Fred James

Fred James, operating out of Nashville, functions equally as an archivist, performer, and business founder, while Bluesland Productions ranks among the leading independent labels worldwide that concentrate on blues, soul, and American roots music. Born February 3, 1954, in San Antonio, TX, he relocated with his family to Wichita, KS, the city where he grew up. His father, Fred James, Sr., earned recognition as a jazz trumpeter who cut sides with the Johnny Harris Quartet during the ’70s. Doug James, his uncle, works as a New York session player whose credits include Paul Butterfield, Orleans, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and additional artists. Mid-’60s radio offered wide-ranging playlists, and jazz and blues filled the household during his childhood, so Fred absorbed everything, drawing inspiration from Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Otis Redding, Buck Owens, and, in his words, “all of the rock groups.” The first live show he attended featured the Jimmy Smith Trio alongside the Ramsey Lewis Trio; the second was a Dick Clark package that included Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon, Keith Allison, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and the Animals.

His family’s musical involvement runs deep: two brothers also work as recording artists and studio musicians. James settled in Nashville in 1973, a period when the city still welcomed emerging talent. He quickly secured studio and touring work with Billy Joe Shaver, Vern Gosdin, Townes Van Zandt, and others. Frets magazine named him among Nashville’s leading session players, yet he also pursued songwriting. While on staff at Mel Tillis’ publishing company he landed his first recorded song with the Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose. In 1977 he released his debut album, Alfred James, on the small Cascade imprint. By the early ’80s he was playing guitar in Dr. Hook’s band, which augmented its lineup with the Memphis Horns. Once the tour concluded, the Horns invited him to join as singer and guitarist; he remained with them for the next two years until studio demands ended their live performances.

He then began writing for Audigram Music, the company associated with J.J. Cale. One result, “Full Moon on Main Street,” received a W.C. Handy Award nomination for Best Blues Song of 1987. The following year he supplied “Lightning” for Johnny Winter’s Winter of ’88 album. These successes let him launch his own publishing firm and focus on the expanding blues market of the ’90s. Numerous tracks were subsequently recorded by Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter, Junior Wells with Bonnie Raitt, Son Seals, C.J. Chenier, Katie Webster, and Charlie Musselwhite, earning James five Grammy nominations. He assembled Freddie & the Screamers, drawing members from the Amazing Rhythm Aces and Willie Dixon’s band; the group issued four CDs on various European, Australian, and American labels.

The roster of artists for whom Fred James has played guitar reads like a compendium of pop, soul, jazz, blues, and roots figures: Johnny Copeland, Arthur Williams, the Jelly Roll Kings, Billy Joe Shaver, Bo Diddley, the Carter Brothers, the Memphis Horns, Dr. Hook, the Excello Legends, Tommy Tutone, Townes Van Zandt, Dickey Lee, the Delta Jukes, Black Tie, Vern Gosdin, Bobby Hebb, and many more. As a producer he oversaw sessions for the Sam Lay Blues Band, Homesick James, Frank Frost, Roscoe Shelton, and Earl Gaines on imprints such as Black Top, Evidence, Telarc, Ichiban, Appaloosa, Hightone, and Black Magic. Building on this work, Bluesland acquired historic master recordings from the ’50s and ’60s, purchasing the Champion, Poncello, Ref-O-Ree, and Bullet/Sur-Speed/Delta catalogs; these classic blues and soul sides have since been reissued globally.

He has toured Europe with his wife, Mary-Ann Brandon, as well as with Frank Frost and the Jelly Roll Kings, the Excello Legends (Roscoe Shelton and Earl Gaines), and Charles Walker and Johnny Jones. Since the Amazing Rhythm Aces’ 1990s reunion James has served as their guitarist and appears on the Nothin’ But the Blues album. He has also completed three solo albums and performs with his own band when scheduling allows. In partnership with Brandon he established the ROAD Records label; one release features his father on trumpet along with guest appearances by Amazing Rhythm Aces members.

When not otherwise occupied, he typically contributes liner notes to Aim Records reissues of the Sound Stage Seven series highlighting Moody Scott, Earl Gaines, and Geater Davis, plus projects for Black Magic Records, Ace Records (U.K.), and Germany’s Bear Family Records. In 2006 he was preparing a book titled The Big Bang: The American Musical Renaissance 1925-1975.