ARTIST SONG ALBUM
Jimmy Nelson T-99 Blues Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Rain Drop blues Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Sweetest Little Girl Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Meet Me With Your Black... Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Bad Habit Blues Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Second Hand Fool Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Cry Hard Luck Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Interview Part 1  
Jimmy Nelson Interview Part 2  
Jimmy Nelson Big Mouth Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Married Men Like Sport Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Right Around The Corner Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Rich Little Girl Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Little Miss Teasin' Brown Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Mean Poor Girl Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson I Sat And Cried Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Free And Easy Mind Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Great Big Hunk of Man Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy Nelson Mr. Big Wheel Cry Hard Luck
Jimmy McCracklin The Panic's On Modern Recordings, Vol. 2
Roy Hawkins Doin' Allright The Thrill Is Gone
Little Willie Littlefield Real Fine Mama Kat On The Keys
Gene Phillips You Gotta Toe The Line Drinkin' And Stinkin'
Pee Wee Crayton Louella Brown The Modern Legacy Vol. 1
Jimmy Witherspoon Don't Ever Move A Woman... Mellow Cats 'N' Kittens
B.B. King Love You Baby The Vintage Years
B.B. King Dark Is The Night Pt. 1 The Vintage Years
Smokey Hogg Believe I'll Change Towns Midnight Blues
Howling Wolf Riding In The Moonlight Modern Downhome Sessions Vol. 3
Elmore James Wild About You Baby Blues After Hours
The Peter Rabbit Trio They Raided The Joint Mellow Cats 'N' Kittens

Show Notes:

Jimmy NelsonA sad week in the blues world as news of the death of Jimmy “T-99″ Nelson made the rounds. I became a fan of Jimmy Nelson many years ago after hearing an LP collection of his early sides on the Ace label. I always hoped he would start recording again and in 1999 he issued the terrific “Rockin’ And Shoutin’ The Blues.” I interviewed Jimmy when that record came out and it was one of the best interviews I ever did so when he put a new record out in 2005 I decided to talk to him again. For this week’s feature we rerun that interview plus play a batch of his early records. We wrap up by playing a bunch of Jimmy’s contemporaries on the Modern label.

Blessed with a booming voice and a hip delivery, Nelson cut a swath of fine sides for Modern’s RPM and Kent imprints in the early 50’s and 60’s but only scored big with his signature “T-99 Blues.” After getting dropped from Modern Nelson bounced through a number of small labels before giving up music in the 60’s. It wasn’t until the 80’s that he decided to refocus his energies on music, playing locally and making some guest appearances on record and appearing at festivals. After many trials and tribulations Nelson finally made his long awaited comeback record with 1999’s “Rockin’ And Shoutin’ The Blues” on Rounder, followed by two more on his own Nettie Marie label.

Rich Little Girl 78In the late ’40s and early ’50s, Modern/RPM was able to attract many fine blues performers to the labels, including B.B. King, Roscoe Gordon, Elmore James, Smokey Hogg, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Little Willie Littlefield, Jimmy McCracklin, Jimmy Witherspoon, Pee Wee Crayton and John Lee Hooker. Modern also leased masters from Sam Phillips in Memphis, and was the first label to release material by the legendary Howlin’ Wolf. The Modern label was formed in 1945 in Los Angeles, California, by Saul and Jules Bihari. Modern recorded rhythm & blues, country & western, jazz, popular, blues, and gospel. The subsidiary RPM was formed in 1950 and released blues, jazz, rhythm & blues and rock & roll. The subsidiary Crown was formed in 1954 and after three years (starting in 1957), was used only for budget priced albums. The Kent label subsidiary was formed in 1958 and issued only singles, but the name was used again from 1965 to 1971 for album issues.

Jimmy “T-99″ Nelson Feature/Interview