Marion Agness James (October 8, 1934 – December 31, 2015) was an American blues singer and songwriter. She was considered Nashville's "Queen of the Blues." Her career spanned sixty years, where she wrote a hit song, "That's My Man". A flamboyant character, James was known to sign her name adding "The Blues Queen" and often wore a tiara at her live performances.

Life and career

James was born into a musical family in

Nashville, Tennessee 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 ...

. Her mother was the pianist at her local church, her sister sang with the

Clara Ward Clara Mae Ward (April 21, 1924 – January 16, 1973) was an American gospel singer who achieved great artistic and commercial success during the 1940s and 1950s, as leader of The Famous Ward Singers. A gifted singer and arranger, Ward adopted ...

Singers, and some of her cousins were professional musicians. James herself sought inspiration in listening to blues singers at vaudeville shows and from her mother's record collection. James came to fame in the blues clubs of Jefferson Street in the early 1960s. Before she earned the title of Nashville's Queen of the Blues, she was called "House Rockin James." Jimi Hendrix was a member of her band when he first started playing the guitar professionally, and she also had

Billy Cox William Cox (born October 18, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix. Cox is the only surviving musician to have regularly played with Hendrix: first with the experimental group that backed Hendrix at Woodstoc ...

in her backing lineup. In 1966, James had a top ten hit single with "That's My Man," a song she composed, released by

Excello Records Excello Records was an American blues independent record label, started by Ernie Young in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, in 1953 as a subsidiary of Nashboro, a gospel label. History It recorded such artists as Lonnie Brooks, Lightnin' Slim ...

. She continued to perform until the mid-1980s, when she took a break from traveling. By the early part of the 1990s, James had met Casey Lutton and joined his group, the Hypnotics. In 1996, Appaloosa Records released the album ''Marion James & the Hypnotics''. After that, she shared the stage with many notable performers, including

Chick Willis Robert Lee "Chick" Willis (September 24, 1934 – December 7, 2013) was an American blues singer and guitarist, who performed and recorded from the 1950s to the 2000s. Biography He was born in Cabaniss, Monroe County, Georgia, the cousin of Ch ...

, Rufus Thomas, and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. In 2003, her album ''Essence'' was released by Soulfood Records. Among those playing on the record were

Beegie Adair Bobbe Gorin "Beegie" Adair ( Long, December 11, 1937 – January 23, 2022) was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. In a career that spanned 60 years, she played on more than 100 recordings. More than a third of her recordings were with the B ...

Reese Wynans Reese Wynans (born November 28, 1947) is an American keyboard player, who has done session work and has been a member of Double Trouble and progressive rock band Captain Beyond. In 2015, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a m ...

, Jack Pearson (

The Allman Brothers The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar ...

), the bassist Bob Babbitt, and the drummer Chucki Burke. Her album ''Northside Soul'', issued by EllerSoul Records in 2012, reached number 10 on the ''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van ...

'' chart. In 2013, she recorded "Back in the Day" at Washington's Jefferson Street Sound recording studios. It recalled the time when Jefferson Street was lined with smoke-filled nightclubs, which played host to Little Richard,

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

, Jimi Hendrix and James. James helped retired musicians in need, by founding the Marion James Aid Society. In addition, for more than 30 years, she organized a Musicians Reunion Benefit. She led a campaign to erect two statues, of Jimi Hendrix and Little Richard, on Jefferson Street. Her career was highlighted in an exhibit at the

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amas ...

entitled "Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues 1945–1970". James died on December 31, 2015, at the age of 81, in her hometown, from the effects of a stroke.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

2012 interview with JamesSingles discography at Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Marion 1934 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American blues singers 20th-century African-American women singers Songwriters from Tennessee Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee 20th-century American women singers Excello Records artists 21st-century American women singers African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American women singers