Big James Montgomery
James Montgomery
James Montgomery (born May 12, 1949) is an American blues musician, best known as the lead singer, blues harp player, frontman, and bandleader of The James Montgomery Blues Band (aka The James Montgomery Band). Montgomery collaborates with many star performers and recording artists. He is also the past President of the New England Blues Society.
James Montgomery was born on May 12, 1949, in Detroit, Michigan. He grew up in Detroit where his father, John Montgomery, worked for Chrysler as a public relations executive. His brother, John Montgomery, also worked in the music industry before becoming an entrepreneur in the Metro Detroit area. His young brother, Jeffrey Montgomery, is an LGBT activist primarily known for being the founding executive director of Triangle Foundation (today Equality Michigan).
"While attending Boston University, where he earned a degree in English literature, Mr. Montgomery started the James Montgomery Band. During his junior year, he was hired by the Colwell-Winfield Blues Band to play harmonica and tour with Janis Joplin. By the time he graduated college, his band was on the cover of the Boston Phoenix, heralded along with J. Geils and Aerosmith as the city's great contributions to the music world. Though he said he loved the academic life, when offered a $15,000 job at BU, Mr. Montgomery took a $250,000 offer to record records and tour with the Allman Brothers instead, and never looked back." by Pamela Marean, Standard-Times correspondent, September 6, 2007.
In 1970 Montgomery formed The James Montgomery Band. His harmonica playing, singing, and energetic stage show led to his band gaining a reputation as one of the hottest bands on the New England music scene. James Montgomery was signed by Capricorn Records to a multi-album deal and released his first vinyl LP album titled "The James Montgomery Band - First Time Out" in 1973. The original LP recordings were remastered and released as a CD in October 20, 1998, by Capricorn / Umgd. Track 9 off his first album titled "Train" was a fan favorite and became the Number 1 song on WBCN (FM), The Rock of Boston. They played it every day at noon-time for over a year. In 2011, Montgomery brought "Train" back as a surprise encore at shows.
Montgomery has toured with many artists, including Aerosmith, The J. Geils Band, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, The Allman Brothers, The Steve Miller Band, The Johnny Winter Band, The Blues Brothers with (Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) and others.
James had his syndicated radio show for five years called "Backstage With the Blues" on these stations:
- WJZS Swing 99.3 FM Block Island, Rhode Island
- WADK 1540 AM Newport, Rhode Island and Fall River, Massachusetts
- WFNX 92.1 FM Portland and Portsmouth, Maine
- KUSH 1600, Cushing, Oklahoma
The show combined great Blues songs along with the stories behind the music, told by the musicians themselves, it provided a bridge between the listeners and the artists as they reminisced about the history of their music. Some of his special guests were John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Koko Taylor, Ruth Brown, Otis Clay, Son Seals, Duke Robillard, Rod Piazza, and many more.
James Montgomery has a soon-to-be-released CD titled "From Detroit to the Delta". Along with James' band, it features Special Guest Star Music Legends Super Harp James Cotton, Blues Guitar Legend Johnny Winter, Two Rock Stars from Aerosmith Brad Whitford (guitar) and Joey Kramer (drums), New York's horn section extraordinaire The Uptown Horns and Rap Star Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels from the group Run DMC.
In 2007 James Montgomery recorded the title song for the film "Delta Rising: A Blues Documentary", a fascinating film that documents the history of the blues, and more specifically, the birthplace of Blues, in the Delta, Clarksdale, Mississippi. It stars Morgan Freeman, Willie Nelson, James Montgomery, James "Super Chikan" Johnson, Grace Kelly, Pinetop Perkins, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, and others who tell their stories about the music, the life, the place, and the importance of the Delta Blues sound in American Music. 2000 - 2006 highlights[edit]
In 2000 Montgomery received a gold record for his recording on the album "Double Wide" which was Uncle Kracker's first solo album released on June 30, 2000. It was produced by Kid Rock.
In February 2002 three tracks from the Bring in on Home CD were featured at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah during the hockey games. They were broadcast to over 2 billion people worldwide. "The players just kept requesting it!" said Dan Beach the 2002 Winter Olympics Music Director.
Johnny Winter asked Montgomery to join the Johnny Winter Band, along with Scott Spray and Wayne June for a National Tour of the West Coast and parts of Europe. As James put it, Johnny Winter was my boss for five years while I toured with him as his harmonica player. James continues to perform with Johnny Winter when they're not working on other projects. In 2004 the Johnny Winter Band consisted of Johnny Winter (Guitar, Vocals), James Montgomery (Blues Harp, Vocals), Paul Nelson (Guitar), Scott Spray (Bass), and Wayne June (Drums).
(Big James Montgomery at 15th annual Poconos Blues Festival 2006)