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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Little Milton|background = solo_singer|image = LittleMilton.png|caption =|birth_name = James Milton Campbell, Jr.|birth_date = September 7, 1934 Inverness, Mississippi , United States |death_date = death date and age|2005|08|04|1934|09|07|mf=y Memphis, Tennessee , United States |genre = Electric blues , Rhythm and blues|R& B , Soul music|soul , funk |occupation =|years_active = 1953–2005|instrument = Guitar , Human voice|vocals |label =|associated_acts =|website = http://www.littlemilton.com/ Official website James Milton Campbell, Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton , was an American electric blues , rhythm and blues ,cite book | first= Paul | last= Du Noyer | year= 2003 | title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music | edition= 1st | publisher= Flame Tree Publishing | location= Fulham, London | isbn= 1-904041-96-5 | page= 181 and Soul music|soul singing|singer and guitarist , best known for his hit record s "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "We're Gonna Make It."
Biography
Milton was born James Milton Campbell, Jr. , in the Mississippi Delta town of Inverness, Mississippi|Inverness and raised in Greenville, Mississippi|Greenville by a farmer and local blues musician. By age twelve he had learned the guitar and was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker and his blues and rock and roll contemporaries. In 1952, while still a teenager playing in local bars, he caught the attention of Ike Turner , who was at that time a talent scout for Sam Phillips ' Sun Records . He signed a contract with the label and recorded a number of singles. None of them broke through onto radio or sold well at record stores, however, and Milton left the Sun label by 1955.
After trying several labels without notable success, including Trumpet Records ,cite web |url= http://www.upress.state.ms.us/catalog/fall2003/trumpet_records.html |title=Trumpet Records Diamonds on Farish Street |publisher= |accessdate=November 6, 2006 Milton set up the St. Louis based Bobbin Records label, which ultimately scored a distribution deal with Leonard Chess ' Chess Records . As a record producer, Milton helped bring artists such as Albert King and Fontella Bass to fame, while experiencing his own success for the first time. After a number of small format and regional hits, his 1962 single, "So Mean to Me," broke onto the Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Hot R& B/Hip-Hop Songs|R& B record chart|chart , eventually peaking at #14.
Following a short break to tour, managing other acts, and spending time recording new material, he returned to music in 1965 with a more polished sound, similar to that of B.B. King . After the ill-received "Blind Man" (R& B: #86), he released back-to-back hit singles. The first, "We're Gonna Make It," a blues-infused soul song, topped the R& B chart and broke through onto Top 40 radio, a format then dominated largely by white artists. He followed the song with #4 R& B hit "Who's Cheating Who? " All three songs were featured on his album, ''We're Gonna Make It , released that summer.
Throughout the late 1960s Milton released a number of moderately successful singles, but did not issue a further album until 1969, with ''Grits Ain't Groceries'' featuring his hit of the same name, as well as " Just a Little Bit (Rosco Gordon song)|Just a Little Bit " and "Baby, I Love You". With the death of Leonard Chess the same year, Milton's distributor, Checker Records fell into disarray, and Milton joined the Stax Records|Stax label two years later. Adding complex orchestration to his works, Milton scored hits with "That's What Love Will Make You Do" and "What It Is" from his live album, What It Is: Live at Montreux . He appeared in the documentary film , Wattstax , which was released in 1973.cite book | first= John | last= Tobler | year= 1992 | title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years | edition= 1st | publisher= Reed International Books Ltd | location= London | page= 241 | id= CN 5585 Stax, however, had been losing money since late in the previous decade and was forced into bankruptcy in 1975.
After leaving Stax, Milton struggled to maintain a career, moving first to Evidence, then the MCA Records|MCA imprint Mobile Fidelity Records, before finding a home at the independent record label, Malaco Records , where he remained for much of the remainder of his career. His last hit single, "Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number," was released in 1983 from the album of the same name. In 1988, Little Milton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and won a Blues Music Award|W.C. Handy Award .cite web |first=Steve |last=Huey |url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p62063/biography|pure_url=yes |title=Biography: Little Milton |publisher=Allmusic.com |accessdate=May 26, 2009 His most final album, Think of Me , was released in May 2005 on the Telarc imprint, and included writing and guitar on three songs by Peter Shoulder of the UK-based blues-rock trio Winterville (band)|Winterville .
The name 'Little Milton' was reused for Gerald Bostock , the fictional boy poet central to Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull 's 1972 record Thick as a Brick .
Milton died on August 4, 2005 from complications following a stroke .
Discography
Albums
''We're Gonna Make It (1965, Chess) ( Top R& B/Hip-Hop Albums|R& B #3 Billboard 200|U.S. #101)
Sings Big Blues (1966, Checker)
''Grits Ain't Groceries (1969, Stax) (R& B #41 U.S. #159)
If Walls Could Talk (1970, MCA/Chess) (R& B #23 U.S. #197)
Jackie Ross : Take the Weight Off Me (Grapevine) Five duet (music)|duets with Ross
Albert King , Chico Hamilton , Little Milton: Montreux Festival (Stax 1974)
Various artists: Vanthology: Tribute to Van Morrison (Evidence 2004) Milton covers Van Morrison 's "Tupelo Honey".
Jean Jacques Milteau: Memphis (Sunnyside) Milton sing Sting (musician)|Sting 's "If You Love Someone Set Them Free".
E. C. Scott: The Other Side of Me (Black Bud) Milton sings two duets with Scott
Gov't Mule : The Deep End Volume 1. Milton sings "Soulshine" with Warren Haynes
Willie Dixon : The Chess Box set, Milton performs " I Can't Quit You Baby "
Gov't Mule : "Mulennium" live album (3ple CD, 4ple vinyl, 2010, Evil Teen) recorded December 31, 1999 at the Roxy Theatre, Atlanta, GA.
Quotations
"Any category they want to put me in is fine with me as long as they accept what I do." - Little Miltoncite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues - From Robert Johnson (musician)|Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher=Carlton Books Limited | location= Dubai | pages= 138–139 | isbn= 1-85868-255-X
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.littlemilton.com/welcome.html Official Little Milton website including biography
http://ptphotos.net.tripod.com/id13.html Little Milton 2002 interview and photographs by PT Quinn
http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/littlemilton.txt Commentary about Little Milton by Shaun Matherdead link|date=November 2010|bot=AnomieBOT
http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/lmilton.htm Discography; complete with original catalogue issue numbers
Stax Records Persondata | NAME = Milton, Little | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Campbell, Jr., James Milton | SHORT DESCRIPTION = United States|American electric blues , rhythm and blues , and Soul music|soul singer and guitarist | DATE OF BIRTH = September 7, 1934 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Inverness, Mississippi , United States | DATE OF DEATH = August 4, 2005 | PLACE OF DEATH = Memphis, Tennessee , United States DEFAULTSORT:Milton, Little Category:1934 births Category:2005 deaths Category:People from Sunflower County, Mississippi Category:People from Greenville, Mississippi Category:American blues guitarists Category:American blues musicians Category:American blues singers Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Blues musicians from Mississippi Category:American male singers Category:Soul-blues musicians Category:Sun Records artists Category:Chess Records artists Category:Deaths from stroke
