Junior Kimbrough

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Junior Kimbrough (born David Kimbrough in Hudsonville, Mississippi, July 28, 1930; d. Holly Springs, Mississippi, January 17, 1998) was a legendary bluesman from Mississippi.

Kimbrough lived in the North Mississippi Hill Country around Holly Springs. He recorded for the Fat Possum Records label. He was a long-time associate of labelmate RL Burnside, and the Burnside and Kimbrough families often collaborated on musical projects. This relationship continues today.

Beginning around 1992, Kimbrough operated a juke joint known as "Junior's Place" in Chulahoma, Mississippi, which attracted visitors from around the world, including members of U2 and The Rolling Stones. Kimbrough's sons, musicians Kinney and David Malone Kimbrough (two of Junior's rumored to be twenty-eight children), kept it open following his death, until it burned to the ground on April 6, 2000.

Junior Kimbrough died in 1998 following a stroke.

Contents

[edit] Music

Junior Kimbrough began playing guitar in his youth, and counted Lightning Hopkins as an early influence. In the late 50s Kimbrough began playing in his own style, which made use of mid-tempo rhythms and a steady drone he played with his thumb on the bass strings of his guitar. His music is characterized by the tricky syncopations between his droning bass strings and his mid-range melodies. His soloing style has been described as modal and features langorous runs in the mid and upper register. The result is complex and funky, described by music critic Robert Palmer as "hypnotic."

Kimbrough's music defies easy categorization. In solo and ensemble settings it is often poly-rhythmic, which links it explicitly to the music of Africa. Fellow North Mississippi bluesman and former Kimbrough bassist Eric Deaton has suggested similarities between Junior Kimbrough's music and Malian bluesman Ali Farka Toure's.

[edit] Career and Influence

Kimbrough made his recorded debut with a cover of Lowell Fulson's "Tramp" released as a 45 on an independent label in the early to mid 1960s. He recorded off and on until his death in 1998. Among his earliest extant recordings are two duets with rockabilly legend and childhood friend Charlie Feathers from 1969. Feathers counted Kimbrough as an early influence, calling him "the beginning and end of all music." This quote is on the back of Kimbrough's tombstone.

Kimbrough recorded very little in the 70s, contributing an early version of "Meet Me In The City" to a European blues anthology. With his band, The Soul Blues Boys, Kimbrough recorded throughout the 80s, releasing a single in 1982 ("Keep Your Hands Off Her" b/w "I Feel Good, Little Girl") that shows him backed by a superb band of hill country musicians and at the top of his powers as a singer and guitarist. He recorded at least one session for the independent label Gold Star in the mid 80s, though this label has never released any of his material. The High Water label recorded a 1988 session with Kimbrough and The Soul Blues Boys, releasing it in 1997 with his 1982 45 as Do The Rump.

Junior came to national attention in 1992 with his debut album All Night Long. Robert Palmer produced the album for Oxford, Miss., label Fat Possum Records, recording it in a local church with Junior's son Kent "Kinney" Kimbrough (aka Kenny Malone) on drums and RL Burnside's son Garry Burnside on bass. The album featured many of his most celebrated songs, including the title track, the complexly melodic "Meet Me In The City," and "You Better Run" a harrowing ballad of attempted rape. All Night Long earned near-unanimous praise from critics, receiving four stars in Rolling Stone magazine. His stock continued to rise the following year after live footage of him playing "All Night Long" in one of his juke joints appeared in the Robert Mugge-directed, Robert Palmer-narrated documentary Deep Blues. This performance was actually recorded earlier, probably about 1990, and showed Junior just before a stroke robbed him of much of his energy.

A second album for Fat Possum, Sad Days and Lonely Nights followed in 1994. A video for the album's title track featured Junior, Garry Burnside and Kent Kimbrough playing in Junior's legendary juke joint, with its distinct murals and relaxed atmosphere. The last album he would record, Most Things Haven't Worked Out, appeared on Fat Possum in 1997. Following his death in 1998, Fat Possum released two posthumous compilations of material Kimbrough recorded in the 90s, God Knows I Tried (1998) and Meet Me In The City (1999). A greatest hits compilation, You Better Run: The Essential Junior Kimbrough, followed in 2002. Fat Possum released a tribute album, Sunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough, in 2005, that featured the likes of Iggy & The Stooges (Kimbrough once toured with frontman Iggy Pop), The Black Keys and Spritiualized.

Kimbrough's influence is most apparent in the Oxford and north Mississippi music scene. His son, David Kimbrough, is an accomplished guitarist, singer and songwriter in his own right, releasing his first album (as David Malone) on Fat Possum records in the mid 90s and his second, Shell-Shocked, on Lucky 13/BC Records in 2006. Garry Burnside, one of Kimbrough's bassists, teamed with his nephew, drummer Cedric Burnside, as Burnside Exploration, to record The Record (2006). Both Burnsides count Kimbrough as a formative influence, as does Duwayne Burnside, Garry's older brother, who used to back Kimbrough in his youth. Another Kimbrough bassist and acolyte, Eric Deaton released his debut, Gonna Be Trouble Here in 2006 as well. Contemporary bands the North Mississippi All Stars, The Black Keys, Jimbo Mathus & The Knockdown Society and Mr. Airplane Man all count Junior Kimbrough among their influences.

[edit] Discography

  • "All Night Long"
  • "Sad Days, Lonely Nights"
  • "Do The Rump"
  • "Most Things Haven't Worked Out"
  • "God Knows I Tried"
  • "Meet Me in the City"
  • "You Better Run: The Essential Junior Kimbrough"
  • "Sunday Nights - The Songs of Junior Kimbrough" (Tribute album)
  • "The Black Keys - Chulahoma" (Songs written by Junior Kimbrough performed by The Black Keys)

[edit] Films

  • Deep Blues (1991). Directed by Robert Mugge.
  • You See Me Laughin': The Last of the Hill Country Bluesmen (2003; released by Fat Possum Records in 2005). Produced and directed by Mandy Stein. Oxford, Mississippi: Plain Jane Productions, Inc; Fat Possum Records.

[edit] External links

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