Milton was born James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi Delta town of Inverness and raised in Greenville by a farmer and local blues musician.[2] By age twelve he had learned the guitar and was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker and his blues and rock and roll contemporaries.[2] In 1952, while still a teenager playing in local bars, he caught the attention of Ike Turner, who was at that time a talent scout for Sam Phillips' Sun Records. He signed a contract with the label and recorded a number of singles. None of them broke through onto radio or sold well at record stores, however, and Milton left the Sun label by 1955.[2]
After trying several labels without notable success, including Trumpet Records,[3] Milton set up the St. Louis based Bobbin Records label, which ultimately scored a distribution deal with Leonard Chess' Chess Records.[2] As a record producer, Milton helped bring artists such as Albert King and Fontella Bass to fame, while experiencing his own success for the first time.[2] After a number of small format and regional hits, his 1962 single, "So Mean to Me," broke onto the Billboard R&B chart, eventually peaking at #14.
Following a short break to tour, managing other acts, and spending time recording new material, he returned to music in 1965 with a more polished sound, similar to that of B.B. King. After the ill-received "Blind Man" (R&B: #86), he released back-to-back hit singles. The first, "We're Gonna Make It," a blues-infused soul song, topped the R&B chart and broke through onto Top 40 radio, a format then dominated largely by white artists. He followed the song with #4 R&B hit "Who's Cheating Who?" All three songs were featured on his album, We're Gonna Make It, released that summer.
Throughout the late 1960s Milton released a number of moderately successful singles, but did not issue a further album until 1969, with Grits Ain't Groceries featuring his hit of the same name, as well as "Just a Little Bit" and "Baby, I Love You". With the death of Leonard Chess the same year, Milton's distributor, Checker Records fell into disarray, and Milton joined the Stax label two years later.[2] Adding complex orchestration to his works, Milton scored hits with "That's What Love Will Make You Do" and "What It Is" from his live album, What It Is: Live at Montreux. He appeared in the documentary film, Wattstax, which was released in 1973.[4] Stax, however, had been losing money since late in the previous decade and was forced into bankruptcy in 1975.[2]
After leaving Stax, Milton struggled to maintain a career, moving first to Evidence, then the MCA imprint Mobile Fidelity Records, before finding a home at the independent record label, Malaco Records, where he remained for much of the remainder of his career.[2] His last hit single, "Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number," was released in 1983 from the album of the same name.[2] In 1988, Little Milton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and won a W.C. Handy Award.[2] His most final album, Think of Me, was released in May 2005 on the Telarc imprint, and included writing and guitar on three songs by Peter Shoulder of the UK-based blues-rock trio Winterville.
The name 'Little Milton' was reused for Gerald Bostock, the fictional boy poet central to Jethro Tull's 1972 record Thick as a Brick.
Milton died on August 4, 2005 from complications following a stroke.
Tin Pan Alley
Little Milton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The roughest place in town
They start cuttin' and shootin'
As soon as the sun goes down
Oh, tell me
What kind of place can the alley be?
Oh, every woman I guess
When I need my baby
She can't be found
She got up early in the mornin'
She was ten pound alley bound
Oh, tell me
What kind of place can the Alley be?
Every woman I guess
Lord, the alley takes away from me
I heard a pistol shoot
Somebody groan
Some woman shot my baby
Left on that jokers' arms
Oh, tell me
What kind of place can the alley be?
Every woman I guess
Lord, the alley takes away from me
I'll really miss my baby
Because I need my baby
I'll really miss my baby
Because I need my baby
In Little Milton's song "Tin Pan Alley," he describes a rough part of town where violence and danger are constant. The alley is infamous for being the roughest place in town, and people start cutting and shooting each other as soon as the sun goes down. Little Milton laments that every woman he loves seems to be taken away by the alley, including his own baby. When he goes to look for her, she can't be found because she's "ten pound alley bound." In other words, she's either been taken captive or has chosen to live a dangerous lifestyle.
Later in the song, Little Milton hears a pistol shot and someone groaning, only to find that his baby has been shot and left in the arms of a "joker." He questions what kind of place the alley can be, where even the women he loves are not safe. The song ends on a sad note as Little Milton declares how much he will miss his baby and how much he needs her.
Overall, "Tin Pan Alley" can be seen as a commentary on the systemic violence present in certain parts of society, particularly in the African American community. The song touches on themes of loss, violence, and the struggle to find love and safety in a dangerous environment.
Line by Line Meaning
They tell me Tin Pan Alley
I have heard about a location called Tin Pan Alley
The roughest place in town
It is known to be the most dangerous and violent place in the city
They start cuttin' and shootin'
As soon as nighttime comes, people start fighting and shooting each other
As soon as the sun goes down
When it gets dark outside
Oh, tell me
Expressing a desire to learn more
What kind of place can the alley be?
Wondering about the nature and reputation of Tin Pan Alley
Oh, every woman I guess
Referring to every woman who enters that Alley
Lord, the alley takes away from me
Indicating that Tin Pan Alley has caused him to lose someone dear to him
When I need my baby
When he is in need of his loved one
She can't be found
He cannot locate his significant other
She got up early in the mornin'
His partner woke up in the morning
She was ten pound alley bound
She went to Tin Pan Alley and hasn't come back
I heard a pistol shoot
The sound of a gunshot was heard
Somebody groan
Someone was calling out in pain
Some woman shot my baby
His lover was shot by a woman
Left on that jokers' arms
She was left in the arms of a man who was not her partner
I'll really miss my baby
He will feel the loss of his partner deeply
Because I need my baby
He is emotionally reliant on his lover and cannot live without them
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Robert Geddins
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
WILLIAM GORDON
1 of the GREAT 👍Blues Singers & G🎸Guitar Players of all time
ronald griffin
another great talent gone RIP Little Milton
Josef Barriga
yes, need this sh so bad. love my blues. never leave me down, always lifts me up. sweet sorrow, and it has been my life saving grace.first heard back in the cotton fields of Arizona, . just a young kid, since then always here. right in the center of my heart. straight from the shoulder..old kbkd station.
Mic
Showcases some of Little Milton's better guitar picking. Nice tune.
Mary Mcwright
I have loved this man since I was 8 years old. He recorded a 8 track called Grits ant grocery. My sister an I played it until it broke. Adding insult to injury my father told me we were related. Okay it was puppy love. I never saw him play. I wished I had.
DEBRA Johnson
Good clean fun💕💓
Joann Ayo
This was my mama's song. Rip Dorothy Gipson.
Art Boy
Every time I saw Milton he was an hour late, but worth the wait
mzruben1
Go Milton. I'm laughing, anyone from Bastrop, Louisiana know Tin Pan Alley is the Hill. LOL with. me. RIP Milton. We love you baby.
ROCKNROLLFAN
Nice bluesy guitar playing....