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It's a rare event, but Friday
14th July was a hot one. Yes, the sun was out
and so was the lure of the BBQ. But despite the
whiff of cremated sausages, we pulled a decent
crowd. We were treated to about two hours of top
drawer rock and blues. JCB sat at the back
banging out the beat and the jokes clearly
enjoying the gig. It took a couple of numbers,
but they served up a heady mix of classic stuff
from Dylan to Cream to Hendrix to Steve Miller
to Muddy Waters.
As we have now come to expect,
Mick Pini was stupendous on lead guitar.
£10? it beats burnt burgers
any time.
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Featuring Mick Pini on lead guitar |
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We have been working on this one for quite some time so it's a very
warm welcome to Jimmy Carl Black.
This exciting band will feature one of the most popular blues guitarists
we have ever promoted - Mick Pini.
Now living in Germany, we raided the piggy bank to phone Mick and get
the low down on the band. Mick was genuinely excited about the tour as
he is a great admirer of Jimmy Carl Black. The set will be a mix of
blues and rock to include a healthy blend of classic numbers such as
Sick And Tired, Born Under A Bad Sign and Like A Rolling Stone.
Anyone who was at the Mick Pini gig last Autumn, will tell you that
he was on blistering form - probably the best we have ever seen him. So
this one looks set to be even better. This is a golden opportunity to
see and meet the legendary JCB close at hand and enjoy the skills of
these top-drawer musicians.
Below is an extract we have borrowed from Jimmy's web site .... it's
a fascinating read and just shows how connected he is with Rock history.
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He
joined the U.S.A.F. in 1958 and started to play
the drums because there
weren't any trumpets in rock 'n roll. So began a 41 year
stint behind the tubs. (He 's still there.) He cut his
first single in 1962 with a band called "The Keys" in
Wichita, Kansas. He moved to California in 1964 and
there he met Roy Estrada and Ray Collins and started the
band called "The Soul Giants". When their
guitar player got drafted into the Army, Ray said he
knew a guitar player named Frank Zappa, so they
auditioned him and hired him. One month later, Frank
took over as leader of the rockin' combo and the band
was called "The Mothers". |
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1958
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1958
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1965
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The
band played a lot of GO-GO clubs and in '65 met Herb
Cohen, who became their manager. With new management,
they started playing places like The Action Club, The
Whisky A-GO-GO, and The Trip on the Sunset Strip. They
had added guitarist Henry Vestine of "Canned Heat" fame
(who deceased, God bless him) and while at the Whisky.
The famous producer Tom Wilson heard the band playing
"Trouble Coming Every Day" and we had a record deal with
MGM records. The day the contract was signed, Henry quit
the band. Frank has just written "Who Are The Brain
Police" and that was too much for Henry. Anyway, when
they got to the studio to start "Freak Out", Tom Wilson,
who thought he had signed a blues band, was completely
shocked, when they recorded the first song. |
1965
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1969
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It was "Who Are The
Brain Police". Immediately he was on
the phone to MGM saying that
they had not signed a blues band, but some kind of weird
band.
He certainly was right about that. The band made a lot
of albums in the sixties and in late '69 the band
disbanded. Unfortunately, it was the end of one of best
bands ever. |
1969
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We had the great
pleasure to play with some of the greatest musicians of
that era; Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, B.B. King, The
Greatful Dead, The Jefferson Airplane, Cream, The Doors,
Joe Cocker, Arthur Brown, Chicago, Blood, Sweat and
Tears, Albert King, Otis Rush, John Mayall, The Turtles,
John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, The Howlin' Wolf, Capt.
Beafheart, Ten Years Later, The Moody Blues, etc. He is
proud to have met and jammed with those people. The real
legends of rock 'n roll. |
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1970 |
In 1970 Jimmy
formed the band Geronimo Black (named after his youngest
son) with Bunk Gardner and some very fine musicians.
They played around LA for a
couple of years before getting a record deal with MCA
records. In the meantime in 1971 Jimmy went to England
to make a movie called 200 Motels with Frank Zappa while
making the movie he got a chance to meet and work with
one of his favorite all time drummers Ringo Starr.
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1970 |
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1973 |
He also worked with Flo and Eddy
(The
Turtles) Keith Moon and a group of very nice people
it was a very enjoyable experience since it was his
first acting job. In 1972 the record Geronimo Black came
out to very nice reviews but the promotion wasn't what
it should have been. So in '73 Jimmy moved back to his
home town of Anthony and made donuts For Winebel's
Donuts. It wasn't a very good experience for a drummer
that had been sort of a cult star. So he formed a band
called "The Valley Loboys" and cut out a single (a very
rare little biscuit). A couple of years later he changed
the band to Big Sonny and The Loboys which put out one
LP called ln Heat (it will be available on CD in 2000). |
1973 |
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1980
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In l980 Jimmy moved
to Albq. New Mexico where he put out a very rare 50's LP
called Clearly Classic This was a clear plastic blobbed
shaped LP of which only 500 copies were made Also that
year he put out another album of previously unreleased
material from Geronimo Black called "Welcome Back
Geronimo Black" (available soon). That same year The
Grandmothers formed and put out one LP on Rhino records
called A Mother Of An Anthology. |
1980
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1982 |
Don Preston, Bunk Gardner and Jimmy were the main
guys in the band and they toured Europe for two years.
One more record came out in 1982 on
Rhino called "Looking up Grannies Dress" Unfortunately
the band split up and Jimmy moved to Austin Texas. He
was having trouble making a living as a musician so he
hooked up with an old friend of his from the '60's days;
Arthur Brown (The crazy World of) and they started a
painting company called "The Gentlemen of Color".
