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.
Sk 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?
In Jimmy Witherspoon's "S.K. Blues," the singer is addressing a woman who he refers to as "pretty baby." He is encouraging her to sit on his knee, and is hoping to get close enough to whisper in her ear. The lyrics take a mildly raunchy turn in the next stanza, as the singer and another man are accused of mistreating the woman. The singer seems to take some pleasure in this mistreatment, as he says it doesn't mean any good for "one man." He accuses the woman of being trouble, as she's raised in his neighborhood. The final stanza of the song is a bit of a non sequitur, as the singer starts bragging about how much he's done for his baby. He says that he gave her hair "the good Lord never gave her enough," and that he's gone to great lengths to make her happy. However, he warns her that if she continues to mistreat him, she'll end up losing all her hair.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, come to me, pretty baby
Asking the woman to come close to him
Put your fine mellow body on my knee
Requesting the woman to sit on his lap
Please come to me, baby
Asking her again to come close to him
And put your fine mellow body on my knee
Reiterating his request for her to sit on his lap
I wanna whisper in your ear
Expressing his desire to speak something softly into her ear
Until you think it keeps bothering me
Continuously whispering in her ear, until she gets irritated
You and me mistreat her, baby
Acknowledging that they have been mistreating a woman
Don't mean no one man no good
Highlighting that this behavior doesn't benefit anyone
Yes, you and me mistreat her
Reiterating that both of them are mistreating her
Don't mean no one man no good
Highlighting that it's not good for anyone involved
'Cause all you do, woman
Addressing the woman and accusing her of something
Is raised in my neighborhood
Accusing the woman of having a bad upbringing
I did more for my baby
Boasting about doing more for his lover than anyone else
Than the good Lord has ever done
Comparing himself to God in terms of taking care of his lover
I, I went down town and bought her some hair
Proudly announcing that he has bought her hair
And the good Lord never gave her enough
Making fun of God for not giving her enough hair naturally
I gave you back that wig I bought you, baby
Telling her that he has returned her wig
And let your hair go bald
Asking her to stop wearing wigs and go bald
? back home, baby
Asking her to go back home
And let your hair go bald
Reiterating his request for her to stop wearing wigs
Because if you keep on mistreating me, baby
Threatening her with consequences if she continues to mistreat him
You won't have no hair, no hair at all
Saying that he will make her go bald if she doesn't mend her ways
No hair, no hair
Repeating his threat that he will make her go bald
What's the matter now?
Ending the song with a rhetorical question, asking if she understood his message
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