Jim Dawson

Born in Miami, Oklahoma, Jim Dawson spent his formative years in Littleton, Colorado. Playing piano and guitar without formal instruction, he appeared in multiple high-school ensembles prior to joining the United States Naval Air Reserve in 1963. The next year found him working as a maintenance controller for a squadron of F-48 Phantom jets while stationed aboard the USS Independence in the South China Sea. After receiving an honorable discharge in 1966, he relocated to New York and began refining his craft in folk clubs and coffeehouses. For a short time he joined the band the Good Earth alongside Bill Swofford, who later achieved worldwide recognition under the name Oliver with the hit “Good Morning Starshine.” Dawson resumed solo work in 1968 and did not obtain a recording deal until three years afterward.

Early in the 1970s he was widely regarded as one of the most promising voices in contemporary folk music. The Kama Sutra label signed him in 1972 and promoted him as the “next Dylan.” Neither of his initial releases for the company, Songman and You’ll Never Be Lonely with Me, reached the charts or produced any singles. In 1974 he moved to RCA and cut a self-titled third album produced by Terry Cashman and Tommy West, the team behind Jim Croce’s records. Still lacking a commercial breakthrough, he relocated to Jamaica for several months of substance use and heavy drinking. Back in New York by 1978, he supported himself through apartment cleaning and taxi driving. Encouraged by friends, he resumed songwriting in the mid-1980s and began playing small venues in Westchester County and Long Island. His first significant opportunity arrived when he was commissioned to compose and record the theme for a popular German television soap opera. The payment enabled him to equip a home studio in his New York apartment. Since 1985 he has partnered with guitarist and vocalist Warren Nichols; together they issued Songman Recorded Winter 2000 in May 2001 and Therapy in Session in 2002.