Jimmy Norman was an American
rhythm and blues and
jazz musician and a
songwriter died he was 74.. In his early career, Norman had a
charting single of his own, "I Don't Love You No More (I Don't Care About You)", as well as performing
session work with
Jimi Hendrix, but he is better known as a
lyricist and songwriter.
(August 12, 1937 – November 8, 2011)
He wrote the expanded lyrics of the song "
Time Is on My Side", which became a hit for
The Rolling Stones,and
later in 1985 re recorded and produced by Stephen Vanderbilt featuring
"St. Tropez" as the A side of a 45 released on the album "Home"
throughout Europe. Norman composed a number of songs performed by
well-known musicians including
Johnny Nash and
Bob Marley. In 1969 he became involved with
doo-wop band
The Coasters,
first as a producer and then as a touring member. He was also recording
independently, releasing a solo album in 1998, the same year poor
health forced him to retire from performance. Like many other musicians
of his time, he was not financially prepared for retirement or heavy
medical bills, and with few
royalties for his writing soon found himself in economic crisis. With the assistance of charitable organization
Jazz Foundation of America, Norman regained his feet and resumed performing, releasing his first wide distribution album in 2004,
Little Pieces. He performed in the
Manhattan area until shortly before his death.
Early life and career
Born August 12, 1937 as
James Norman Scott in
Nashville, Tennessee,
[2]
Norman relocated to California as a teenager, beginning his career as a
touring musician throughout the Midwest and southern regions of the
United States before settling in
New York.
[3][4] There, he wrote music for
Broadway and performed.
[4]
In 1962, Norman released his biggest charting single, "I Don't Love You
No More (I Don't Care About You)", which reached #21 on the
Billboard "
Black Singles" chart and #47 on the "
Pop Singles" chart.
[5]
Songwriting and session work
In 1964, singer
Irma Thomas went into the studio to record the single "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)". It was decided that the
b-side, a cover of
Kai Winding's "
Time Is on My Side",
needed additional lyrics, since the only words in the original
composition were "Time is on my side" and "You'll come runnin' back."
Norman was contacted and composed the rest of the lyrics to the tune.
[6]
The Rolling Stones also recorded the song with Norman's lyrics and
released it as a single, which became the band's first hit to break the
top ten.
[7]
The Rolling Stones' releases did credit Norman as lyric writer for a
number of years, but eventually his name was removed; in the early
1990s, he was told by the publisher that the credit was not legally
binding, as it had been a "clerical error".
[6]
In 1966, Norman recorded several tracks with
Jimi Hendrix
on session at Abtone Studio in New York: "You're Only Hurting
Yourself", "Little Groovemaker" and "On You Girlie It Looks so Good".
[8][9] The second of these songs was retooled under the title "Groove Maker" and has been included on a number of Hendrix releases.
[10][11] According to
Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix, Norman—not
Lonnie Youngblood as popularly supposed—was the primary performer besides Hendrix on this song.
[12] Jimi Hendrix – From the Benjamin Franklin Studios 3rd Edition Part 1: The Complete Guide to the Recorded Work of Jimi Hendrix posits Youngblood on
saxophone, but gives writing credit to Norman.
[8] Jimi Hendrix: Musician
documents the confusion surrounding this and other Hendrix sessions of
the time, including the difficulty in tracking contributions when they
also rose from later manipulation of the material as Hendrix became
famous.
[13]
"You're Only Hurting Yourself" and "Little Groovemaker" were first
released under Norman's name as Samar records single 112 in 1966 and
never again released in original form.
[13] "On You Girlie It Looks so Good" remains unreleased.
[8]
In 1968, Norman was visited by a young Bob Marley in his
Bronx
apartment. Norman had at that time written a number of songs for Johnny
Nash, whose record label had just signed Marley, and Marley wanted to
learn more about rhythm and blues.
[14] Along with
Al Pyfrom,
Norman's co-writer, and Marley's wife Rita, the pair spent several days
in a jam session that ultimately resulted in a 24-minute tape of Marley
performing several of his own and Norman-Pyfrom's compositions.
