Jimmy Church

Bandleader, bassist, and vocalist Jimmy Church has been an integral part of Nashville’s R&B community since the late 50s.

History[edit | edit source]

While in his teens, in the late 1950s, Church formed the vocal group the Seniors, who recorded for groundbreaking Nashville label Excello Records. Afterwards, he and Bobby Hebb did a doo-wop single as the Hi-Fis in 1959. In the early 1960s, he sang in nightclubs with the King Kasuals, whose members included Jimi Hendrix and Billy Cox, including for Johnny Jones when Johnny became bandleader for Johnny Jones and the King Casuals. As much as any entertainer, Church received valuable, repeated exposure on the pioneering R&B TV shows Night Train and The !!!! Beat. This experience led to Church sharing concert stages with Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, and other legends. Jimmy Church continues to perform today.

Church was a regular performer for the Country Music HOF during their exhibit, "Night Train to Nashville" helping to celebrate the forgotten history of Nashville's 60s soul and R&B scenes. After the exhibit, a new audience was left without a place to watch the legends perform, other than Marion James' annual Musicians’ Reunion, usually held at the old Club Baron (the Elks Lodge on Jefferson Street). In this void Church opened his own venue on 2nd Avenue, called "The Place." This venture was short-lived due to Church's demanding road schedule he maintains. According to the Tennessee Ledger, "Soon The Valentines and The Commanders and Clifford Curry and the rest had a stage. But Church tired of the business aspect since he is out on the road with his band most weekends.."

Writing for the Tennessee Ledger, Tim Ghianni quotes Church talking about his time in the 60s on Jefferson St.:

Jimmy Church Band and several less-prominent outfits – has deep cultural roots in the heritage of Jefferson Street. Indeed, at about the same time Tyrone Smith was working out his kinks with various outfits while a student at Tennessee State, Church already was ripping it up with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Billy Cox, Larry Lee and Johnny Jones in the New Era, Del Morocco and other clubs.

Church also worked the southern “Chitlin Circuit” with acts like Jackie Wilson, a close friend and mentor.

“When I was young, I favored Jackie, so he used to have me riding in his limo with him. We’d get places and there’d be all these girls and he’d tell them that I was Jackie Wilson,” says Church, never one to duck the ladies attentions.

As show bands grew along Jefferson Street, backing some of the best acts in the business, Church learned lessons, both good and bad, from fellow performers. From Billy Cox, he learned a bit about playing bass. From Cox’s Army buddy, Jimi Hendrix, he learned how NOT to perform.

“Without (guitarist) Larry Lee in that band, we wouldn’t have sounded like nothing. Hendrix was doing all that kind of stuff,” says Church, whose hard-charging, choreographed shows all these years later show a dedication to discipline.

“People wanted to hear music, but Jimi kept doing that (stuff), so Larry kept playing a big old chord to make the band sound like a band.”

The free-flying and free-falling Hendrix learned some of his charismatic skills by simply paying close attention during his Jefferson Street show band experience with Church and pals.

Church laughs for a moment as he remembers Hendrix as “a good cat. He was real humble. He stayed high. I didn’t know nothing about no drugs.”

“We played Clarksville (where Hendrix and Billy Cox first teamed up as 101st Airborne paratroopers) one time and Hendrix broke the speaker. He kept playing. He was into the fuzz tone before it first came out.”

When Church, 72, formed his own show band – with a full complement of musicians and the bountiful sights and sounds provided by a cadre of female singers – he was determined to provide high-caliber, ear-pleasing music, dosed with showmanship and discipline. The band bears no resemblance to the Jimi Hendrix Experience. This is a show band with drum-punctuated, horn-exploding purpose.

“I’m still in the mix now because of it,” he says. “You got to have a show man. You gotta sing it just like the record goes. People want to hear the song just like they heard it on the record they bought.”

Too many artists, he laments, stray from the original when they take the stage and disappoint the audience.

“You do it like it goes,” he says. “You don’t add nothing. You show up on time and do your job and people will come to see you."

