Jimmy James

Born Michael James on September 13, 1940, the future beat R&B vocalist Jimmy James grew up in Jamaica and began delivering American soul material in the late 1950s. Working alone, he placed two Tip Top Records releases at the top of the Jamaican charts—“Bewildered and Blue” and “Come to Me Softly,” the latter also climbing to number 70 in the United States. Shortly afterward, the Vagabonds, already one of Jamaica’s leading groups, recruited him as their frontman, and Jimmy James & the Vagabonds came together in 1960. The ensemble secured a regular slot at London’s Marquee Club, where British audiences, hungry for American soul sounds that rarely reached England amid the early stirrings of Northern soul, embraced their sets. The lineup included Rupert Balgobin on drums, Phillip Chen on rhythm guitar, Coleson Chen on bass, Wallace Wilson on lead guitar, Carl Noel on organ, saxophonists Carl Griffiths and Fred Fredericks, and the irrepressible Count Prince Miller, whose audience-participation antics made him nearly as central as Jimmy himself.

Their initial Pye Records deal yielded only a string of unsuccessful singles until a live album recorded at the Marquee Club caught on, followed by the studio release The New Religion. Among 45s, the band’s lone near-success was a 1968 reading of Neil Diamond’s “Red Red Wine.” In 1970 the original Vagabonds dissolved and relinquished the name. Retaining ownership, Jimmy assembled a new quartet—guitarist Chris Garfield, bassist Alan Wood, drummer Russell Courtney, and keyboardist Alan Kirk—all of them white and competent onstage yet lacking the visceral spark of their predecessors and the magnetic presence of Count Prince Miller, who scored a solo reggae hit in 1971 with “Mule Train.”

With the refreshed unit, James notched a modest Lanita Records success, “A Man Like Me,” produced by Biddu. Further sides appeared on Trojan before the singer renewed ties with both Pye and Biddu, resulting in the chart entry “Help Yourself.” Throughout the 1970s the group maintained a steady live schedule, though a series of 1980s singles made scant impact. In the 1990s James briefly rejoined Curtis Winston and Count Prince Miller for select performances.