Over a career that spanned seven decades, he said he had written almost a thousand songs and had recorded hundreds of them. McCracklin recorded over 30 albums, and earned four gold records. Tom Mazzolini of the San Francisco Blues Festival said of him, "He was probably the most important musician to come out of the Bay Area in the post-World War II years."
McCracklin was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He joined the United States Navy in 1938, later settled in Richmond, California, and began playing at the local Club Savoy owned by his sister-in-law Willie Mae "Granny" Johnson. The room-length bar served beer and wine, and Granny Johnson served home-cooked meals of greens, ribs, chicken, and other southern cuisine. A house band composed of Bay Area based musicians alternated with and frequently backed performers such as B. B. King, Charles Brown, and L. C. Robinson. Later in 1963 he would write and record a song "Club Savoy" on his I Just Gotta Know album.
His recorded a debut single for Globe Records, "Miss Mattie Left Me", in 1945, and recorded "Street Loafin' Woman in 1946. McCracklin recorded for a number of labels in Los Angeles and Oakland, prior to joining Modern Records in 1949-1950. He formed a group called Jimmy McCracklin and his Blues Blasters in 1946, with guitarist Lafayette Thomas who remained with group until the early 1960s.
His popularity increased after appearing on the TV pop Dick Clark's American Bandstand in support of his self written single "The Walk" (1957), subsequently released by Checker Records in 1958. It went to No. 5 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 7 on the pop chart, after more than 10 years of McCracklin selling records in the black community on a series of small labels. Jimmy McCracklin Sings, his first solo album, was released in 1962, in the West Coast blues style. In 1962, McCracklin recorded "Just Got to Know" for his own Art-Tone label in Oakland, after the record made No. 2 on the R&B chart. For a brief period in the early 1970s McCracklin ran the Continental Club in San Francisco. He booked blues acts such as T-Bone Walker, Irma Thomas, Big Joe Turner, Big Mama Thornton, and Etta James. In 1967, Otis Redding and Carla Thomas had success with "Tramp", a song credited to McCracklin and Lowell Fulson. Salt-n-Pepa made a hip-hop hit out of the song in 1987. Oakland Blues (1986) was an album arranged and directed by McCracklin, and produced by World Pacific. The California rock-n-roll "roots music" band The Blasters named themselves after McCracklin's backing band The Blues Blasters. Blasters' lead singer Phil Alvin explained the origin of the band's name: "I thought Joe Turner’s backup band on Atlantic records – I had these 78s – I thought they were the Blues Blasters. It ends up it was Jimmy McCracklin's. I just took the 'Blues' off and Joe finally told me, that’s Jimmy McCracklin’s name, but you tell ‘im I gave you permission to steal it.
McCracklin continued to tour and produce new albums in the 1980s and 1990s. Bob Dylan has cited McCracklin as a favorite. He played at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1973, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984 and 2007. He was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1990, and the Living Legend and Hall of Fame award at the Bay Area Black Music Awards, in 2007. McCracklin continued to write, record, and perform into the 21st century.
He died in San Pablo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, on December 20, 2012, after a long illness, aged 91.
He Knows the Rules
Jimmy McCracklin Lyrics
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Now let me tell you man what a fool i was
I took her home like she was twenty one
And when i met that mother she said "i′m sorry son"
I said Ho ho ho ho please let's me explain
She said when you see the judge, you can tell him everything
The lyrics of Jimmy McCracklin's He Knows the Rules tell a story of a man who met a girl he wanted to love, but soon realized that he made a mistake. He took her home, assuming she was of legal age, but when he met her mother, he found out that she was underage. The man tries to explain himself, but the mother doesn't want to hear it and tells him to explain it to the judge.
The song explores the theme of the consequences of assuming things without fact-checking. The man in the song assumed that the girl was of legal age, but he didn't ask for her identification, which led to him breaking the law unknowingly. The mother's reaction to the situation shows how society views the importance of protecting minors from harm.
The lyrics of this song have a moral lesson that we can all learn from. We must always verify and fact-check before assuming things to avoid facing harsh consequences.
Line by Line Meaning
I met a girl last night that i wanted to love
I encountered a lady yesterday that I felt an intense desire to cherish
Now let me tell you man what a fool i was
Currently, I need to inform you about how imprudent I acted
I took her home like she was twenty one
I escorted her to my residence as if she were of the legal drinking age
And when i met that mother she said "i'm sorry son"
However, when I eventually introduced her to my mother, she expressed regret
I said Ho ho ho ho please let's me explain
In response, I uttered 'Ho ho ho ho' and begged for an opportunity to elaborate
She said when you see the judge, you can tell him everything
Regrettably, she replied that I could share all of it with the judge
Writer(s): Jimmy Mc Cracklin
Contributed by Christian O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jimmy TEDESCO
GREAT
Max Royle
Lafayette Thomas on Guitar-Let's Dance !!