Church and his outfit were called on plenty as the house band during the Night Train to Nashville exhibit, and they provided musical accompaniment for R&B legends like Frank Howard and The Commanders, Clifford Curry, Johnny Jones, Robert Knight and Earl Gaines.

“Jimmy Church was central to the exhibit story, given that he began recording for Nashville’s R&B labels in the late 1950s, frequently appeared on the locally produced TV shows Night Train and The!!!!Beat in the ‘60s, and contributed so much to the live music scene,” says Gray, an R&B scholar as and curator of the Hall of Fame exhibit.

“For decades he has been leading one of the tightest bands in the country. The Hall of Fame has been fortunate – on many levels – to have The Jimmy Church Band anchor many of our Night Train to Nashville festivities. Many of the veteran artists that we have wanted to showcase no longer have their own backing bands, but every one of those singers knows and respects Jimmy and feels comfortable sitting in with his group.”

The versatility of this veteran show band in switching from backing Philly-fashioned doo-wop to Nashville pop to hard-core blues to Motown is testament to Church’s talent as bandleader, as well as his business acumen in keeping a talented corps together for decades.

from Discogs:

Nashville-born Jimmy Church entered music professionally while he was still in high school as a singer in the R&B vocal group the Seniors, whose ranks also included guitarist Bobby Hebb. They were good enough to be signed by Excello, and he later moved on to the Hi-Fi's, who got a contract with Baton Rouge-based Montel Records. He passed through Johnny Otis' band in Los Angeles but preferred the music opportunities in the South, returning to his native Nashville, where he began his solo recording career on the Hickory label. He later moved to OKeh during the latter's final active years, and to Sound Stage 7 and Peach Tree. He also passed through the lineup of the King Casuals -- whose ranks also included a young Jimi Hendrix -- before forming his own group, the Jimmy Church Revue.

His own career was managed by DJ and record producer William "Hoss" Allen. When the latter was putting together his television soul showcase, The !!!! Beat, in late 1965, it was only logical that a big part of the house band would come from the ranks of Church's revue, including Frank Howard & the Commanders and Johnny Jones, who constituted ready top talent. The Jimmy Church Revue became a top attraction among college audiences in the Southern and border states during the 1970s, and he's remained active right into the 21st century, touring Europe as well as continuing his work in America. One of his OKeh sides, "Hurt," was a minor hit in England, and he is one of those American acts idolized by Northern soul enthusiasts on the far side of the Atlantic.

Jimmy Church performed for the Royal Family in 2014. According to his website:

Jimmy Church had the distinct honor of playing for the Lizzy Wilson and Guy Pelly wedding reception in Memphis on Sat May 3, 2014, at the Hunt and Polo Club. The event was honored by the presence of Prince William and Prince Harry who attended the wedding and reception. The night was amazing!!! Full of great fun, wonderful people and joy had by all. The Jimmy Church Band was honored to perform for such a great occasion!!!

As a result of the band's performance for this wonderful occasion, The Jimmy Church Band traveled to perform in England in Dec 2014 for a wedding reception for James Murray Wells and Lottie Fry in which Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice and Princess Euginie were in attendance.

Historian E. Mark Windle writes:

After a number of personnel changes within The Imperials and The King Kasuals, Jones, Hendrix and Cox came together as a performing group in their own right; supporting visiting acts in the area on the chitlin’ circuit and undertaking session work. During this time, vocalist Jimmy Church also joined the fold. Church had some performing and recording experience behind him already:

“I was born in Nashville and raised by my grandmother” says Jimmy Church. “There weren’t really any musical influences within the family, but I started singing at the age of three. Early musical influences were The Five Royales. In high school, I formed The Seniors – named so because we were all senior students except one. ‘Happy Jack’, real name Morgan Babb, was a DJ at WSOK – he liked us, saw us perform and ended up booking and recording us.”

The Seniors’ sole recording “Sloo Foot Soo” / “Why Did You Leave Me” was released in 1958. The following year Jimmy and friend Bobby Hebb paired up for The Hi-Fis “I’m So Lonely” / “My Dear” (Montel SJM 1005) recorded in Baton Rouge. It would be four years before Church would see his first solo recording as “James Church”, with the self-penned uptempo R&B number “Find A Job”, backed by the ballad “Fool No More” (Hickory 45-1194). The Hickory recording was made just prior to Hoss Allen’s Rogana Promotions being set up. Allen was his manager at this point.

