American Musician and Songwriter. Cotton, a blues harmonica player, made his initial recording, 'Cotton Crop Blues', for Sun Records in 1953 at age 15, before rising to fame as a sideman for Muddy Waters during a 12-year stint into the 1960s. Over the years, he would record and perform with such acts as Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead, Keith Richards, B.B. King, Santana, Cream, Little Feat, Steve Miller and many others. In a span of seven decades, he wrote and recorded over two dozen albums, among them 'The James Cotton Blues Band' (1967), 'Taking Care of Business' (1970), '100% Cotton' (1974), 'High Compression' (1984), Harp Attack!' (1990), 'Living the Blues' (1994), 'Seems Like Yesterday' (1998), 'Fire Down Under the Hill' (2000), 'Giant' (2010) and 'Cotton Mouth Man' (2013). One of his last studio recordings was on the opening track, "Matches Don't Burn Memories", of The Dr. Izzy Band's debut album 'Blind and Blues Bound' (2013). Cotton, who was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2006, died after a bout with pneumonia.
American Musician and Songwriter. Cotton, a blues harmonica player, made his initial recording, 'Cotton Crop Blues', for Sun Records in 1953 at age 15, before rising to fame as a sideman for Muddy Waters during a 12-year stint into the 1960s. Over the years, he would record and perform with such acts as Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead, Keith Richards, B.B. King, Santana, Cream, Little Feat, Steve Miller and many others. In a span of seven decades, he wrote and recorded over two dozen albums, among them 'The James Cotton Blues Band' (1967), 'Taking Care of Business' (1970), '100% Cotton' (1974), 'High Compression' (1984), Harp Attack!' (1990), 'Living the Blues' (1994), 'Seems Like Yesterday' (1998), 'Fire Down Under the Hill' (2000), 'Giant' (2010) and 'Cotton Mouth Man' (2013). One of his last studio recordings was on the opening track, "Matches Don't Burn Memories", of The Dr. Izzy Band's debut album 'Blind and Blues Bound' (2013). Cotton, who was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2006, died after a bout with pneumonia.
Bio by: Louis du Mort
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