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1982 |
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1989
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Meanwhile he had formed a blues band
called Jimmy Carl Black and The Mannish Boys. They
recorded a LP with a company called Amazing Records.
While making that record, Jimmy and Arthur went in to
the studio and made a classic 60's R&B record called
Brown, Black and Blue which came out in 1989 on Blue
Wave Records (since released on CD with Voiceprint
Records, England). In 1988 Jimmy reformed the Austin
Grandmothers. He was the only original Grandmother in
the band, but that would change a few years later.
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1989
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1991 |
In 1991 Jimmy went
to Europe to play with Eugene Chadbourne at the famous
Moers New Music Jazz Festival. It was a twelve piece
experimental band with Don Preston also in the band.
That was the beginning of Jimmy's dream to move to
Europe. In 1992 Jimmy moved to Vicenza, Italy with his
wife, who was a school teacher with the military. While
there Jimmy contacted Muffin Records in Stuttgart,
Germany and made a deal to release the Grandmothers new
CD called Dreams on Long Play which was recorded in
Austin just before he moved to Europe. |
1991 |
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At that time Eugene
had contacted Jimmy to start
touring in Europe as a duo. So began the more than 100
shows; over a two year period of time of the Jack and
Jim Show. They recorded two CD's the first one on
Fundamental Records called Locked in a Dutch Coffee shop
The second one on Firefly Records is a tribute to Capt
Beefheart called Pachuco Cadaver |
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1993
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The Grandmothers new
CD was released in 1993 and the first European tour,
with newly acquired Don Preston and Bunk Gardner,
started a series of tours to commence. |
1993
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1994 |
The second tour the Grannnies changed guitar players and
hired a very talented
Sandro Oliva from Rome, Italy. In l994 the Grannies
released another CD with the new lineup called Who Could
Imagine on Munich Records. After a much disputed law
suite, I won't mention names, the band disbanded.
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1994 |
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1995
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In
l995 Jimmy started a blues band called "The Farrell &
Black Band" and they
have been playing together for
almost five years and have two CD's the first one
released in 1996 is called Cateract Jump on Fritz
Records. The new CD, being released the 15th of Sept, is
called Black Limousine on Stormy Monday Records.
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1995
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 In
1995 Jimmy also started playing with a great band from
Liverpool, England called the Muffin Men. He has done
six tours with this band as a lead singer. He's bun on
three CD's of the Muffin's the first is called Say
Cheese and Thank You; the second is called Frankincence
and the third called MufFinZ and they are all on Muffin
Records Productions. Those records are over a four year
period of time. There is a new one coming out in
November 1999. |
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1996
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 Jimmy
released a CD of old unreleased material in 1996 called
When do we Get Paid on Cargo records. I am in the
process of finishing a new R. & B. CD with a great band
from Salzburg, Austria. This should be available in the
first part of the year 2000. |
1996
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He also has plans to record a CD of
American Indian music that he has been wanting to do for
a long time. Two dear friends of his are helping with
the music.
Essra Mohawk is writing the music to a song called
"For the Little People" and
Dawayne Bailey is writing the music to a song called
"Chief Old Fox". He is providing the lyrics. The
Grandmothers have a new CD coming out soon. A live
recording from the Astoria Theater in London recorded on
the 1998 tour with Bunk Gardner (our first tour since
the trouble). lt is a good one (see discography for more
info) Jimmy hopes to record in the year 2000 a CD that
has been his dream from a long time. If he can find the
financing, he will record with his three sons a CD of
mostly his youngest son Geronimo's music. He plays
guitar, Darrell plays drums and Gary plays bongos,
conga's, thimbles and trumpet. It will be an interesting
project. Jimmy hopes that you enjoy his homepage and
will send comments through the e-mail or anyway you
choose to keep in contact with him. So until the next
update he's signing off. Thanks
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2001 |
The new century was really great for
Jimmy as he got more into the computer. He was learning
about music production and the dream of forming his own
record company for release of rare material he´s been
toting around for many years. The year 2000 was the year
Jimmy did the most touring he has ever done in his
career. He did over 150 dates in Europe and the United
States. In the states the Grandmothers played 58 show´s
in 66 days and travelled 17,200 miles and were in 42
states. They were promoting the new CD; "Eating The
Astoria". He did two tours with The Muffin Men and two
tours with The Farrell/Black Band.
The year 2001 was
also a busy time in Jimmy´s career as he released
several CD´s in CD-Rom form on his new label, Inkanish
Records. He did quite a bit of touring, but not as heavy
as the year before, as he was told by his doctor in
October that he had a weak case of Leukima. He did get
together with Eugene Chadbourne again and The Jack and
Jim Show was in business again. Two CD´s resulted in the
two small tours they did. "2001: A Spaced Odysessy" and
"Reflections and Experiences of Jimi Hendrix" are the
CD´s that resulted in those tours. Also a new CD from
The Muffin Men called "More Songs From The Campfire". In
Oct. he joined forces with his new pardner Robert
O´Haire and the official beginning of Inkanish Records
was solidified.
In March of this year the first two
releases from Inkanish Records is happening. Jimmy Carl
Black and the X-tra Combo released the new CD "Mercedes
Benz" and The Grandmothers new CD "The Eternal
Question". There is going to be two more releases before
the end of the year but as of now, uncertain which ones
it will be. It looks like an interesting year touring
wise for Jimmy coming up. April-May-June will be with
The Muffins in Europe, England, Scotland, and Ireland.
In Sept.-Oct. there is a tour with The e.u. Grandmothers
featuring Candy Zappa on vocals that is going to be
great and then the winter tour with The Muffins again. I
promise to keep this bio more up to date. Thank you all
for the interest in this website. |
2001 |
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Jimmy Carl Black
Mick Pini |