Biography
Born on 9 June 1934 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, guitarist Jimmy Spruill died on 3 February 1996 in Washington, DC. Although his primary reputation rested on session work, he contributed guitar parts to countless R&B dates throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, concentrating his efforts in New York City after moving there near the middle of the decade. The imprints that hosted his performances ranged across Fire, Fury, Everlast, Enjoy and VIM—all controlled by Bobby and Danny Robinson—as well as Old Town and Vanguard Records. The roster of performers he accompanied encompassed Buster Brown, King Curtis, Bob Gaddy, John Hammond Jnr., Jim and Bob Harrison, Little Anthony And The Imperials, Little Danny, the Shirelles, Tarheel Slim, Lynn Taylor And The Peachettes, and Charles Walker. Standout examples include his contributions to Wilbert Harrison’s ‘Kansas City’ and Bobby Lewis’s ‘Tossin’ And Turnin’’, both featuring incendiary lead breaks that, alongside other sides from the era, accounted for his stage billing as Wild Jimmy Spruill.
During the mid-1960s he fronted a short-lived group of his own and secured a fleeting run of headline bookings at east-coast clubs. Eventually he stepped away from performing, occupying himself instead as an interior decorator through the 1970s and 1980s. He suffered a fatal collapse aboard a bus returning to New York following a holiday.
During the mid-1960s he fronted a short-lived group of his own and secured a fleeting run of headline bookings at east-coast clubs. Eventually he stepped away from performing, occupying himself instead as an interior decorator through the 1970s and 1980s. He suffered a fatal collapse aboard a bus returning to New York following a holiday.