Colorblind James Experience

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Colorblind James Experience were an alternative roots/pop/rock band founded in 1980 in San Francisco, California . Bandleader and singer/songwriter/guitarist "Colorblind" James Charles Cuminale was originally from Rochester, New York but assembled early versions of what would become the Experience in Oswego, New York before relocating to San Francisco. After a couple years of mixed results there, the band regrouped and moved again--back to Rochester, which remained its home base until Cuminale's premature death in 2001. The band enjoyed a brief flirtation with fame in the UK and Europe after BBC DJ John Peel gave the Experience some exposure, and their music has made a deep and lasting impression. Their "Dance Critters" single reached number 10 on the UK Indie Chart, while their albums Colorblind James Experience and Why Should I Stand Up reached numbers 5 and 13 respectively.^[1]

Often humorous ("She's a witch! You were gonna MARRY that girl. She's probl'y been around for a thousand years.", "The music stopped. And then it started again.") and parodic--and just as often laced with a profoundly questioning spirituality--their music blended elements of polka, country, cocktail jazz, blues, rockabilly, Tex-Mex, rock & roll and other genres. The band's sound was to a large extent inspired by the "old, weird America" famously chased by Bob Dylan and The Band during their Basement Tapes period, but other prominent influences included Ray Charles, Randy Newman, and Van Morrison.^[2]

Their line-up changed repeatedly over the years, and their third album was released under the name of Colorblind James and the Death Valley Boys. ^[3]

[edit] Colorblind James Experience Discography

Blind Girl b/w America America (as Colorblind James & The White Caps) (1980) 7" 45rpm
Talk To Me b/w Kojak Chair (1983) 7" 45rpm
Colorblind James Experience (1987)
Sophisticated b/w Havoc Theme (1988) 7" 45rpm
Dance Critters (1988) 12" 45rpm re-mix
Why Should I Stand Up? (1989)
That's Entertainment b/w Buster Cornelius (1989) 7" 45rpm
The Peel Sessions EP (1989)
Strange Sounds from the Basement (1990)
The Rochester Sessions (1992)
Solid! Behind the Times (1992)
I Could Be Your Guide (1996)
Call of the Wild (1999)
Greatest Hits! (2000)

[edit] References

^ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1999. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 0-9517206-9-4.
^ Colorblind James Experience. TrouserPress.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-07.
^ For more detailed information on the band's history, refer to "Colorblind James Experience: Absolutely More!" at http://www.rexhavoc.blogspot.com currently being co-authored by former Experience members Phil Marshall, Dave McIntire and Ken Frank.