“The blues is all about feeling,” says Grammy Award-winning harmonica legend James “Mr. Superharp” Cotton. “If I don’t feel it, I can’t play it.” Now in his 69th year as a professional musician (starting at age nine), James Cotton not only feels it, he lives it. His overwhelmingly powerful harmonica is one of the iconic sounds of the blues. His skills are unrivaled, his story the stuff of legend.
Born on a cotton plantation in Tunica, Mississippi on July 1, 1935, Cotton learned harmonica directly from Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) as a small child. He toured with Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf, recorded for Sun Records, and spent 12 years with Muddy Waters before stepping out on his own. Leading his own band, he earned his reputation as one of the most commanding live blues performers in the world—a man who could literally suck the reeds out of his harmonica from the pure force of his playing—one high-energy performance at a time.
His new Alligator album, Cotton Mouth Man, is a joyous celebration of his life in the blues. Recorded in Nashville and produced by Grammy-winning producer/songwriter/drummer Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Joe Louis Walker, Susan Tedeschi), the album is a riveting, good-time musical journey through sounds and scenes from Cotton’s long and storied career. With seven songs co-written by Cotton (more originals than he’s ever included on one release) and Hambridge (who co-wrote five additional tracks), the stories the album tells are Cotton’s own, inspired by his colorful and sometimes perilous life. Throughout the CD Cotton’s blast-furnace harmonica sound and larger-than-life personality are front and center.
Helping Cotton tell his stories and showcase his music are guests Gregg Allman, Joe Bonamassa, Ruthie Foster, Warren Haynes, Delbert McClinton and Keb Mo. Forming the core of the backing band on the CD are Hambridge (drums), Rob McNelley (guitar), Chuck Leavell (keyboards) and Glenn Worf (bass). Tommy MacDonald and Colin Linden each add guitar to one track. Darrell Nulisch, who has been singing in Cotton’s band for many years, expertly handles the vocals on five tracks, while the other members of Cotton’s road band—Tom Holland, Noel Neal and Jerry Porter—are also on board on some of the songs. Cotton, who, after a bout with throat cancer turned the vocal duties over to others, was inspired by the sessions to return to the microphone. He brings the album to a warm-hearted close singing his own Bonnie Blue (the name of the plantation where he was born), helping to make Cotton Mouth Man the most personal, celebratory and just plain fun recording of his seven-decade career. According to Cotton, “I feel so happy about the music in this album. My hope is that everyone who listens feels it. I know I sure did!”
Cotton first recorded under his own name for the Chicago/The Blues/Today! series on Vanguard, and, along with Otis Spann, cut The Blues Never Die! for Prestige before forming the first James Cotton Blues Band. He made his first solo albums—three for Verve and one for Vanguard—in the late 1960s. With bands featuring outstanding musicians including famed guitarist Luther Tucker, he quickly rose to the top of the blues and rock worlds. With his gale-force sound and fearless boogie band (later featuring Matt “Guitar” Murphy), it wasn’t long before he was adopted by the burgeoning hippie audience as one of their own. Cotton shared stages with Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, B.B. King, Santana, Steve Miller, Freddie King and many others.
Cotton’s blistering talent and full-throttle energy kept him in demand at concert halls all over the country. He played the Fillmore East in New York, the Fillmore West in San Francisco and every major rock and blues venue in between. During the 1970s, he cut three albums for Buddah and one for Capitol. He rejoined his old boss Muddy Waters for a series of Muddy albums produced by Johnny Winter, starting with Hard Again in 1977. Cotton also guested on recordings by Koko Taylor and many others. He was joined on his own albums by stars like Todd Rundgren, Steve Miller, Johnny Winter, Dr. John, David Sanborn, Charlie Haden, Michael Bloomfield and Cissy Houston.
Cotton signed with Alligator Records in 1984, releasing High Compression and Live From Chicago, Mr. Superharp Himself! (which earned him the first of his four Grammy nominations). In 1990 he joined fellow Chicago harp masters for the all-star release Harp Attack!. In 1991 the Smithsonian Institution added one of his harmonicas to their permanent collection. Cotton won a Grammy Award in 1996 for his Verve album, Deep In The Blues, and was inducted into the Blues Hall Of Fame in 2006. During the 2000s Cotton has continued recording and touring relentlessly, playing clubs, concert halls and festivals all over the world, electrifying audiences wherever he performs. Cotton’s 2009 return-to-Alligator release, Giant, was Grammy-nominated. USA Today said, “Since 1966 James Cotton has been carrying the Chicago sound to the world. On Giant, he pours 75 years of living into that harmonica and out comes devastating and powerful blasts of notes.”
In June 2010, Cotton was honored at New York’s Lincoln Center, where his friends Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Taj Mahal, Shemekia Copeland and others paid tribute to him in an all-star concert. In 2013 he toured as part of the all-star “Blues At The Crossroads II,” a tribute to Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, and he continues to perform nationally and internationally with his own high-octane James Cotton Blues Band. Nobody has more fun playing the blues, and the telepathic communication between Cotton and his band (whom he refers to as “my family”) creates inspiring, soulful music that leaves his audience on their feet, grinning and cheering for more. Cotton has recently been signed by the prestigious Rosebud Agency and will be travelling the world in support of the new album.
Cotton Mouth Man proves James Cotton’s high-compression blues harmonica playing is still a true force of nature, while his songs and stories are a living history of the blues. As The San Francisco Examiner says, “James Cotton is an inimitable blues legend. His wailing harmonica blows them away. His improvisations on the blues are full of fun and good humor. The blues don’t get much better.”
There Is Something On Your Mind
James Cotton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
By the way you look at me
Something on your mind, oh, honey
By the way you look at me
Can what you're thinking
Bring happiness or will it bring misery?
