James Wheeler is a quiet man. One of those types who has been putting in
decades of work backing other musicians while shying away from the spotlight
himself. After forty plus years James Wheeler is finally ready. James Wheeler
was born in Albany, Georgia on August 28, 1937. Wheeler didn't follow the
usual path of listening to the blues and picking up a guitar as a youngster.
His favorite music as a youth was the big band sounds popular in the day.
Folks like Joe Stafford, Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington. Wheeler never even
played an instrument until he moved to Chicago in 1956. Nineteen and ready for
a change in life, James Wheeler headed north to join his older brother
Golden Wheeler
in Chicago.
Golden Wheeler
had come to Chicago a decade earlier and got caught up in the sounds of the
city. He was fascinated with the sound of the harmonica and after
Little Walter
befriended him he began to learn to play. As soon as little brother James
arrived in Chicago he was thrust into the sounds of the blues.
Golden Wheeler
was playing with
Walter Smith,
Donald Griffin and
Johnny Swan
at the time, and occasionally jamming with
Eddie King
and harp player
Willie Black.
James began to thump around on the guitar when hanging out with the gang, and
eventually picked up an old Harmony acoustic guitar with a pick-up in it.
James began to see bluesmen like
Howlin' Wolf and
Freddie King
playing in the clubs, and his interest peaked. By the early 1960s Wheeler was
jamming regularly on the West Side and landed a steady gig with
Billy Boy Arnold
at the Club Arden. In 1963 Wheeler decided to form his own band. The Jaguars
consisted of Wheeler on guitar, bass player/vocalist Johnny Howard and drummer
Sam Burden. The band cut their teeth at the King James Club on 111th St., but
their first big break came when they filled in for
Syl Johnson
at the Just Me Lounge at 59th and Morgan. This gig opened the doors to various
house band stints including stays at the Bonanza, Just Me Lounge, Payton Place
and the Burning Spear. During the next ten years, Wheeler played behind blues
greats like
McKinley Mitchell,
B.B. King,
Millie Jackson,
Otis Clay and
O.V. Wright.
After The Jaguars broke up in 1972, Wheeler was enlisted to form
Otis Clay's
touring band, the OCB's. He stayed with
Otis Clay
for the next three years and in 1975 went on tour with the Impressions. For
the next decade Wheeler held a day job and only played on the weekends with
guitarist Buddy Scott. Wheeler's next break came in 1986. "One evening
when I got home my brother called and said some people had been trying to find
me. I asked who it was and he said
Otis Rush.
So I got in touch with him and he said: `Look I've got to go into the
(Kingston) Mines this weekend and need a guitar player.' So I said `O.K. Just
for that weekend,' you know. Little did I know it would last for 7
years." It was
Otis Rush
that encouraged Wheeler to start singing and made a spot for him singing in
his show. Wheeler left
Otis Rush
in 1993 to join the band Mississippi Heat and made three records with them.
(quoted from James Wheeler's page at myspace.com)
Visit James Wheeler's page at myspace.com.
Visit also these related Sites:
Biographical Information on James Wheeler
James Wheeler biography at delmark.com.
James Wheeler Photos
Five James Wheeler photos by Dragan Tasic.
James Wheeler photo by Kurt Swanson.
James Wheeler Videos
James Wheeler & Igor Prado Band 01. Runtime 08:41.
James Wheeler & Igor Prado Band 02. Runtime 05:02.
James Wheeler en Santiago de Chile (25/11/06). Runtime 04:19.
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