- (This page also refers to the Commandos. For the punk band of the same name, see Commandos(2)).
James Edgar Spruill (June 9, 1934 – February 3, 1996), also known as Wild Jimmy Spruill, was an American New York based session guitarist, whose guitar solos featured on many rhythm and blues and pop hits of the 1950s and 1960s.
Spruill was born into a sharecropping family in Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States. As a child he listened to both country music and blues. He learned to play guitar, first with a cigar box guitar with an elastic band, and then graduated within a few years to a Fender Telecaster and Standel amplifier. Later in his career, he took to playing a Gibson Les Paul which he "modified" by sawing off most of the body.
He moved to New York City in 1955, and began working as a session musician. He most frequently worked for the record producersDanny and Bobby Robinson, who ran the Fire, Fury, Everlast, Enjoy and VIM record labels based at Bobby Robinson's Happy House of Hits record store in Harlem. He also worked for the Old Town, Vanguard and other New York-based labels, and appeared on records by King Curtis, Little Anthony and the Imperials, the Shirelles, Tarheel Slim, and Elmore James, as well as releasing singles under his own name.
In May 1959 "The Happy Organ" by Dave "Baby" Cortez reached the top of the Billboard pop chart and was succeeded, the following week, by Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City"; both records featured guitar solos by Spruill. Another well-known recording on which Spruill plays is "Fannie Mae" by Buster Brown, which hit the top of the R&B charts in early 1960. In 1961, he featured on Bobby Lewis's no.1 hit "Tossin' and Turnin'", and at the same time featured on The Shirelles' "Dedicated to the One I Love", which peaked at no.3.
Spruill was a showman, known for playing guitar with his teeth. His sound was unconventional, notable for its hard attack and sense of freedom, unexpectedly going from assertive lead parts to rhythmically dynamic, scratching rhythms. Among his most interesting solo records is "Hard Grind" (Fire 1006), which was originally issued as the B-side to "Kansas City March". Other solo sides include "Cut and Dried", "Scratchin' Twist", and "Slow Draggin".
Links to Peel[]
Peel more likely was aware of the musician whilst living in America during the 1960's. Many of his songs were played on his radio programmes, including the track, 'Kansas City March', which was added to the Peel Out In The States (Program 06) in 1993.
Shows Played[]
- 05 April 1973: Hard Grind
- 22 July 1985: Kansas City March (v/a LP - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964) Krazy Kat
- 29 July 1985 (BFBS): Kansas City March (v/a album - Wild Jimmy Spruill - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964) Krazy Kat
- 31 July 1985: Scratchin' (album - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964) Krazy Kat
- 05 August 1985: Hard Grind (v/a LP - Wild Jimmy Spruill - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964) Krazy Kat
- 12 August 1985: Cut And Dried (v/a LP - Wild Jimmy Spruill: The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-64) Krazy Kat
- 21 August 1985: Scratch 'N' Twist (v/a LP - Wild Jimmy Spruill: The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-64) Krazy Kat
- 09 December 1990: 'Kansas City March (Compilation LP-Wild Jimmy Spruill - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964)' (Krazy Kat)
- 15 December 1990: Hard Grind (LP - Wild Jimmy Spruill - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964) Krazy Kat
- 22 December 1990 (BFBS): 'Scratch N' Twist (Compilation LP-Wild Jimmy Spruill - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964)' (Krazy Kat)
- 06 March 1993: 'Kansas City March (LP-The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964)' (Krazy Kat)
- 18 March 1993 (BBC World Service): 'Kansas City March (album - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964) Krazy Kat
- 09 April 1993: Scratchin' (7" - Country Boy) VIM
- 09 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles): Kansas City March (LP – The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-64) Krazy Kat
- 14 December 1996: Hard Grind (LP - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964) Krazy Kat
- 14 April 1998: Kansas City March (v/a album - Wild Jimmy Spruill - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964) Krazy Kat
- April 1998 (FSK): Kansas City March (v/a album - Wild Jimmy Spruill - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964) Krazy Kat
- 23 June 1998: Scratchin' (LP - The Hard Grind Bluesman 1956-1964) Krazy Kat
- 24 August 1999: 'Lonesome Melody (Compilation CD-Harlem Rock n'Blues Vol. 3)
- 26 August 1999 (Radio Eins): 'Lonesome Melody (Compilation CD-Harlem Rock'N'Blues Vol. 3)' (Collectables)
- 02 September 1999 (Radio Eins): 'Raisin Hell (Compilation CD-Harlem Rock'N'Blues Vol. 3)' (Collectables)
- 29 June 2000 (Radio Eins): 'Lonesome Melody (Compilation CD-Harlem Rock'N'Blues Vol. 3)' (Collectables)
- 28 November 2001: Hard Grind (LP – Great R&B Instrumentals) Ace
- Commandos (Curtis Ousley, Wild Jimmy Spruill)
- 28 July 1987: June's Blues (v/a LP - Sue Instrumentals: 1959-1967) Stateside
- 11 August 1987: Chicken Scratch (compilation album - Sue Instrumentals 1959-1967: The Beat Is On) EMI America