James John (Jimmy) Witherspoon, also known by the nickname “Spoon”, was a versatile "blues shouter" who achieved commercial success and critical acclaim in the genres of blues, jazz, and rhythm and blues. His 1947 recording “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” was a hit in 1949 and became his signature song.
His date of birth is usually given as August 8, 1923, but some sources give the birth year as 1920, and more than one source gives the birth date as August 18, 1921, attributing the information to his son. Since he may have run away from home to Los Angeles, California, as early as 1935, the earlier dates seem more plausible. In a 1996 interview, he gave his age as seventy-four, which also corresponds with the 1921 date.
Jimmy Witherspoon was born in Gurdon (Clark County) Arkansas to Leonard Witherspoon, a Missouri Pacific Railroad brakeman, and Eva Tatum Witherspoon, a church pianist. The family was devoutly religious. His parents were members of the choir at their Baptist church.
He didn't pursue music professionally until after his stint in the Merchant Marines in World War II. On his return to the Unites States in 1944, he replaced Walter Brown in Jay McShann's band, and performed with Big Joe Turner and T-Bone Walker.
Witherpoon's first hit record was "Ain't Nobody's Business", which he followed in 1949 with a reworking of the Leroy Carr song "In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down". His hit "Ain't Nobody's Business" was one of the biggest records of the era, and stayed on the Billboard charts for 34 weeks. Spoon made at least 200 recordings, and was one of the few true giants of the post-war blues boom.
Witherspoon recorded for a variety of labels through the 1950s, including cornerstone sides with Swingtime, Federal, Chess, RCA, and even a Dixieland session with The Wilbur de Paris New Orleans Jazz Band for Atlantic in 1956. His long career included performances on jazz stages around the world, from Carnegie Hall to the Newport Jazz Festival, touring Japan with Count Basie, and European tours with Buck Clayton's All Stars. Witherspoon managed to span the worlds of blues, R&B, and jazz with his deep baritone voice and unique style.
Witherspoon died September 18, 1997 in Los Angeles, California.
Spoon first attracted attention singing with Teddy Weatherford's band in Calcutta, India, which made regular radio broadcasts over the U. S. Armed Forces Radio Service during World War II. Witherspoon made his first records with Jay McShann's band in 1945. In 1949, recording under his own name with the McShann band, he had his first hit, "Ain't Nobody's Business,"[2] a song which came to be regarded as his signature tune. In 1950 he had hits with two more songs closely identified with him: "No Rollin' Blues", "Big Fine Girl", as well as "Failing By Degrees" and "New Orleans Woman" recorded with the Gene Gilbeaux Orchestra which included Herman Washington and Don Hill on the Modern Records label. These were recorded from a live performance on May 10, 1949 at a "Just Jazz" concert Pasadena, CA sponsored by Gene Norman. Another classic Witherspoon composition is "Times Gettin' Tougher Than Tough".
Witherspoon's style of blues - that of the "blues shouter" - became unfashionable in the mid-1950s, but he returned to popularity with his 1959 album, Jimmy Witherspoon at the Monterey Jazz Festival, which featured Roy Eldridge, Woody Herman, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Earl Hines and Mel Lewis, among others. He later recorded with Gerry Mulligan, Leroy Vinnegar, Richard "Groove" Holmes and T-Bone Walker.
Tours and successes
In 1961 he toured Europe with Buck Clayton and returned to the UK on many occasions, featuring on a mid-sixties live UK recording Spoon Sings and Swings (1966) with tenor sax player Dick Morrissey's quartet. In 1970, he appeared on Brother Jack McDuff's London Blue Note recording To Seek a New Home together with British jazz musicians, including Dick Morrissey, again, and Terry Smith. In the 1970s he also recorded the album Guilty! (later released on CD as Black & White Blues) with Eric Burdon and featuring Ike White & the San Quentin Prison Band. He then toured with a band of his own featuring Robben Ford and Russ Ferrante. A recording from this period, Spoonful, featured 'Spoon accompanied by Robben Ford, Joe Sample, Cornell Dupree, Thad Jones and Bernard Purdie. He continued performing and recording into the 1990s.
Other performers with whom Witherspoon recorded include Jimmy Rowles, Earl "Fatha" Hines, Vernon Alley, Mel Lewis, Teddy Edwards, Gerald Wiggins, John Clayton, Paul Humphrey, Pepper Adams, Kenny Burrell, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Jimmy Smith, Long John Baldry, Junior Mance, Ellington bassist Jimmy Woode, Kenny Clarke, Gerry Mulligan, Jim Mullen, Count Basie, Van Morrison, Dutch Swing College Band, Gene Gilbeaux and others.
Acting
In the 1995 film Georgia, Witherspoon portrayed a traveling, gun-collecting blues singer, Trucker, who has a relationship with the troubled character Sadie, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh.
I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town
Jimmy Witherspoon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm gonna move baby, way out on the outskirts of town
You see I don't need no-body, always hangin' 'round
Let me tell you honey, we gonna move away from here
I don't need no iceman, I'm gonna, get you a Frigidaire
When we move, way out on the outskirts of town
Whoa, you see we won't need no-body, always hangin' 'round
It may seem funny honey, funny as can be
If we have a dozen children, you know they AW-LL-all better look like me
When we move, way back 'a town
Whoa-oh-oh-oh, we won't need no-body, always hanging around
We don't need nobody baby, AW-LL-always hanging 'round
Hangin' 'round
Hangin' 'round
The lyrics to Jimmy Witherspoon's song, "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town," tell the story of a man who is tired of the city life and all the people who are always around. He wants to move way out on the outskirts of town where he can be free of the constant presence of others. He specifically mentions that he doesn't need anybody always hanging around, indicating that he desires solitude.
The man in the song tells his partner that they are going to move away from their current location and get a Frigidaire instead of relying on the iceman. He speaks with a sense of urgency as he pleads with his partner to move with him, indicating that he cannot stay in his current location any longer.
The lyrics also touch on the topic of having children but with a comical twist. The man mentions that if they have a dozen children, they better all look like him. This could be viewed as a humorous nod to the concept of heredity and the desire for one's children to reflect their own traits.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm gonna move baby, way out on the outskirts of town
I intend to move quite far away from the main area of the city.
You see I don't need no-body, always hangin' 'round
I am tired of people interfering in my life and so I'll move away from them.
Let me tell you honey, we gonna move away from here
My love, let me assure you that we'll leave this place.
I don't need no iceman, I'm gonna, get you a Frigidaire
I do not require the services of an iceman when I'll get a modern refrigerator like a Frigidaire.
When we move, way out on the outskirts of town
Our plan is to move to the outskirts of the city when we do.
Whoa, you see we won't need no-body, always hangin' 'round
I will be glad not to have anyone in our business when we move out of the city.
It may seem funny honey, funny as can be
My dear, it may appear tough to achieve but we can do it.
If we have a dozen children, you know they AW-LL-all better look like me
Our kids will resemble me entirely if we end up having twelve of them.
When we move, way back 'a town
We'll move to the farthest part of the city when we finally do.
Whoa-oh-oh-oh, we won't need no-body, always hanging around
I am pretty sure we won't require anyone meddling with our life when we move out of town.
We don't need nobody baby, AW-LL-always hanging 'round
I intend for us not to be bothered by people always hanging around us indefinitely.
Hangin' 'round
It causes me distress and discomfort.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ROY JORDAN, WILLIAM WESTLEY WELDON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Legrand Bakker
Love ‘Spoon especially either Brother Jack...oh yeah!