In a hundred years, I would never believe that I would have to "catch up" with a ninety year old man. This was, in fact, the case with Jimmy McCracklin who celebrates his ninetieth birthday on August 13th. The pianist is a blues icon and one of the most prolific songwriters and performers of our time. He has laid claim to over a thousand records and hundreds of recordings. When I called him for an interview his daughter, Sue said "Can you call at six a.m.? He is up and gone pretty early."

Jimmy McCracklin was born August 13, 1921, in St. Louis, Missouri. He used to sing with his sister at church, which like many blues artists, is where he developed his love for music. As a young man, he started out his life as a boxer, but he told me "I really wanted to get away from boxing and get into being a bluesman." He was heavily influenced by Walter Davis, who was an extraordinary blues pianist and singer in the 30's and 40's from St. Louis with over 150 recording credits to his name. This impressed Jimmy and helped motivate him to begin a career in music. After a stint in the Navy, he found himself in Richmond, California, where he spent the next several decades making is dream of becoming a bluesman come true.

Prior to World War II, Richmond, California was a small town but soon would become a bustling port city just north of Oakland. The town would become home to many post war transplants from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and McCkracklin’s home state of Missouri. These folks found factory jobs in the growing industrial city. They also brought with them their music. Their music could be heard in big nightclubs and small juke joints like Esther's Orbit Room, Minnie Lou's and the Savoy.

The Savoy was owned by Jimmy's sister-in- law, Willie Mae "Granny" Johnson. Jimmy paid homage to The Savoy in his song The Richmond Song, written in 1946.

"Now Richmond California is a great little town!
And I live there, Jack! And I gets around!
If you ever go there and you want to Jump for joy,
I'll tell you where to go, that's The Club Savoy!"

Jimmy recorded his first record Miss Mattie Left Me for Globe Records in 1946. He went on to record for the Modern label and eventually recorded his biggest hit for Chess records in 1957. McCracklin told me, "I took the song The Walk to Chess records five times before the Chess brothers gave it a listen and decided they liked it. The other guys threw it back like it wasn't nothin'. Three weeks later, someone told me, ‘You might have a hit‘." He performed the song on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. McCracklin went on to say, "Wasn't nothin' like it is now. Record players were everywhere in the country. I was just lucky enough that I broke through in a lot of places. I put the stuff together and got my own musicians."　

I asked Bobby “Hurricane” Spencer, his long time tenor sax player, what makes McCracklin‘s music so special, "His blues was not everyone else's blues. He had what we now call funk in his music. It had more sophisticated arrangements. Take for instance one of his most famous songs, Think. It has eleven and a half measures and a change in the bar. You just don‘t hear many people write music like that." Long time writer, music journalist and critic, Lee Hildebrand, put it best when he said, “I consider Jimmy McCracklin to be the greatest liveing blues songwriter.”

He has recorded in every decade since he began his career, a small sampling of his recordings include Miss Mattie Left Me - 1945, Savoy's Jump - 1957, Twist With Jimmy McCracklin - 1961, High on the Blues - 1971, Blasting The Blues - 1983, Taste of the Blues - 1994 and Jumpin' Bay Area 1948 - 1955 in 2003.

His song Tramp was witten for and recorded by Lowell Fulson before becoming a huge hit for Otis Redding and Carla Thomas on the Stax label.

He hasn't stopped yet. In this, his ninetieth year, he has just released his latest CD called Hey Baby which is dedicated to the love of his life, his late wife, Veulah. McCracklin told me, "Every morning I would wake up and see her and say ‘Hey, Baby!’ When I came home from touring and walked in the house I'd say ‘Hey, Baby!’."

McCracklin’s brand new album finds the blues legend backed by his daughter Sue McCracklin and her band Sweet Nectar. It is a combination of tried and true blues with a bit of soul. It is available on CD Baby. His long and fruitful career continues with a birthday celebration and performance at San Francisco’s Biscuits and Blues. If you want to catch up with the great Jimmy McCracklin, that is the place to be Saturday, August 13^th. Happy Birthday, Jimmy!