 1962, Norman released his biggest charting single, "I Don't Love You No More (I Don't Care About You)", which reached #21 on the Billboard "Black Singles" chart and #47 on the "Pop Singles" chart.[5]
Songwriting and session work
In 1964, singer
In 1966, Norman recorded several tracks with Jimi Hendrix on session at Abtone Studio in New York: "You're Only Hurting Yourself", "Little Groovemaker" and "On You Girlie It Looks so Good".[8][9] The second of these songs was retooled under the title "Groove Maker" and has been included on a number of Hendrix releases.[10][11] According to Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix, Norman—not Lonnie Youngblood as popularly supposed—was the primary performer besides Hendrix on this song.[12] Jimi Hendrix – From the Benjamin Franklin Studios 3rd Edition Part 1: The Complete Guide to the Recorded Work of Jimi Hendrix posits Youngblood on saxophone, but gives writing credit to Norman.[8] Jimi Hendrix: Musician documents the confusion surrounding this and other Hendrix sessions of the time, including the difficulty in tracking contributions when they also rose from later manipulation of the material as Hendrix became famous.[13] "You're Only Hurting Yourself" and "Little Groovemaker" were first released under Norman's name as Samar records single 112 in 1966 and never again released in original form.[13] "On You Girlie It Looks so Good" remains unreleased.[8]
In 1968, Norman was visited by a young Bob Marley in his
Following these sessions, Norman went to Kingston, Jamaica and spent more than half a year there, working in the studio with Marley and composing songs.[4][14] A number of his compositions were recorded by Marley, Peter Tosh, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, and Neville Willoughby.[4] Some of the tapes recorded by Norman during his sessions with Marley have been commercially released as part of the Marley compilation album, Soul Almighty.[14]
Coasters years
After producing a single for the doo-wop band The Coasters in 1969 for Lloyd Price's Turntable Records, Norman replaced Vernon Harrell as the regular substitute (permanently, later on) for Billy Guy in the group in the 1970s,[16] touring with them until forced to retire by ill-health in 1998, the same year his album Tobacco Road was released by independent label Bad Cat Records.[4][14] In interview, Norman cited the limited repertoire, noting that fans of the band were only interested in hearing hits like "Yakety Yak", "Charlie Brown" and "Poison Ivy"; "In 30 years we did maybe 10 songs."[6] Norman did have opportunity to deviate with other love songs from the 1950s, the era when The Coaster's rose to fame.[17]
During his time with the Coasters, Norman teamed up with Eddie Palmieri as lead vocalist in the group Harlem River Drive, which released a self-titled album in 1971.
Health and economic crisis
Norman suffered multiple heart attacks and respiratory disease which restricted him, impoverished, to his home in Manhattan.
Recovery and death
Wendy Oxenhorn, director of the Foundation, arranged for housekeeping and free medical care for Norman, as well as helping him plan for his future, providing back rent and negotiating with Norman's landlord.[19] In the course of that housekeeping, in July 2002, Norman's rare tape of his jam session with Marley was located in his apartment and placed on auction, retrieving considerably above its estimated value when auctioned at $26,290. During the same housekeeping session, Norman rediscovered old notebooks containing his compositions.[6] Producer Kerryn Tolhurst recorded Norman performing the songs on a tape recorder in his apartment, taking the tapes into the studio later to add parts by other musicians.[6] Judy Collins, whose drummer Tony Beard contributed to the project, released the resultant album under her own Wildflower label in 2004. The project, titled Little Pieces, is the first album Norman has ever released with wide distribution.[6] In 2006, Little Pieces won in The 5th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Blues Album.[20]
In the 2000s, Norman has performed live. In 2003, he performed a benefit concert for the Jazz Foundation at the Gilsey House in New York.[21] In 2007, he took part in the Jazz Foundation's annual "Great Night in Harlem", performing "Time Is on My Side".[22] As of 2007, Norman was performing locally in Manhattan.[19]
Norman died on November 8, 2011, in New York City after a long illness. He had held his last public performance on October 29, 2011, for the Jazz Foundation of America.[23] Married three times, he was the father of two children.[3][4]
Discography
Chart singles
Year | Single | Chart Positions | |
---|---|---|---|
US Pop[24] | US R&B[25] | ||
1962 | "I Don't Love You No More (I Don't Care About You)" | 47 | 21 |
1966 | "Can You Blame Me" | - | 35 |
References
- Broadcast Music Incorporated. Archived from the originalon 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
- Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ a b c d e Briggs, Jimmie (July–August 2005). "After the music". The Crisis. Retrieved 2009-01-04. [dead link]
- ^ The Jamaica Observer. Archived from the originalon September 5, 2006. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
- AllMusic
- ^ a b c d e f Sisario, Ben (2004-11-03). "The songs (with a bumpy detour) never end". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
- ^ "Rolling Stones biography". MTV. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-9527686-5-4.
- ISBN 978-0-9527686-4-7.
- ISBN 1-84449-424-1.
- AllMusic
- ISBN 0-8230-7854-X.
- ^ ISBN 0-87930-764-1.
- ^ a b c d e McKinley, Jesse (2002-12-19). "Pre-reggae tape of Bob Marley is found and put on auction". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
- ISBN 978-0-275-98935-4.
- ISBN 978-1-4259-8981-1.
- Palm Beach Post. p. 2B. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
Second tenor Jimmy Norman did a nice medley of various '50s love songs (not all by The Coasters)
(subscription required) - ^ Wasserman, Joanne (2003-10-15). "Take the aid train: benefit for jazz greats". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
I was trying to hustle gigs in the city, but that wasn't working too good.
[dead link] - ^ a b c Cooke, Patrick (2007-06-07). "Tenacious jazz group leader gets CEO support to aid musicians". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
- ^ Independent Music Awards - 5th Annual Winners Archived 2009-02-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Blumenfeld, Larry (2003-05-20). "Lofty ambitions". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
- ^ Marcus, Richard (2007-12-18). "Music review: various performers: A Great Night in Harlem: A History of the Music". Blogcritics. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
- ^ "Jimmy Norman Has Passed Away". jimmynorman.org. November 8, 2011. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
- ISBN 0-89820-155-1.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995. Record Research. p. 326.
External links
- Interview, National Public Radio
- Jimmy Norman at AllMusic
- Jimmy Norman discography at Discogs
- Jimmy Norman at IMDb