James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues musician who played the harmonica, sang, and wrote songs. He performed and recorded with many famous blues artists, including Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, as well as with his own band, The James Cotton Blues Band.

Cotton started his professional career in the early 1950s, learning from Sonny Boy Williamson II and playing the harmonica in Howlin' Wolf’s band. He spent 12 years touring with Muddy Waters and appeared on the album At Newport '60, which is listed in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Cotton made his first recordings in Memphis for Sun Records, where Sam Phillips helped guide his work. In 1955, he joined Muddy Waters’ band in Chicago after being invited to do so. Cotton became the leader of Muddy’s band and stayed with the group until 1965. In 1965, he formed the Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet with Otis Spann on piano to record music between performances with Muddy Waters’ band. Later, he left to create his own full-time touring group. His first full album, released on Verve Records, was produced by guitarist Mike Bloomfield and singer-songwriter Nick Gravenites, who later joined the band Electric Flag.

In the 1970s, Cotton played harmonica on Muddy Waters’ Grammy Award-winning 1977 album Hard Again, which was produced by Johnny Winter.

Career

James Cotton was born in Tunica, Mississippi. His parents, Hattie and Moses, were sharecroppers. They died when he was nine years old. Cotton became interested in music after hearing Sonny Boy Williamson II on the radio. He left home with his uncle and moved to West Helena, Arkansas, where he found Williamson. For many years, Cotton said he told Williamson he was an orphan and that Williamson took him in and raised him. He later admitted this story was not true. However, Williamson did help guide Cotton during his early years. Williamson left the South to live with his estranged wife in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, leaving his band in Cotton's care. Cotton said, "He just gave it to me. But I couldn't hold it together because I was too young and crazy in those days, and everyone in the band was grown men, much older than me."

Cotton played drums early in his career but is best known for his harmonica playing. He began his professional career playing the blues harp in Howlin' Wolf's band in the early 1950s. He made his first recordings as a solo artist for Sun Records in Memphis in 1953. In 1954, he recorded an electric blues single called "Cotton Crop Blues," which included a guitar solo by Pat Hare. Cotton joined the Muddy Waters Band around 1955. He performed songs such as "Got My Mojo Working" and "She's Nineteen Years Old," although he did not play on the original recordings. Little Walter, Waters's long-time harmonica player, played most of Waters's recordings in the 1950s. Cotton's first recording session with Waters took place in June 1957. He alternated with Little Walter on Waters's recording sessions until the end of the decade.

In 1965, Cotton formed the Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet with Otis Spann on piano to record between gigs with Waters's band. Their performances were recorded by producer Samuel Charters for volume two of the Vanguard recording Chicago/The Blues/Today! After leaving Waters's band in 1966, Cotton toured with Janis Joplin while pursuing a solo career. He formed the James Cotton Blues Band in 1967. The band performed its own arrangements of popular blues and R&B from the 1950s and 1960s. Cotton's band included a horn section, similar to Bobby Bland's. After Bland's death, his son told news media that Bland had recently discovered Cotton was his half-brother.

In the 1970s, Cotton recorded several albums for Buddah Records, including 100% Cotton with Matt "Guitar" Murphy, one of his most well-known albums. He played harmonica on Muddy Waters's Grammy Award–winning 1977 album Hard Again, produced by Johnny Winter. In the 1980s, he recorded for Alligator Records in Chicago and rejoined the label in 2010. The James Cotton Blues Band received a Grammy nomination in 1984 for Live from Chicago: Mr. Superharp Himself! on Alligator, and a second nomination for his 1987 album Take Me Back on Blind Pig Records.

Cotton won a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album for Deep in the Blues in 1996, produced by John Snyder. He was also nominated for his albums Living The Blues (1995), Superharps (2001), Baby, Don't You Tear My Clothes (2005), and Giant (2010).

Cotton appeared on the cover of the July–August 1987 issue of Living Blues magazine (number 76). He was featured in the same publication's 40th anniversary issue in August–September 2010.

In 2006, Cotton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Memphis by the Blues Foundation. He has won or shared ten Blues Music Awards.

Cotton battled throat cancer in the mid-1990s but continued to tour, using singers or members of his band as vocalists. On March 10, 2008, he and Ben Harper performed at the induction of Little Walter into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, playing "Juke" and "My Babe." The event was broadcast nationwide on VH1 Classic. On August 30, 2010, Cotton was the special guest on Larry Monroe's farewell broadcast of Blue Monday, which Monroe had hosted on radio station KUT in Austin, Texas, for nearly 30 years.

Cotton's studio album Giant, released by Alligator Records in late September 2010, was nominated for a Grammy Award. His album Cotton Mouth Man, released by Alligator on May 7, 2013, was also a Grammy nominee. It included guest appearances by Gregg Allman, Joe Bonamassa, Ruthie Foster, Delbert McClinton, Warren Haynes, Keb Mo, Chuck Leavell, and Colin Linden. Cotton played harmonica on "Matches Don't Burn Memories" on the debut album by the Dr. Izzy Band, *

Death

Cotton died from pneumonia on March 16, 2017, at the age of 81 at a hospital in Austin, Texas. He was buried on July 11, 2017, in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

Discography

• 1965: Chris Barber Presents Jimmy Cotton
• 1965: Chris Barber Presents Jimmy Cotton – No. 2 (two 45 rpm EPs recorded with Barber's British jazz and blues band)
• 1966: Chicago/The Blues/Today! , Vol. 2 ( Vanguard ) shared with Otis Rush and Homesick James
• 1967: Seems Like Yesterday (Live at the New Penelope Café, Montreal, Canada) (Just A Memory/ Justin Time JAM-9138) released 1998
• 1967: Late Night Blues: Live at the New Penelope Café 1967 (Just A Memory/Justin Time JAM-9140) released 1998
• 1967: The James Cotton Blues Band ( Verve ) (No. 194 US )
• 1968: Cut You Loose! (Vanguard)
• 1968: Pure Cotton (Verve)
• 1968: Cotton in Your Ears (Verve) released 1969
• 1970: Taking Care of Business ( Capitol )
• 1974: 100% Cotton , with Matt "Guitar" Murphy ( Buddah )
• 1975: High Energy , with Matt "Guitar" Murphy (Buddah)
• 1976: Live & On the Move , with Matt "Guitar" Murphy (Buddah)
• 1977: Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down , with Muddy Waters , and Johnny Winter (Epic/ Legacy ) released 2007
• 1982: Two Sides of the Blues (Quicksilver)
• 1984: High Compression ( Alligator )
• 1986: Live from Chicago: Mr. Superharp Himself (Alligator)
• 1987: Take Me Back ( Blind Pig ), released again on vinyl in 2009
• 1988: Recorded Live at Antone's Night Club ( Antone's )
• 1990: Harp Attack! , with Junior Wells , Carey Bell , and Billy Branch (Alligator)
• 1990: Mystery Train ( Rounder ) shared with Junior Parker , and Pat Hare
• 1991: Mighty Long Time (Antone's)
• 1993: 3 Harp Boogie ( Tomato ) reissue of Two Sides of the Blues
• 1994: Living the Blues (Verve)
• 1995: Best of the Verve Years (Verve) collection of The James Cotton Blues Band , Pure Cotton , and Cotton in Your Ears
• 1996: Deep in the Blues (Verve)
• 1999: Best of the Vanguard Years (Vanguard) collection of Chicago/The Blues/Today!, Vol. 2 , and Cut You Loose!
• 1999: Superharps , with Billy Branch, Charlie Musselwhite , and Sugar Ray Norcia ( Telarc )
• 2000: Fire Down Under the Hill (Telarc)
• 2002: 35th Anniversary Jam of the James Cotton Blues Band (Telarc)
• 2004: Baby, Don't You Tear My Clothes (Telarc)
• 2010: Giant (Alligator)
• 2013: Cotton Mouth Man (Alligator)

• Muddy Waters Sings "Big Bill" (Chess, 1960)
• At Newport 1960 (Chess, 1960)
• Muddy, Brass & the Blues (Chess, 1966)
• Live at Mr. Kelly's (Chess, 1971)
• Can't Get No Grindin' (Chess, 1973)
• Hard Again (Blue Sky, 1977)
• Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live (Blue Sky, 1979)
• King Bee (Blue Sky, 1981)

• The Blues Never Die! (Prestige, 1964 [1965])
• Otis Spann's Chicago Blues (Testament, 1966)

• Nothin' but the Blues (Blue Sky, 1977)