Jasmine's ongoing commitment to anthologising Post-WWII Blues and R&B continues to bring forth great collections by some of the genre's greatest names and, indeed, some of its greatest unknowns. The subject of this CD falls into the latter category, despite enjoying a career that spanned almost a decade and a half and that introduced one of the all-time classics of North California Rhythm & Blues.
Jimmy Wilson was never interviewed, and the (very) little we know about him comes from the memories of a couple of musicians who worked with him at various times. He started out as a gospel singer, but switched to R&B at the instigation of west coast producer-songwriter Bob Geddins, with whom he was closely associated in the period covered by "Blues In The Alley".
Most of his records sold well locally, without crossing over to the mainstream. The one exception was Jimmy's 'signature song', the original version of the blues standard 'Tin Pan Alley' which probably sold better than all his other records combined, but which he was unable to follow up commercially in spite of making many other recordings of comparable quality.
"Blues In The Alley" offers a superb overview not just of Jimmy's music, but also of the Bay Area blues scene of the early 1950s - of which Jimmy was a key component. Shortly after making the last of the sides featured here, Jimmy moved away from North California and continued recording in Louisiana. A heavy drinker, he passed away in 1966 at the age of just 42.
Jasmine is delighted to refocus attention on Jimmy's recorded legacy with a collection that pulls together all the secular blues recordings that he cut with Geddins between 1948 and 1956.