According to
Reggae archivist
Roger Steffens, the tape—which was lost among Norman's possessions for decades—is rare for Marley in that it was influenced by
pop music rather than reggae, highlighting a point in Marley's career when he was still trying to find his path.
[14] Some of the songs from this early jam session were released on the Marley album
Chances Are.
[15]
Following these sessions, Norman went to
Kingston, Jamaica and spent more than half a year there, working in the studio with Marley and composing songs.
[4][14] A number of his compositions were recorded by Marley,
Peter Tosh,
Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, and Neville Willoughby.
[4]
Some of the tapes recorded by Norman during his sessions with Marley
have been commercially released as part of the Marley compilation album,
Soul Almighty.
[14]
Coasters years
After producing a single for the doo-wop band The Coasters in 1969 for
Lloyd Price's Turntable Records, Norman replaced
Vernon Harrell as the regular substitute (permanently, later on) for
Billy Guy in the group in the 1970s,
[16] touring with them until forced to retire by ill-health in 1998, the same year his album
Tobacco Road was released by independent label Bad Cat Records.
[4][14] In interview, Norman cited the limited repertoire, noting that fans of the band were only interested in hearing hits like "
Yakety Yak", "
Charlie Brown" and "
Poison Ivy"; "In 30 years we did maybe 10 songs."
[6] Norman did have opportunity to deviate with other love songs from the 1950s, the era when The Coaster's rose to fame.
[17]
During his time with the Coasters, Norman teamed up with Eddie Palmieri as lead vocalist in the group
Harlem River Drive, which released a self-titled album in 1971.
Health and economic crisis
Norman suffered multiple heart attacks and respiratory disease which restricted him, impoverished, to his home in Manhattan.
[3]
Though he had a successful career that allowed him at one point to own
several clubs, he did not plan for retirement and, like many composers
of his time, receives little to no royalties for his compositions.
[3] In 2002, he told
The Jamaica Observer
with respect to the songs he wrote that were released by Marley,
"Periodically, I get chump change, nothing big. A lotta people have been
making money off of it, not me."
[4]
Norman attempted to get local work without success and, lacking health
insurance and investment funds, was near the point of eviction when he
came to the attention of the Jazz Foundation of America, which helps
redress what
The Crisis
characterizes as the exploitation of "less savvy or uneducated
performers" by record labels and other more powerful members of the
music community.
[3][18][19]
Recovery and death
Jimmy Norman records in studio in 2004. Photo by Frank Beacham.
Wendy Oxenhorn, director of the Foundation, arranged for housekeeping
and free medical care for Norman, as well as helping him plan for his
future, providing back rent and negotiating with Norman's landlord.
[19]
In the course of that housekeeping, in July 2002, Norman's rare tape of
his jam session with Marley was located in his apartment and placed on
auction, retrieving considerably above its estimated value when
auctioned at $26,290. During the same housekeeping session, Norman
rediscovered old notebooks containing his compositions.
[6] Producer
Kerryn Tolhurst
recorded Norman performing the songs on a tape recorder in his
apartment, taking the tapes into the studio later to add parts by other
musicians.
[6] Judy Collins,
whose drummer Tony Beard contributed to the project, released the
resultant album under her own Wildflower label in 2004. The project,
titled
Little Pieces, is the first album Norman has ever released with wide distribution.
[6] In 2006,
Little Pieces won in The 5th Annual
Independent Music Awards for Best Blues Album.
[20]
In the 2000s, Norman has performed live. In 2003, he performed a benefit concert for the Jazz Foundation at the
Gilsey House in New York.
[21] In 2007, he took part in the Jazz Foundation's annual "Great Night in Harlem", performing "Time Is on My Side".
[22] As of 2007, Norman was performing locally in Manhattan.
[19]
Norman died on November 8, 2011, in New York City after a long
illness. He had held his last public performance on October 29, 2011,
for the Jazz Foundation of America.
[23] Married three times, he was the father of two children.
[3][4]
Discography
Chart singles
| Year |
Single |
Chart Positions |
| US Pop[24] |
US
R&B[25] |
| 1962 |
"I Don't Love You No More (I Don't Care About You)" |
47 |
21 |
| 1966 |
"Can You Blame Me" |
- |
35 |
To see more of who died in 2011
click here
