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Jimi Jamison
The voice that lead Survivor to three top ten songs, 5 top 20 songs, multiple major movie soundtracks and a
main TV theme composition, "I'm Always Here", which he co-wrote and
performed for the number 1 TV show worldwide, "Baywatch", solidifies
his standing as one of the premier singers, writers and performers in the
music industry today.
Jimi graduated from Messick High School in Memphis, Tennessee. Born in rural Mississippi and rising from humble beginnings in a tough lower class section of Memphis,Tn to becoming an established superstar worldwide, his achievements call to mind Rock and Roll Legends:
Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins with whom he shared the stage as well as friendships and one by whom Jimi was greatly influenced, and met as a very young boy in a department store while "The King" was on one of his famous shopping sprees, not knowing that years later he would be extended a personal invitation by Elvis' to visit him at his home.
Like Elvis, Jimi has never forgotten from whence he came, and continues to
be dedicated to charity work such as:
St. Jude Children..s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation,
Dove House for Abused Children, WTC Relief, Special Olympics, Make A Wish Foundation, The Cancer Society, Fergie's Hep C benefits, George Kleins famous annual Christmas Charity Show and Auction, The Childrens Diabeties Foundation, The Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, the ARF Foundation, headed by Tony LaRussa, manager
of the St. LouisCardinals and the Toys for Tots programs nationwide.
Jimi reveals, "My biggest vocal and musical influences were, Elvis, Wilson Pickett, BJ Thomas, Booker T and the MGs, The Beatles, Mitch Ryder, Deep Purple and Led Zepplin"
Jimi got his first studio recording experience at the age of 15 at the legendary Phillips Recording studio in Memphis, under the direction and guidance of his good friend and renowned engineer/producer Knox Phillips,(son of Sam Phillips who discovered Elvis Presley) recording a single "If I Cry" (which was originally meant for Memphis based chart toppers The Box Tops) but was cut by Jamison and released on the ATCO (Atlantic Records) label.
With some recorded material now on tape, Jimi and his band were invited to appear on the very popular Memphis music show "Talent Party" hosted by George Klein,
(of Elvis' Memphis Mafia fame) which helped launch his popularity around the Mid South area and found him and his band performing with groups like: Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, The Buckinghams, The Tams and the legendary Roy Orbison.
In the early 70's, at the invitation of TMI Studio staff bass player Jim Johnson, drummer Ritchie Simpson (Roy Orbison, Vince Gill etc...) and guitarist Paul Cannon, Jamison began hanging out and watching sessions being recorded at TMI Studio which was owned by Jerry Williams (manager of Paul Revere and the Raiders and the driving force behind the success of many big acts of the time) and the legendary guitarist/writer/producer Steve Cropper (Blues Brothers, Booker T and The MG's, and writer of numerous hits that came out of Stax Records including Otis Reding's biggest hit "Dock of the Bay").
"I was there so much that Steve, and the rest of the staff started thinking that I worked there", laughs Jimi, " I was just amazed at the people and the process of making a record and wanted to be around it as much as possible. I got to watch everyone from Poco to Jeff Beck recording their albums. It was a great experience."
Hanging out finally paid off when Cropper asked Jimi to sing background vocals on a session he was producing. which opened the doors to more and more vocal work.
Popularity soon started gaining momentum with the nationally acclaimed rock band "Target" with 2 album releases (Target and Captured) on A&M Records in the late 70..s and constant touring with the groups:
Black Oak Arkansas, Styx, Journey, Charlie Daniels, Kansas, Boston, The Beach Boys, Peter Frampton, Ted Nugent, Hank Williams Jr, Kiss, Bob Seger, John Prine, Rush, Uriah Heep, Thin Lizzy and The Little River Band.
Jimi continued his rise to stardom forming the Swiss/American melodic metal group Cobra and recording a cd (First Strike) for Epic Records. To this day the Cobra cd is a much sought after item with fans worldwide.
Cobra made their way through the early 1980..s touring with Quiet Riot and Nazareth. After the groups breakup the members of Cobra went on to join the bands: Asia, Survivor and Krokus. Jamison states that he's had the honor of working with some of the greatest producers who ever graced a studio: Tom Allom, Ron Nevison, Shel Talmy, Frank Fillipetti,
Terry Maning, Joe Hardy, John Hampton, Bruce Fairburn, John Ryan and Keith Skyes to mention a few...
In 1983 the group Survivor who had a number 1 hit worldwide with the song from the movie Rocky III (Eye Of The Tiger) had to replace their lead singer,David Bickler, due to voice problems- a bold move for a group with a 1 hit. Dave went on to become a very sought after singer with many national TV spots to his credits.
At the suggestion of Epic Records exec Frank Rand, Jamison was asked to take a shot at singing with the group.
Used to a heavier more rock type of vocal style, Jamison was hesitant about accepting the invitation, but with urging from friends back home and after hearing some of the songwriting of Jim Peterik, he decided to give it a try.
Ironically, Jamisons first MTV video release with the group, (I Can't Hold Back) from the Vital Signs cd, featured Jamison almost exclusively throughout the video and catapulted the bands career to heights they had never before achieved.
The video created a fan feeding frenzy, for more videos and more requests from fans for radio airplay.
Jamisons vocals and Peterik/Sullivan songwriting became the magic combination which would lead Survivor to many top 10, top 20, top 40, gold and double platinum albums and multiple movie soundtracks including "Burning Heart" for Rocky IV, "The Moment of Truth" for The Karate Kid and "Ever Since The World Began" from the movie Lockup.
Everything they touched turned to gold and money seemed to be pouring in from everywhere but never quite made it to Jimi. Feeling unfairly treated, he left Survivor in 1991 and recorded two solo cd's and also became a founding member of:
"The Voices of Classic Rock" which included:
Mickey Thomas of Starship, Bobby Kimball of Toto, Mike Reno of Loverboy and John Cafferty.
