Jimmy James

Multiple artists are known as Jimmy James. 1. Jimmy James (born Michael James, 13 September 1939, Jamaica) is a soul music singer. "The Vagabonds" was the name of Jimmy James backing group. They signed a recording contract with Pye Records and released their best known studio album, The New Religion in 1966. He's particularly known for his cover of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine". In the 1970s the band had hit singles in the UK Singles Chart with " I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me" and "Now Is The Time". 2. Jimmy James is originally from San Antonio, Texas, and now resides in New York City, where he performs regularly. A child of the 70's, Jimmy loved to escape into the world of variety television. Sonny & Cher, Flip Wilson, Carol Burnette and Johnny Carson were just some of the shows that influenced and inspired him. Even as a toddler he was always singing, dancing and dressing up in his mother´s clothes. His remarkable ability for vocal mimicry became apparent at a young age, his first imitation was the distinctive voice of Cher, a longtime idol of Jimmy´s. With dedicated practice on his own, Jimmy discovered that he could also accurately imitate the unmistakable voices of Eartha Kitt, Billie Holiday, Patsy Cline, Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and many others. Without knowing it, his career was in the making. Throughout high school, Jimmy studied the dramatic arts where he developed incredible skills with theatrical makeup. Using his own face as a canvas, he realized that like his voice his looks could also be transformed. He began to notice similarities in his facial structure with that of the late screen legend Marilyn Monroe. He then set out to re-create her trademark look and breathy vocal presence. The results of his efforts were spectacular. The "resurrected" Marilyn was an instant hit at the drag-shows and dance clubs where he performed. It wasn´t long before television talk show producers began to notice his talents. Through a steady stream of appearances on shows such as Donahue, Sally, Geraldo, Joan Rivers, Entertainment Tonight, CNN, Showtime and others, he gained incredible national and international exposure. Suddenly Jimmy´s one-man show- "Marilyn and Voices" -which he wrote and produced- was in high-demand worldwide. From New York to L.A., Provincetown to Atlantic City even as far as Europe, Asia and Australia Jimmy had a sellout smash which toured for several years. In addition to the touring, Jimmy was hired for a number of high-profile commercial ad campaigns. Eyewear manufacturer L.A. Eyeworks used a stunning image of Jimmys´ Marilyn in full-page ads that ran worldwide. The campaign was featured in the 20-year anniversary issue of Interview Magazine- a tribute to Andy Warhol. Another highly successful campaign was shot for Kenar, a women´s clothing manufacturer. The ad featured Jimmy as three of his divas: Marilyn, Bette Davis and Judy Garland posing with supermodel Linda Evangelista. The highlight of the campaign came when the ad electrified a giant billboard in the center of Times Square, New York City. Throughout his career Jimmy James has constantly evolved as an entertainer. By the mid-1990's he began to pursue a career as a recording artist in New York City by using his own soulful voice. A talented singer and songwriter, Jimmy has recently been signed to several dance record labels- domestically with Interhit Records/US, and internationally with Devox Records/Toshiba-EMI/Asia, Mushroom Records/Australia and Hi-Bias/Canada. His first single "Who Wants To Be Your Lover", -produced by the Berman Brothers with remixes by Eric Kupper, Chris Cox and DJ´s Rule- will be released worldwide in early 1998. The single will be highlighted by an extraordinary video which will showcase Jimmy´s many visual transformations. Source: myspace.com/oneandmanyvoices Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.