Francis "Scrapper" Blackwell cut the earliest known blues treatment of "Kokomo," the once-popular early-twentieth-century coffee brand, during his 1928 recording session. Slide specialist James Arnold reworked the piece into "Old Original Kokomo Blues" at a Decca date in 1934 and thereby acquired the permanent professional identity Kokomo Arnold.
Born in Georgia, Arnold launched his musical activities in Buffalo, New York, during the early 1920s. While prohibition remained in force he earned his living chiefly as a bootlegger, treating music as a secondary pursuit. Even so, he developed a highly individual bottleneck-slide technique and vocal approach that distinguished him from fellow performers of the period. After a brief residence in Mississippi he traveled to Memphis and cut his first sides for Victor in May 1930 under the pseudonym Gitfiddle Jim. He later relocated to Chicago to be closer to bootlegging opportunities, yet the repeal of the Volstead Act ended that trade and prompted him to devote himself entirely to music.
Between the initial Decca session of 10 September 1934 and his final date of 12 May 1938, Arnold recorded eighty-eight titles issued under his own name; only nine were rejected by the label, and two of those have since surfaced. Pianist Peetie Wheatstraw appeared on several of the dates, though most tracks were solo performances. Arnold also supplied guitar on two numbers waxed in July 1936 by Oscar’s Chicago Swingers, the dance band fronted by singer Sam Theard. The sheer volume of his output indicated commercial success, and indeed he ranked, alongside Wheatstraw and Amos Easton (Bumble Bee Slim), among the leading blues artists featured in Decca’s Race series throughout the decade. He likewise enjoyed a solid reputation as a live performer, appearing regularly in Chicago and occasionally in New York.
Certain of Arnold’s compositions exerted lasting influence. His debut Decca coupling, “Old Original Kokomo Blues” backed with “Milk Cow Blues,” reached Robert Johnson, who transformed both sides into “Sweet Home Chicago” and “Milkcow’s Calf Blues,” respectively. Presley later revived “Milk Cow Blues” in a version that retained much of the original lyric while introducing his own alterations.
Disillusioned with the industry, Arnold abandoned music in 1938 and took factory employment in Chicago. Researchers located him there in 1962, yet he displayed little interest in resuming his career and never returned to the studio. He died of a heart attack at age sixty-seven.
Some commentators have ranked Arnold above Wheatstraw in artistic quality, a view seemingly reinforced by a 1960s reissue LP that paired eight selections by each artist. Such comparisons, however, overlook the fact that the two men occupied distinct positions within the 1930s blues spectrum despite their acquaintance and joint recordings. Their principal shared legacy lies in their combined impact on Robert Johnson, an influence in which Wheatstraw’s contribution appears the more pronounced.