This was the first group of its kind which featured the original lead singers from successful bands of the eighties.
1995 saw the reformation of Bickler,Peterik and Sullivan. By 1996 , the main song writer, Jim Peterik, left the band....In 2000 Bickler once again left the band and Jimi was asked to rejoin. which he did but left again in 2006 after recording the Reach cd, realizing that with no ownership in the name Survivor and especially without the Jamison/Peterik/Sullivan combination, the Survivor magic was sadly over.
In 2005, before leaving the band (Survivor), Jimi and the group flew to New York and re-recorded their biggest hit "Eye of the Tiger" with Jimi handling the lead vocals and to this day his renditions of "Eye of the Tiger" and "Burning Heart" electrify concert audiences worldwide.
Currently, his version of Eye of the Tiger can be heard in the movies "Kicking and Screaming" with Will Ferrell, "Big Fat Liar" and several other films and music compilation cd releases.
Other huge fan favorites on which Jimi was the original lead vocalist include
"High On You"
,"The Search is Over",
"I Can't Hold Back",
"Burning Heart", Rocky IV
"The Moment of Truth" Karate Kid
"In Good Faith" ,
"Is This Love",
"Man Against the World",
"Rock Hard" ,
"Rebel Son",
"Too Hot To Sleep",
"Across The Miles",
"Didn't Know It Was Love",
"Burning Bridges",
"When Seconds Count"
"The Singer Not The Song"
"Reach"
"Seconds Away"
"Gimme the Word"
"One More Chance"
"Can't Give it Up"
"The Rhythm of Your Heart"
"Everlasting"
"I See You in Everyone"
"Oceans"
"Broken Promises"
"The Singer Not The Song"
"Everlasting"
"Keep it Right Here"
"I See You in Everyone"
and from his solo venture, The Baywatch TV Theme "I'm Always Here."
He also contributed his lead vocals for a cd called Animal Magnetism which benefited abused animals and on which he appeared with Paul and Linda McCartney and a song with Larry Hoppen of Orleans and Steve Cropper for The Dove House childrens charity..
In the early nineties Jimi hooked up with some other legends in the business, John Entwhistle of The Who and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter of the Doobie Brothers in an attempt to form one of the first all-star bands doing all new original music, but as budgets ran low for experiments during those times the guys finally had to go their separate ways.
*In the mid-nineties one of Jimi's favorite bands asked him to join but unfortunately was not able to do so. ..... the following is a statement from DEEP PURPLE keyboardist Jon Lord in an interview between Jon and Keyboard Magazine:
Lord: " The guy we actually wanted, if we *had* to work with a replacement for Gillan, was the singer of Survivor [Jimi Jamison], a very nice, very quiet and very pleasant guy. He was an enormous Deep Purple fan and he would happily have taken over the job. But at the time, he had just finished a solo record and the label strongly suggested that he not join the band. They were Italo-Americans; that says enough (laughs)."
KEYBOARDS: You mean, they have connections with the mafia?
Lord : Yes, they have connections with a certain "family". (laughs) They didn't want him to join the band and he didn't dare to get into a fight with them. After a long period, during which we though he'd accept the job, he turned it down. We were very disappointed and had to do auditions. """
Jimi released his first solo album "When Love Comes Down" in 1991 and
in the late ninetys he released a highly acclaimed solo cd in Europe, "Empires" which allowed more promotional tour dates, interviews, TV shows and concerts.. Empires has also been currently re-released on Frontiers Records and
as the result of a huge underground demand for the "Cobra" cd "First Strike" (originally released on Epic Records) it will also be re-released soon on another label..
Jimi has also made nine music videos (Survivor,Cobra), one of which held the number one position on MTV for 3 weeks in a row.
He has made multiple television and live appearances in:
the US , Germany, Belgium, France, Holland, Mexico, France, Trinidad, England, Holland, Greenland, China, Singapore, Philippine Islands, Brazil, Ecuador, Portugal, Argentina, Austria, Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Peru, Bolivia, Netherlands, Panama, Guatemala, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Korea, Guam, Nicaragua, Mexico, Canada, Italy and Japan.
Jimi also has several national jingle spots to his credit including Holiday Inn and most recently the Starbucks TV Campaign which also gained an Emmy nomination in 2005 for best TV commercial.
He has served on the Grammy Awards Committee and is an AFTRA and SAG cardholder.
He has performed background vocals for the groups: ZZ Top, Krokus, Jeff Healy Band, Ten Years After, Tora Tora, Roxy Blue, Todd Agnew, Mylon LeFever, Rick Vito, George Throgood and the Destroyers, Colin James, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, DeGarmo and Key, John Kilzer(with Roseann Cash & Rodney Crowell) , The Angels, Joe Walsh, Gary Chapman, Molly Hatchett, The Blackwood Brothers and numerous other national recording artists.
A little known fact:
Because he was never listed in the credits on the albums/cd's, few know that
he was the lone background vocalist on several ZZ Top cd's, singles and movie sountracks including their biggest selling cd to date. His duet with Billy Gibbons on the song Rough Boy added a new twist to ZZ and Billy refers to Jimi as the honorary fourth member of ZZ Top .
Jimi's songs have been recorded by Joe Walsh, Johnny Van Zant, Survivor and other well known groups.
He has been recognized by the Governors of Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, California, New York and Arkansas for his work on and off the stage. .
Currently, Jimi is in the studio working with world renowned writer/performer and ex-Survivor band mate Jim Peterik, on a new cd to be released in late 2008!end.....
------------Note from JJ-------------
Go here if you get a chance and help if you can.
Thanks,
Jimi
http://www.coloringawaypain.com/index.php
