John Colbert (November 20, 1946 – November 30, 2011), known professionally as J. Blackfoot, was an American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer. A member of

The Soul Children The Soul Children was an American vocal group who recorded soul music for Stax Records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They had three top 10 hits on the U.S. ''Billboard'' R&B chart – "The Sweeter He Is" (1969), "Hearsay" (1972), and "I ...

in the late 1960s and 1970s, he subsequently had a moderately successful solo career. His biggest hit was "Taxi", which reached the charts in both the US and UK in 1984.

Biography

John Colbert was born in

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 34,400 at the 2010 census. It is located in the area of historic cotton plantations and culture known as the Mississippi Delta. Hi ...

, moving as a child to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, with his family. Generally known as "J." or "Jay", he acquired the nickname "Blackfoot" as a child, for his habit of walking barefoot on the tarred sidewalks. In 1965, while spending some time in

Tennessee State Penitentiary Tennessee State Prison is a former correctional facility located six miles west of downtown Nashville, Tennessee on Cockrill Bend. It opened in 1898 and has been closed since 1992 because of overcrowding concerns. The mothballed facility was seve ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

for car theft, he met Johnny Bragg, the founder of

The Prisonaires The Prisonaires were an American doo-wop group, whose hit " Just Walkin' in the Rain" was released on Sun Records in 1953, while the group was incarcerated in the Tennessee State Penitentiary in Nashville. The group was led by Johnny Bragg (born ...

vocal group.Mehr, Bob
"Stax star J. Blackfoot dies"
The Commercial Appeal, November 30, 2011. Accessed January 19, 2018. After leaving prison, Colbert recorded a single under his own name for the small Sur-Speed label, before returning to Memphis. There he was heard singing in a street-corner group by David Porter of

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

. After the

plane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

that claimed the lives of

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

and four members of

The Bar-Kays The Bar-Kays are an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of record chart, charting single (music), singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" (US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, Hot R&B/Hip ...

, Colbert joined the reconstituted group as lead singer, and performed with them for several months, but did not record. In 1968, after

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...

had moved from Stax to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, Porter and his

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

and

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

partner

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

decided to put together a new vocal group of two men and two women. They recruited Blackfoot, together with Norman West, Anita Louis, and Shelbra Bennett, to form The Soul Children. Between 1968 and 1978, The Soul Children had 15 hits on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

, including three that crossed over to the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, and recorded seven albums. The Soul Children disbanded in 1979. Blackfoot worked with bands in the Memphis area, and recorded solo for the local Prime Cut label. In 1983, he began working again with writer and producer

Homer Banks Homer Banks (August 2, 1941 – April 3, 2003) was an African American songwriter, singer and record producer. Although best known by many for his songwriting for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s, some of his own releases from the 1960s are co ...

, with whom he had recorded with The Soul Children. He recorded "Taxi", a song originally written for

Johnnie Taylor Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. In 2022, Taylor was ...

but not recorded by him. Blackfoot's record rose to no. 4 on the R&B chart and no. 90 on the pop chart, also reaching no. 48 in the UK. Colbert recorded several albums, and had several more R&B hits on Banks' Sound Town label before moving to the

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

label formed by

Al Bell Al Bell (born Alvertis Isbell; March 15, 1940) is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. He is best known as having been an executive and co-owner of Stax Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee, during the latter half of the ...

in 1986. In 1987, he had another significant hit, "Tear Jerker", a duet with Ann Hines, reaching no. 28 on the R&B chart. Background Singer Larry(LJ)Johnson played a Major part in his first four albums including and after Taxi as Singer Writer and Vocal Arranger before joining The Barkays. . J. Blackfoot later moved to the Basix label, continuing to release albums into the new millennium. In 2007, Blackfoot and West reformed the Soul Children, with Hines and fourth member Cassandra Graham. In 2010, Blackfoot appeared as part of David Porter's music revue. J. Blackfoot died of pancreatic cancer on November 30, 2011.

Discography

Albums

* ''City Slicker'' (Sound Town, 1983) * ''Physical Attraction'' (Sound Town, 1984) * ''U-Turn'' (Edge, 1987) * ''Loveaholic'' (Basix, 1991) * ''Room Service'' (Basix, 1993) * ''Reality'' (Basix, 1995) * ''This Christmas'' (Basix, 1997) * ''Stealing Love'' (Basix, 1997) * ''Having An Affair'' (Basix, 1999) * ''At His Best'' (Basix, 1999) * ''Same Place Same Time'' (Basix, 2001) * ''It Ain't Over Til It's Over'' (JEA Music, 2006) * ''Woof Woof Meow'' (JEA Music, 2009) * ''Soles Of My Shoes'' (Locobop, 2009)

Chart singles

References

External links

Biography
on Soul Walking website

at Soul Express {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackfoot, J. 1946 births 2011 deaths Musicians from Greenville, Mississippi American soul singers deaths from pancreatic cancer deaths from cancer in Tennessee prisoners and detainees of Tennessee 20th-century American criminals