I think I'll understand
Girl, girl, you don't have to tell me, pretty baby
I think I'll understand
You want me to try and forget you
But I'll do the best I can
You know it's so hard to be in love
And then someone you love don't love you
Until it gets a heavy burden on your heart
To know that somebody's rocking your cradle
Better than you can rock
Your own cradle yourself
It ain't but one thing left for you to do
Pack your clothes, turn around
Walk slowly out the door
Look back over your left shoulder
Hang your head and think
If you ever think about me
If I ever cross your mind
Girl, girl, if you ever think about me, pretty baby
If I ever cross your mind
Well, you know, you know I'm yours
And I know you're mine
After you can't stand it no more
Then you go on downtown to the pawn shop
And buy yourself a pistol
Then you make it back up on the scene
Where your loved one
And your best friend are now together
You walk right in, you kick down the door
Shoot him, can't shoot her, knowing if you shoot her
All of your longtime life and love is gone forever
By the time you make it up
In your mind for to forgive her
In walks with another one of your friends through the door
Know this gonna hurt you till your heart
And you go right ahead and shoot her
Then you say, "Baby, baby, oh, baby, I'm sorry"
But if she don't love you, know what she say
But if she love you, she'll look up at you
With her last dying breath and say
Do, do, do, do, hmm, oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby, hmm
James Cotton's "There Is Something On Your Mind" seems to be a lamentation about a relationship that is coming to an end. The song opens with Cotton's observations about the way his partner is looking at him, which suggests that there is something weighing heavily on her mind, and he is alluding to the possibility of it being linked to their relationship. He seems resigned to the idea that whatever is bothering her, it might bring both happiness and misery.
Cotton tries to convince his partner not to tell him what the issue is since he believes he already understands. There is a sense of a predictable outcome, and he acknowledges that his partner wants him to forget her. He expresses the difficulty of being in love with someone who does not reciprocate that emotion. The metaphor of 'rocking the cradle' is used to describe his partner's relationship with another man. He understands that it is not possible to compete with that dynamic.
The bitter end to the song sees Cotton describe a scenario where his partner has moved on with his best friend. In his mind, he has imagined walking in and brandishing a pistol to kill them both. He then goes ahead and describes shooting the girlfriend, only to realize too late that she was willing to love him until the end. The song ends on a melancholic note where the singer is left in regret and sorrow.
Line by Line Meaning
There is something on your mind
You seem preoccupied and I can't help but feel like something is bothering you
By the way you look at me
I can tell by the way you are looking at me that something is weighing on your mind
Can what you're thinking
I wonder if what you are thinking will bring happiness or misery
No, no, please don't try to tell me
You don't need to tell me what's wrong, I think I already know
I think I'll understand
I feel like I will be able to comprehend what's bothering you without any explanation
You want me to try and forget you
I can sense that you want me to move on from our relationship
But I'll do the best I can
I'll try my hardest to forget about you, even though it will be difficult
You know it's so hard to be in love
Being in love can be complicated and challenging
And then someone you love don't love you
It's even harder when the person you love doesn't return those feelings
Until it gets a heavy burden on your heart
This can end up being a significant emotional burden that weighs heavily on your heart
To know that somebody's rocking your cradle
It's difficult to accept that someone else may be taking care of your loved one better than you can
Better than you can rock
They may be providing better care and support than you are able to offer
It ain't but one thing left for you to do
In some situations, there may feel like there is no other option
Pack your clothes, turn around
The only thing left to do is leave and move on
Walk slowly out the door
Take your time exiting, as this may be a significant moment in your life
Look back over your left shoulder
Take one last glance before finally leaving
If you ever think about me
If you ever find yourself thinking of me
Girl, girl, if you ever think about me, pretty baby
Don't forget about me, my love
If I ever cross your mind
If I ever come to your thoughts
Well, you know, you know I'm yours
Remember that I am yours
And I know you're mine
And I know that you are mine
After you can't stand it no more
After you can't bear the pain anymore
Then you go on downtown to the pawn shop
You may feel like you need to go to a pawn shop in order to make a drastic choice
And buy yourself a pistol
Hopefully this isn't a literal suggestion, but rather a figure of speech to represent a drastic decision
Then you make it back up on the scene
You return to the source of the pain
Where your loved one
The person who hurt you
And your best friend are now together
Is now with your best friend
You walk right in, you kick down the door
You make a grand entrance and demand attention
Shoot him, can't shoot her
You may feel like the person who was your best friend deserves punishment, but not the one who you were in love with
Knowing if you shoot her
You understand that if you take things even further, there may be no coming back
All of your longtime life and love is gone forever
If you take such drastic action, you risk losing everything that you once loved
By the time you make it up
After enough time has passed
In your mind for to forgive her
You may eventually find it in your heart to forgive her
In walks with another one of your friends through the door
However, this forgiveness may be challenged by an unexpected encounter
Know this gonna hurt you till your heart
This will inevitably cause you pain and heartache
And you go right ahead and shoot her
You may feel like your pain is too much to bear and take drastic action again
Then you say, "Baby, baby, oh, baby, I'm sorry"
After causing harm, you may feel remorseful and regret your actions
But if she don't love you, know what she say
However, if she doesn't love you in return, her forgiveness may be difficult to achieve
But if she love you, she'll look up at you
If she does truly love you, she will give you a sign of this love
With her last dying breath and say
Even in the face of death, she will express her love for you
Do, do, do, do, hmm, oh, yeah, yeah
This may be a sound of comfort, as you hold onto an expression of love from the one you lost
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby, hmm
This repetition may represent the chorus of the song, reinforcing the message that something is on your mind and that love can be complicated and painful
Contributed by Anna L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
bill gonzales
tearable