Featured Artist

Joe and Jimmy Liggins
Born seven years apart, brothers Joe and Jimmy Liggins each had successful careers in the 1940's and 50's jump blues and early rhythm and blues (R&B) eras of music that bridged big band and rock and roll.  While they both recorded exciting and danceable music, Joe Liggins' music is often considered more polished and refined, while Jimmy Liggins' songs are considered more "rough" with more of a "bite". 

Joe Liggins biggest hit was the 1945 song "The Honeydripper" parts 1 and 2, which topped the R&B charts from September 1945 to January 1946.  (The song was subsequently re-recorded in 1950 for a separate single release, which is the more well known version).

Jimmy Liggins is best known for his 1954 song, "I Ain't Drunk (I'm Just Drinkin')", a classic of the jump blues genre.

Joe Liggins
Born in Guthrie, Oklahoma in 1915, Joe Liggins was an accomplished pianist, arranger and vocalist by the time his was twenty years old.  He moved to Los Angeles in 1939 and played with various musical groups, to include Sammy Franklin's California Rhythm Rascals.  Unable to convince Franklin to record a song he had written called "The Honeydripper", Liggins formed his own band, "Joe Liggins and the Honeydrippers". 

Between 1945 and 1948, Liggins had ten hits with Los Angeles based Exclusive Records, a black-owned R&B Independent Label.  This included "The Honeydripper", released in 1945 with reportedly two millions copies sold; and "I've Got a Right to Cry", which sold 1.8 million copies. 

Exclusive Records encountered financial difficulties in 1949 and Liggins moved to Specialty Records, also based in Los Angeles.  For the next three years, Joe Liggins had several hit records with the Specialty label, in addition to playing to packed houses on the dance and show circuit throughout the U.S.

By 1954-55, changing times, fickle public tastes and the on-set of rock and roll led to a decline in Liggins' record sales, bookings and popularity.  Like many of the pioneering jump blues and early R&B artists that paved the way for rock and roll, the new rock and roll audience of teenagers related to younger performers.  To this audience, the jump blues and R&B music of the 1940's/50's seemed old and dated.  

By 1956, rock and roll was the music of teenage America, dominated by Elvis Presley, with county, rockabilly and doo wop vocals fighting for the remaining shares.  Few people were interested in the 1940's/50's jump blues and R&B music that made much of rock and roll possible.        

In the mid 1980's, Joe Liggins' music came back into fashion and he once again attracted attention, appreciation and bookings on the Blues and Jazz festival circuit.  He led a band from then until his death in 1987 in Lynnwood, CA.

Some of Joe Liggins' great songs include:  "The Honeydripper"; "Rag Mop"; "Whiskey, Women, and Loaded Dice"; and "Freight Train Blues".

Jimmy Liggins

Jimmy Liggins was born in 1922 in Newby, Oklahoma.  As a teen, he took up the sport of boxing (under the name Kid Zulu), but went to work for his older musician brother Joe as his chauffeur.  As his brother's chauffer, Jimmy Liggins saw first hand the post World War II R&B music scene.  He soon developed a desire to start his own band and began to learn the basics of music and the guitar.

In 1947 he started "Jimmy Liggins and the Drops of Joy", patterned (as to be expected) after his brother's band.  With Jimmy as leader, guitarist and singer, the band recorded with the Los Angeles based Specialty Records label from 1947-1954.  The band had several R&B hits, to include "Cadillac Boogie", "Saturday Night Boogie Woogie Man", and "Drunk".  The band was also popular as a touring act, playing often in the Los Angeles area and the Mid-West.

By 1952, records sales had slowed for Jimmy Liggins and the Drops of Joy, as the public's music tastes were starting to change.  Many R&B performers were aware something new was on the horizon.  But few were able to adapt, and the tidal wave of rock and roll music in 1954-56 left most jump blues/R&B performers in its wake (with the exception of a few, such as Ray Charles).

In July 1954, Liggins left Specialty Records for the Aladdin label (also based in Los Angeles).  His first recording for Aladdin was "I Ain't Drunk (I'm Just Drinkin')", a response to "Drunk", his last hit for Specialty.  Although "I Ain't Drunk" was popular in Los Angeles (and is now considered a classic jump blues tune), and the band remained somewhat popular on the road, Jimmy Liggins slowly faded from the music scene.

Jimmy Liggins had moved out from under the shadow of his older brother, establishing a hard swinging and successful band.  His music and stage presence impacted and influenced other rock and roll musicians such as Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley.  Liggins died in July 1983 in Durham, NC.

Some of Jimmy Liggins' great songs include:  "I Ain't Drunk"; "Cadillac Boogie"; "Saturday Night Boogie Woogie Man"; and "No More Alcohol".
 
 

For more information about music from the swing era, click here.

For questions or information about Hepcats activities, contact Mike Richardson,
email, info@Luv2SwingDance.com; or 859-420-2426.

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