4 minute read
by James Talley
James Talley Nashville City Blues: My Journey as an American Songwriter - University of Oklahoma Press
Singer-songwriter James Talley is a 47-year AFM 257 member who recorded four critically acclaimed albums for Capitol Records in the 1970s, and performed at the White House for President Jimmy Carter’s inauguration. His music blends folk, blues, and country forms with poetic imagery and historical tales from the American Southwest, and he has been called the Godfather of Americana Music. Nashville City Blues is Talley’s autobiography, and it chronicles his unique journey from Oklahoma to New Mexico to Nashville, and beyond.
Born into an Oklahoma family who traveled to the Northwest to find work, Talley always had a desire to make the world a better place. As he searched for his mission in life, he had a fascinating series of jobs, many of which involved human services work. As he began to perform shows and ponder how to write songs in the tradition of his heroes like Woody Guthrie, The Kingston Trio, and Pete Seeger, he began looking for his own voice. A chance encounter with Seeger while Talley was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, gave him a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play his songs for one of his biggest influences. Seeger gave him validation and encouragement, and passed on the great advice to “write about what you know, and who you are, and where you have been.”
Talley moved to Nashville in the late 1960s, which needless to say, was a very different environment than the Nashville of today in many ways. He soon met his future wife, Jan, a Nashville native; they have been married more than 50 years. He supervised a rat control project for Metro Nashville and was heavily immersed in public health and welfare programs. He was an advocate for promoting African American workers into positions of authority, and was a friend and mentor to many people who had fallen on hard times. One of these was DeFord Bailey, an original star of the Grand Ole Opry, the only black performer on the Opry for years. Bailey was fired in 1941 under questionable circumstances. Talley also met B.B. King at a Nashville prison performance, and just a few years later would find himself in the studio with the blues legend, who was a guest on Talley’s album Blackjack Choir, the first time King was ever invited to record with anyone in Nashville.
Finally, after years of trying to get his music heard, and near misses at record deals with Columbia and Atlantic Records, Talley was signed to Capitol Records in 1975. He was still living hand to mouth, and unfortunately, Capitol simply did not know how to promote such a unique eclectic artist. After various changes in management and record label personnel, on the advice of his soonto-be-fired manager, Talley got out of his deal with Capitol. Unfortunately, the consequence of that decision was that Capitol put all of Talley’s catalog out of print. Talley ventured into the real estate business in order to feed his family, and music became a secondary pursuit out of necessity. He released several albums on Bear Family, a company that packages projects beautifully, but notoriously do not pay royalties to artists. Finally, he started his own label, Cimarron Records, and continues to write, perform and record new songs, including for a yet-to-be titled album that is on the way.
The life lessons James Talley learned the hard way resonate throughout Nashville City Blues, and a vivid part of his musical legacy is speaking from the heart, and not pulling any punches. Not surprisingly, he follows that path of honesty in telling his own story of his journey through some of the most volatile times in music business history, which many of us can learn from, and be inspired by.
— Roy Montana