Jimmy’s second solo effort was “The Hurt” (Okeh 7186), recorded in 1963 at the Owen Bradley studio (after Columbia had purchased the facility) on Music Row: “Freddie North is my first cousin. His mother and my father were sister and brother. I recorded the song because I liked the way Freddie did it. I paid for the session, Hoss pitched it around and Okeh took it.”

Within the next year or so Jimmy became the established vocalist for Johnny Jones’ band. Their reputation lead to their being hired as the backing band on the R&B TV shows Night Train and The !!!! Beat, with Jimmy Church doing everything from solo performances, providing backing to other artists, to percussion. Over a period of around three or four years the skills of Cox, Hendrix, Jones and Church would be employed on a variety of Nashville R&B and soul recordings. For Hendrix, 1964 to 1966 was a prolific, if wandering, period. Church reports that this was largely due to Hendrix’s association with the flamboyant Master of Ceremonies and singer Gorgeous George, who asked Hendrix to come with him on his chitlin’ circuit rounds. Hendrix was presented with the opportunity to back a number of acts including The Isley Brothers, Don Covey, The Tams, Little Richard and Curtis Knight and the Squires. Through this exploration of musical diversions Hendrix would finally meet Animals’ bass guitarist Chas Chandler and his manager during a visit to Greenwich Village, New York. A connection which ultimately lured him to the UK.

Around the time of the departure of Hendrix, the group changed name again, to Johnny Jones and the King Casuals, with Jimmy Church as the lead singer, and they re-commenced performing. Keyboardist and arranger Bob Wilson (of Detroit Ric-Tic fame) also joined forces with Johnny Jones and Billy Cox at one point to provide session work on recordings by John Richbourg’s Sound Stage 7 artists.

Jimmy Church continued solo outings with the relentless grind of “Right On Time”, released in 1965 (Southern Artists 2025). The song was the creation of the Freddie Waters, Skeet Alsup, Eddie Frierson, a.k.a The Hytones, who also appeared on the Southern Artists label courtesy of writer / manager / producer Bob Holmes.

Church’s first direct connection with John Richbourg would come in 1965-66 when they produced some worthy if unreleased material, including “Soul Shack”, “Faith In Me” and others, which would not surface until 2007 via the CD The Rich Records Story (SPV Blue 49742). Richbourg carried over the Rich contract to Sound Stage 7 label, which saw “Right On Time” re-released a year later (Sound Stage 7 SS45-2259), then again in the early 1970s when the Sound Plus imprint was used to release a mix of back catalogue numbers and new material. The ballad double sider “Twinkle” / “You’ve Got Me (In The Palm Of Your Hand)” (Sound Stage 7 SS45-2580) represented Jimmy’s final recordings for Sound Stage 7.

The King Casuals soon came to the attention of William Bell’s manager Henry Wynn, who headed the Supersonic Attractions booking agency out of Atlanta. The agency was contracted to supply the band and support artists for an upcoming tour headed by Jackie Wilson, The Impressions and Barbara Mason. Most of the support acts were not held within a recording contract at that time, so Bell and Wynn formed the Peachtree label as an outlet for these artists. Wynn also wanted Johnny Jones and his band to back othermajor artists. Church asked John Richbourg if he could be released from his Sound Stage 7 contract in order to join the band on the tour. He gave him his blessing, although the tour would involve tragedy, when Johnny Jones’ horn section and The Impressions’ rhythm section died in an automobile accident whilst on the road in the Carolinas.

At the time of the Peachtree signing in 1968, The King Casuals’ manager divided Jimmy and the rest of the band into two separate acts, both recording for the label at the same time. Jimmy Church’s frantic soul dancer “Thinking About The Good Times” and the ballad flip “Shadow Of Another Man’s Love” (Peachtree 101) was the initial 45 release for the label, produced by William Bell. Despite writing both tracks for the label, Jimmy reports he didn’t receive a cent. With tempo and rarity to boot, the top side received latter day acclaim on the UK northern soul scene via DJ Guy Hennigan at the Stafford Top of the World all-nighters.

