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.
S K Blues
Jimmy Witherspoon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Put your fine mellow body on my knee
Please come to me, baby
And put your fine mellow body on my knee
I wanna whisper in your ear
Until you think it keeps bothering me
You and me mistreat her, baby
Yes, you and me mistreat her
Don't mean no one man no good
'Cause all you do, woman
Is raised in my neighborhood
I did more for my baby
Than the good Lord has ever done
I did more for my baby
Than the good Lord has ever done
I, I went down town and bought her some hair
And the good Lord never gave her enough
I gave you back that wig I bought you, baby
And let your hair go bald
? back home, baby
And let your hair go bald
Because if you keep on mistreating me, baby
You won't have no hair, no hair at all
No hair, no hair
What's the matter now?
The lyrics of the song S.K. Blues by Jimmy Witherspoon/Robben Ford describe a man's desire for his woman to come to him and sit on his knee, so he can whisper in her ear. The man mentions that he and his woman mistreat her, but it doesn't mean any good to anyone. He goes on to say that he has done more for his woman than the good Lord has ever done, including buying hair for her in the town. He's not pleased with the way the woman is treating him, and threatens to take back the wig he bought her and let her hair go bald. The song ends with the man asking, "What's the matter now?" which can be interpreted as a question to his woman or a rhetorical question to anyone listening to the song.
The first verse of the song portrays the man's desire to be with his woman and the intimacy he wants to have with her. He wants to whisper in her ear until it keeps bothering him, suggesting that he wants to say something very personal and loving to her. However, the second verse takes a darker turn as the man acknowledges that he and his woman mistreat each other, and it doesn't do any good. The third verse reveals the man's frustration with his woman's behavior and suggests that he has been more generous to her than even the good Lord.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, come to me, pretty baby
The singer is inviting a woman to come closer to him
Put your fine mellow body on my knee
The singer wants the woman to sit on his knee
Please come to me, baby
The singer is requesting the woman to come to him in a polite way
And put your fine mellow body on my knee
The artist wants the woman to sit on his knee so he can feel her soft skin
I wanna whisper in your ear
The artist wants to speak softly into the woman's ear
Until you think it keeps bothering me
The singer wants to whisper to the woman so close that it may seem like it is bothering him
You and me mistreat her, baby
The singer is talking about how he and the woman mistreat someone
Don't mean no one man no good
Their mistreatment of someone is not benefiting anyone
Yes, you and me mistreat her
The artist is continuing to talk about how he and the woman mistreat someone
Don't mean no one man no good
Their mistreatment of someone is not benefiting anyone
'Cause all you do, woman
The singer is addressing the woman, implying that she never does anything good
Is raised in my neighborhood
The artist is saying that the woman is from his neighborhood and that she's not making any contribution to the community
I did more for my baby
The singer is saying that he did more for his lover than the good Lord
Than the good Lord has ever done
The singer is saying that he did more for his lover than what God has done for her
I, I went down town and bought her some hair
The singer bought some hair for his lover
And the good Lord never gave her enough
The artist is saying that God didn't provide enough hair for his lover, and that's why he had to buy some for her
I gave you back that wig I bought you, baby
The artist is saying that he returned the wig he bought for his lover
And let your hair go bald
The singer wants his lover to let her hair go bald
? back home, baby
The meaning of this line is unclear
And let your hair go bald
The artist is repeating his request for his lover to let her hair go bald
Because if you keep on mistreating me, baby
The artist is warning his lover that if she continues to mistreat him, she will face consequences
You won't have no hair, no hair at all
The artist is threatening to make his lover bald if she continues to mistreat him
No hair, no hair
The singer is repeating his threat to make his lover bald
What's the matter now?
The artist is asking if his lover has a problem with what he just said
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: RILEY B. KING
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
dukemoney2
Love this man's blues.Unsung
Elisabeth Axelsson
Love this song and Jimmy Witherspoon