James Nelson (April 7, 1919 – July 29, 2007), known as Jimmy "T99" Nelson, was an American jump blues and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

shouter and

songwriter 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 ...

. With a recording career that spanned over 50 years, Jimmy "T99" Nelson became a distinguished elder statesman of American music. His best known recordings are "T-99 Blues" and "Meet Me With Your Black Dress On". Nelson notably worked with

Duke Robillard Michael John "Duke" Robillard (born October 4, 1948) is an American guitarist and singer. He founded the band Roomful of Blues and was a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Although Robillard is known as a rock and blues guitarist, he also pla ...

and

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Career

Nelson got his start singing in church. In 1941, he saw a performance by Big Joe Turner while he was visiting

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, and realized he wanted to sing the blues. Turner taught Nelson about singing, performance and the music business. Nelson, in turn, absorbed the shouting style of his mentor. From 1951 through 1961, Jimmy Nelson and the Peter Rabbit Trio released eight

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

with the Bihari Brothers' Modern/RPM label. The biggest of these was "T-99 Blues" (which referred to the old Texas Highway #99), which debuted in June 1951. It stayed on the US '' Billboard'' R&B chart for twenty-one weeks and reached number 1. In 1952, Nelson had another RPM hit with "Meet Me With Your Black Dress On". Nelson began touring, performing with bands led by Joe Liggins and

Roy Milton Roy Bunny Milton (July 31, 1907 – September 18, 1983) was an American R&B and jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader. Career Milton's grandmother was Chickasaw. He was born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and grew up on an Indian reservation bef ...

, and playing venues including the

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

and Howard theaters. He cut singles for a number of labels including

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, Music City, Paradise and All Boy, and

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

(including for them the 1955 "Free and Easy Mind"). From 1955 to 1975, Nelson took a job working construction, though he continued to write songs and sit in with bands. In the 1980s, Nelson came to the wider attention of blues fans when

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

issued ten of his sides on an album. ''Sweet Sugar Daddy'' a compilation album from the Japanese P-Vine Records, which mainly consisted of unreleased studio recordings from the 1960s and 1970s, was also released in 1988. Nelson resumed touring and in 1999, released a comeback album ''Rockin' and Shoutin' the Blues'' from the Bullseye Blues & Jazz label. This album was nominated in two categories of the W.C. Handy Awards the following year. Two more newly recorded albums followed on his own Nettie Marie label prior to his death, both featuring an all-star back-up band including

. In 2004, Ace released ''Cry Hard Luck'', featuring re-issues of Nelson's Kent and RPM recordings from 1951-1961.

Personal life

In 1955, Nelson married Nettie (who has since died) and adopted Houston, Texas as his hometown. Nelson died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at a nursing home in Houston on July 29, 2007.

Discography

Singles

* 1951: "T-99 Blues" (with the Peter Rabbit Trio) * 1952: "Meet Me With Your Black Dress On" (RPM Records) * 1963: "Tell Me Who" (Paradise 1002, Chess 1877)

Albums

* 1987: ''Watch That Action'' (Ace, CHD228) * 1999: ''Rockin' and Shoutin' the Blues'' (Bullseye Blues & Jazz, 793985) (feat. Doug James, Rich Lataille and Clarence Hollimon) * 2002: ''Take Your Pick'' (Nettie Marie) * 2005: ''The Legend'' (Nettie Marie)

Compilation albums

* 1981: ''Jimmy "Mr. T99" Nelson'' (Ace) * 1988: ''Sweet Sugar Daddy'' (P-Vine) * 2003: ''Cry Hard Luck: The RPM and Kent Recordings 1951-61'' (Ace)

References

External links

Allmusic biography AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

br>Jimmy Nelson at discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Jimmy 1919 births 2007 deaths American blues singers American rhythm and blues singers American male singer-songwriters American blues singer-songwriters Jump blues musicians RPM Records (United States) artists Chess Records artists Deaths from cancer in Texas West Coast blues musicians 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers