James Cotton

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James Cotton
Cotton in 1981
Background information
Birth name	James Henry Cotton
Born	(1935-07-01)July 1, 1935 Tunica, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	March 16, 2017(2017-03-16) (aged 81) Austin, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Blues Chicago blues Delta blues electric blues[1] jazz Memphis blues rock [2]
Occupations	Musician singer songwriter
Instruments	Harmonica vocals drums
Years active	1953–2017
Labels	Buddah Alligator Telarc International
Website	jamescottonsuperharp.com

James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017)^[1] was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career.

Cotton began his professional career playing the blues harp in Howlin' Wolf's band in the early 1950s.^[3] He made his first recordings in Memphis for Sun Records, under the direction of Sam Phillips. In 1955, he was recruited by Muddy Waters to come to Chicago and join his band. Cotton became Muddy's bandleader and stayed with the group until 1965.^[4] In 1965, he formed the Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet, with Otis Spann on piano, to record between gigs with the Muddy Waters band. He eventually left to form his own full-time touring group. His first full album, on Verve Records, was produced by the guitarist Mike Bloomfield and the singer and songwriter Nick Gravenites, who later were members of the band Electric Flag.^[5]

In the 1970s, Cotton played harmonica on Muddy Waters' Grammy Award–winning 1977 album Hard Again, produced by Johnny Winter.