James Talley

Oklahoma Born Singer/songwriter James Talley Is An Artist Whose Vision Of The American Experience As Author David McGee Has Said Is “startlingly Original.” As A Youth James’ Family Moved From Oklahoma To The State Of Washington Where His Father Worked As A Chemical Operator In The Now Infamous Hanford Plutonium Factory. After Five Years In Richland Washington And Realizing The Hazards His Father’s Employment Presented The Family Relocated To Albuquerque New Mexico. James Grew Up In The Rich Tri-Cultured Environment Of The Southwest And Graduated From The University Of New Mexico With A Degree In Fine Arts. After College Encouraged By Pete Seeger While On A Trip To New Mexico James Began To Write Songs That Drew Upon The Culture Of The Southwest He Had Experienced. These Early Songs Eventually Became The Road To Torreón A Saga Of Life And Death In The Chicano Villages Of Northern New Mexico. Released In A Boxed Edition By Bear Family Records In 1992 It Is A Powerful Collaboration Of Photography And Music With A Photographic Essay Contributed By James’ Lifelong Friend Photographer Cavalliere Ketchum. In 1968 James Moved From New Mexico To Nashville Tennessee To Try To Get His Songs Released. Over The Years Johnny Cash Johnny Paycheck Gene Clark Alan Jackson Hazel Dickens And Most Recently Moby And Others Have Recorded His Songs. Joining Country Music And The Blues B. B. King Played His First Nashville Session With James In 1976 As His Lead Guitar Player. James’ Recording Career Now Spans Thirty Plus Years. The Late John Hammond Sr. At Columbia Records In New York Was His First Mentor And Championed His Writing In The Early 1970s As He Had The Careers Of Bob Dylan Leonard Cohen And Bruce Springsteen. When Hammond Could Not Get James’s More Country-Flavored Sound Signed At Columbia In New York He Sent Him To Jerry Wexler Who Was Starting A New Nashville Operation With His Atlantic Label At The Time. Wexler Signed James To His First Recording Contract At Atlantic Records At The Same Time He Signed Willie Nelson. Atlantic’s Nashville Operation However Did Not Do Well At The Time And Atlantic Closed Its Nashville Office. James Then Moved To Capitol Records Where He Released Four Now Legendary Albums During The Mid-1970s And Was One Of The Originators And Godfathers Of Americana Music Got No Bread No Milk No Money But We Sure Got A Lot Of Love 1975 Tryin’ Like The Devil 1976 Blackjack Choir 1977 And Ain’t It Somthin’ 1977 . Rolling Stone And Other Music Publications Have Declared These Albums American Classics For Their Time. During The 1980s And 1990s James Recorded Four Albums Which Were Released In Europe By The German Bear Family Records American Originals 1985 And Love Songs And The Blues 1989 The Road To Torreón 1992 And James Talley Live 1994 . In 1999 James Started His Own Artist’s Label Cimarron Records And Released Woody Guthrie And Songs Of My Oklahoma Home 2000 His Only Album That Covered Someone Else's Songs Nashville City Blues 2000 And Was Named Amazon.Com’s Folk Artist Of The Year 2000. In 2002 Touchstones Was Released – A Fresh Retrospective Of The Songs From His Early Career. It Was Recorded In Texas With The Help Of James’ Old Friends Joe Ely And Ponty Bone. In 2004 Journey Was Released A Live In-Concert Recording Made On His Recent Tour Of Italy. It Displays Some Of His Classics As Well As Five New Compositions. In February 2006 James’ Classic First Album Got No Bread No Milk No Money But We Sure Got A Lot Of Love Was Reissued In A Special 30th Anniversary Edition. In July 2008 James Simultaneously Issued Two CDs In Digital Download Journey The Second Voyage The Remaining Songs For The Original Live Journey Recordings Supplemented With Five New Songs And Heartsong An Album Of Fifteen New Songs And A Re-Recording Of His Song "She's The One " Which Was Covered As "Evening Rain" By Moby. read less