James ‘Jimmy’ E. Dotson was born on July 21, 1941, in Winfield, MD, where he spent his childhood. He died in York, Pennsylvania, May, 1991.
Jimmy’s younger brother Richard remembers “When I was a kid, I used to hear Jimmy from our porch, and Jimmy would be coming up the road leading to our house, walking home from school singing in a clear tenor.” Richard says, “as long as I can remember Jimmy would sing… around the house, in school, everywhere… Singing was Jimmy’s destiny. When Jimmy was recording people used to call him, ‘Jimmy Jackie Wilson’ Dotson, because of his heartfelt tenor and his easy transition between wrenching love songs and jumpin’ pop tunes.” Richard remained close to Jimmy throughout his life, both of them residing in Baltimore in their adult lives.
Jimmy’s Sister Patsy agrees and talks of her admiration of Jimmy’s ability to teach himself the piano, something she could never get the hang of. The siblings all went to Robert Moton High School in Westminster, MD. When they graduated Patsy married and followed their parents who moved to York, Pennsylvania, while Jimmy enrolled at Morgan State College. After a year and a half of college Jimmy decided to pursue a fulltime singing career. Patsy says, “Mom was very upset that Jimmy was giving up a promising future. She thought education was very important. Early on I thought there was some friction there because of his decision to leave school, because Jimmy never really let the family, besides Richard who lived there (in Baltimore), know what was going on in his life. But today I think it was primarily because he was gay and was in the closet.”
Pauline, the youngest of Jimmy’s six siblings, remembers as a teenager sneaking into Jimmy’s shows in Frederick, MD at the Legion on the corner of All Saints and Court Streets. She says “The Teen Center (a local hangout for Frederick City’s African-American youth) was only a block away at All Saints and Market Streets. My sister Betty and I would go up and sneak into the Legion on the nights he would play there. That was early in his career. I remember one time, him singing the song “Linda,” which everybody loved. People were singing along with the song. But he saw us and sent us home because we were under age.”
Locally Jimmy performed at the many of the same clubs as his contemporaries Winfield Parker, the Five Bees, and others. In Baltimore he was seen at the Phase III. In late ‘60s as a house band at the Fox’s Den with his Three O’s.
Jimmy had four recordings on his Aar O Dot Records label that he wrote and self-produced. “Linda” gave Jimmy a minor hit, receiving airplay on many local Maryland radio stations. The ‘B’ side “Dreams” was also well liked and often requested at his performances. Jimmy’s other recordings on Aar O Dot “Gone, Gone, Gone” b/w “To Be Your Lover” were both well-produced upbeat pop songs. The arranger of all four songs was Paul Johns.
Jimmy’s career was not without controversy. His recording “Grape Vine’s Talking” on Nicetown Records, produced by H. B. Robinson and arranged by Bobby Martin who also wrote the song with A. Levinson, entered into Jimmy’s family lore because of the title’s similarity to a more famous song “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.” Jimmy’s mother, who had long since forgave Jimmy for giving up studies and following his dream, said before she died that she felt that Jimmy’s song was remade and reworked into the more famous song; although there is no evidence to this assertion.
Jimmy’s star was rising. He teamed up with Washington, DC’s Joe Shamwell, who was known for his association with Peaches and Herb and other acts. Jimmy wrote two songs with Joe, “I’m Ridin’ for A Fall” and “Come on And Save Me.” Both songs were released on the Soul House Records label out of Baltimore. The songs gave his career a boost. He started playing at clubs from New York City to Memphis.
For his major label debut on Mercury Records, Jimmy sang “Heartbreak Avenue,” written by Coley/Harris. The ‘B’ side “Baby Turn Your Head (I Don’t Want You to See Me Cry)” was written by Jimmy. Both sides were arranged and conducted by Richie Adams, and produced by Otis Pollard for Pollard Productions. On these releases Jimmy shows his ability to sing a heart wrenching love song with the former and even lends his tenor to a country-tinged song showing his vocal diversity and versatility. Unfortunately, neither song gave him the leap to stardom that he desired.
