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Updated
11/16/2008 01:42 PM
News
Flash
From The Blues Foundation website
Blues Shouter Jimmy T-99 Nelson Passes
Jimmy "T-99" Nelson, the last of the real-deal blues shouters, died on
Sunday July 29, 2007 of cancer at St. Dominic's nursing home in Houston.
Born in 1919, Jimmy "T-99" Nelson had a recording career that spaned
over 50 years and established him as one of the true elder statesman of
American music.
Nelson got his start singing in church. In 1941, he saw a performance by
Big Joe Turner and realized he wanted to sing the blues. Big Joe taught
Jimmy about singing, performance and the music business. Jimmy, in turn,
absorbed the shouting style of his mentor.
From 1951 through 1961, Nelson released eight singles with the Bihari
Brothers' Modern/RPM label. The biggest of these was the classic "T-99
Blues" (which refers to old Texas Highway 99), which debuted in June
1951. It stayed on the national R&B charts for twenty-one weeks and
reached 1. In 1952, Nelson had another RPM hit with "Meet Me With Your
Black Dress On."
Nelson began touring, performing with bands led byJoe Liggins and Roy
and playing venues including the Apollo and Howard theaters. He cut
singles for a number of labels including Kent, Chess, Music City,
Paradise and All Boy.
In 1955, Nelson met and married his Nettie (also deceased) and adopted
Houston as his hometown. For the next 20 years, Nelson settled down and
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
issued ten of his sides on an album. Nelson since has resumed touring
and has released two albums, including 1999's "Rockin' And Shoutin' The
Blues" (Rounder Records) and "Take Your Pick" (Nettie Marie Records /
2002). In 2004, Ace recently released "Cry Hard Luck" featuring
re-issues of Nelson's Kent & RPM recordings from 1951-1961.
After a long period of dormancy, Nelson launched a successful comeback
in 1998. His late-period song "I'm Sure Going to Miss Show Business" was
discovered by Elvis Costello, who played a recording of Nelson's version
at the close of all his shows on his 2003 world tour.
Nelson was a fantastic singer, the last of his kind, and one of the
finest songwriters the blues has ever known.
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