In name at least, The King Casuals had one 45 release on the label: “Soul Poppin’ “/ “Blues For The Brothers” (Peachtree 102). Johnny Jones would also appear separately on “Mighty Low - Parts 1 and 2 (Peachtree P-126) and “Do Unto Others” / “Hong Kong Harlem” (Peachtree 131/132). “Purple Haze” was initially earmarked for a Peachtree release, but Bell and Wynn sought an opportunity for better national distribution. The song caught the attention of major label Brunswick. The group’s own soulful, almost funk rendition of “Purple Haze” with Johnny Jones on lead vocal went on to become a popular northern soul favourite, receiving 1976 re-releases in UK via Brunswick and, simultaneously, Cream, the Global Records imprint.

Jimi Hendrix of course took a different direction, the story of which (along with the tragic finale, aged twenty-seven) is now well documented. Johnny Jones performed until his own death in 2009. Billy Cox continued to play as bass with Jimi Hendrix after his meteoric rise to fame at Woodstock and until the passing of Hendrix. Now the owner of a blues and gospel themed video production company, Cox has co-authored and contributed to a number of biographies on Jimi Hendrix. Cox himself was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and he still tours and records to this day.

The Jimmy Church Revue was formed in the early 1970s, managed by South Eastern Attractions out of Birmingham, AL and proved to be a popular booking in various southern colleges. Today, Jimmy Church remains active in many ways. To the older African-American community he is regarded as a guardian of local R&B history. As organiser for the Tennessee Rhythm and Blues Society, Church co-ordinates regular events at Carole-Ann’s Café on Murfreesboro Pike in Nashville where artists from previous decades are invited to perform on stage; an acknowledgement of their contribution to the Nashville music scene. The Jimmy Church Band are a popular high profile event act, having recently performed in the presence of members of the British Royal family in Memphis and in England, and at several US Governor inaugural balls.

Promotional[edit | edit source]

From his website:

THE JIMMY CHURCH BAND has expanded their repertoire, broadening the band's base to provide a fresh new variety of shows and entertainment to reach more people. The band is a 10 piece entertainment entity. In addition to performing the loved classic sounds of Motown Jimmy Church is so well known for, the new songs have been added into the show to also include well known, loved selections from Pop to Rock 'N Roll. Everyone is sure to love the new shows of The Jimmy Church Band.

THE JIMMY CHURCH BAND is one of the world's leading dance and show groups. This high energy band consists of a rhythm section, horn section, dazzling choreography, and the titillating voices of Cinnamon and Spice. The group travels throughout the U.S. and abroad performing for corporate parties, conventions, bar mitzvahs, wedding receptions, college and university sororities and fraternities, several Governor's Inaugural Balls, and numerous private parties.

The band's Song List ranges from Bruno Mars, Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke, to Louie Armstrong, Journey, Whitney Houston, Keith Urban. The most requested songs performed are the "Motown Sounds" of the Supremes, Four Tops, Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson, Mary Wells, and Stevie Wonder. Other popular requests are for songs by the Jackson Five, the Spinners, Commodores, Kool and the Gang, Earth Wind and Fire, Michael Jackson, the Drifters, and the Platters. The group's song list also includes popular songs from artists such as Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Roy Orbison, Jackie Wilson, Van Morrison, Madonna and many others.The main reason The Jimmy Church Band is so popular for weddings is playing the music that pleases the kids to the grandparents. No one is left out, and they play DJ music on breaks. So music is non stop. VOGUE MAGAZINE named The Jimmy Church Band the #1 BEST BAND in it's special wedding issue. The performance and talent range of the artists within the group are amazing. If you are looking to have a successful event and a great time The Jimmy Church Band is the premier entertainment for your special occasion.

Jimmy Church now perfoms a tribute to the great musical artistry of PRINCE. The band will perform this tribute by special request.

Jimmy Church gives discount pricing for performances for Charity Events.