Never one to give up, Jimmy traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, for his next attempt to cross over from local success to national singing sensation with Volt Records, a subsidiary of Stax Records. In March 1969, Jimmy wrote and recorded two songs for Volt: “I Wanna Be Good (To You)” co-written with Charlie Brown, and “I Used to Be a Loser” written by Jimmy. Again, neither song awarded him the success he so strived for. However, in August 1993, two years after his death, the song “I Wanna Be Good (To You)” was released on the Stax compilation set “The Complete Stax-Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 2: 1968-1971” posthumously becoming Jimmy biggest selling song, although no royalties were paid to his estate. During his time in Memphis, Jimmy met James Brown. He traveled with Brown singing backup and opening for his shows.
In addition to his own releases, Jimmy co-wrote the song “You’re Astounding” that ultimately became the biggest hit for the duo Barbara and Joe (Joe Shamwell and Barbara Alford Jones). The song was later re-released in September 2001 on “The Complete Stax-Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 3: 1972-1975” [BOX SET]. Dotson also wrote and arranged songs for his friend Winfield Parker including “A Fallen Star” that was released on Ru-Jac Records.
Dotson also worked with Paul Johns and his group Saturday. In the ‘70s he fronted the Baltimore based group One Step Beyond. The group played as house band at Moe’s. Members included Marshall Booze (guitar), Hoss (bass), Dave Smith (sax), Jimmy Wilson (trumpet), James ‘Hambone’ Anthony (drums). Smith and Wilson also played in bands with Julius Brockington. Booze continued to play into the ‘00s, seen at the Columbia Village Center Concert Series. Smith played with Tracy Curbeam & da Fellas seen at the Caton Castle.
Jimmy’s last recording, on Ru-Jac Records, was “Think of Me as Your Soldier” b/w a re-recording of “To Be Your Lover” in 1980.’ Jimmy produced the record that was financed by his sister Patsy. She wanted to have the songs remixed and re-released as dance songs but Jimmy chose not to go that route.
For most of his adult life Jimmy lived on Whitelock Street in Baltimore with his long-term partner, a Baltimore City Policeman, John Booth. He also lived briefly in New York, Memphis, and Philadelphia for the purpose of recording and performing at local clubs. Jimmy headlined at the Elks club of York, Pennsylvania, and the Frederick County Fair. His performances included a mixture of popular songs of the time and his own recordings with his band. When he wasn’t recording or performing, Jimmy worked fulltime at Uptown Records in Baltimore. Jimmy performed professionally with major artists such as James Brown, Patti Labelle and the Bluebells, Dee Dee Williams, Dee Dee Sharp, and Gladys Knight.
Soon after making his last recording, he fell ill and collapsed in his home. It was learned that he had contracted HIV and was suffering from pneumonia. After a long hospital stay, he moved to his mother’s house in York, Pennsylvania where he lived the remainder of his life bed ridden. A year before he died, Jimmy’s long-term partner John Booth died in a car crash. In May of 1991, two months before his fiftieth birthday, Jimmy Dotson died from AIDS related illness. He was survived by his son Byron, six siblings, and numerous nieces and nephews.
As of 2008 his nephew Timothy Spencer began work on a compilation of Jimmy Dotson’s songbook in hope that appreciation for his uncle’s work, along with his Baltimore contemporaries, will continue to grow as a new generation of listeners discover the wondrous talent of those that were part of the Baltimore Sound.
(Jimmy Dotson biography by Timothy Spencer and Steven Troxel)
Below is Jimmy Dotson’s discography (the Ru-Jac record features rhythm by The Inner Light Band, the Soul House single features backing by the United Chair):
1965 Nicetown 5027 She Told Me So / Grapevine’s Talking
1968 Mercury 72801 Heartbreak Avenue / Baby Turn Your Head
1969 Volt 4013 I Wanna Be Good to You / I Used to Be a Loser
1972 Aar-O-Dot 701 Gone, Gone, Gone / To Be Your Lover
1972 Aar-O-Dot 702 Linda / Dreams
1972 Soul House 3629 I’m Ridin’ for A Fall / Come On & Save Me
1980 Ru-Jac 980 Think of Me as Your Soldier / To Be Your Lover
