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.
You're The One
Jimmy McCracklin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're the one, you're the one that I adore
And the way I love you baby
Only me and the good Lord knows
I'm gonna copyright your kisses and all your hugs
And I'll put a claim baby on all your love
And the way I love you baby
Only me and the good Lord knows
Organ Solo
All my friends tell me including my kin folks
You ain't no good for me
But I don't worry about it, I wonder why should they be
You're the one, you're the one I adore
And the way I love you baby
Only me and the good Lord know
Adlib till end
The song "You're the One" by Jimmy McCracklin talks about his deep love for someone that he adores. The repeated line "you're the one that I adore" emphasizes how important this person is to him. He goes on to say that the way he loves this person is something only he and God can understand. The lyrics suggest that his love for this person is so overwhelming that he wants to "copyright your kisses and all your hugs" and "put a claim baby on all your love". The organ solo complements the emotional intensity of the lyrics.
The song also addresses the judgment from his friends and family about his choice of partner. Despite their opinions, he chooses to love this person and questions why they should be worried about it. This shows that his love for this person is stronger than the opinions of others. The ad-lib at the end allows him to express his feelings for the person he loves in his own way.
Line by Line Meaning
You're the one, you're the one that I adore
You are the only one that I admire and love
And the way I love you baby
Only me and the good Lord knows
No one knows how much I love you except for me and God
I'm gonna copyright your kisses and all your hugs
And I'll put a claim baby on all your love
I want to exclusively own and claim your sweet and tender affections
All my friends tell me including my kin folks
You ain't no good for me
But I don't worry about it, I wonder why should they be
Despite my friends and family warning me about you not being suitable for me, I don't care and wonder why they should be concerned
You're the one, you're the one I adore
And the way I love you baby
Only me and the good Lord know
My adoration for you cannot be expressed enough and only God and I know how deep it is
Adlib till end
The rest of the song is ad-libbed
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: CHRIS LIGHT HESSE, DANIEL B. ESTRIN, DOUGLAS SEAN ROBB
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
THOMAS HALL
Cool pocket ! Suttle fills, tasty vocals ! Copyright you hugs and kisses great lyric !
First time I ever heard it ! Obscure gem !
Franck Goldwasser
Nothing obscure about it, it was a big number for Jimmy.
GOLDBAND45rpm
Great artist in many respects switching from blues via Rock'n' Roll to Soul.Personally I prefer his blues recordings .His greatest recording was in Rock'n' Roll with 'The Walk'
Steve
Most well known as well
GOLDBAND45rpm
srercrcr yep, a really good recording although I think he made many excellent recordings when he recorded for Modern
Terry Hollis
Strollin', baby!
Steve
I'll have to "walk".
Terry Hollis
@Steve Don’t “run”!