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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO “JIMMY JAM” – JUNE 6, 1959 – TIMH

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Whoa Nellie's picture
June 6, 2016 at 7:10am
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Prince wasn’t the only powerhouse in music to come out of Minneapolis in the 1980s. The songwriting and production duo of James Samuel “Jimmy Jam” Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis lays claim to its own significant piece of music history. Ironically, getting fired by Prince might have been the best thing that ever happened to them.

Jimmy Jam was born in Minneapolis, MN, the son of Cornbread Harris, a local blues and jazz pianist. He started out as a drummer and later picked up keyboards. He attended junior high and high school with Prince, who was already wowing his classmates and teachers with his ability to play keys, guitar and drums. Jimmy Jam, who is said to possess an encyclopedic memory of popular music, went at a more normal pace, forming the band Flyte Tyme with bassist Terry Lewis, who he met as a high school student at the Upward Bound program at the University of Minnesota.

Morris Day, Jimmy Jam, Jerome Benton

In 1981, Prince became their producer and put Morris Day in the band as lead singer, changed the name to The Time, and hired them to tour as his opening act. By the next year, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis formed Flyte Tyme Records and were already producing bands of their own, During a 2-day break in the Price schedule, they worked on an album for the SOS Band. A freak snowstorm prevented them from making it to the next Prince concert in time, and he had them fired. Fortunately, one of the songs they produced, “Just Be Good to Me” hit it big for SOS and the producing duo. They didn’t need The Time anymore, though they rejoined for Pandemonium (1990) and when the original group reunited in 2008 as the Original 7ven. 

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis

Jimmy Jam and Lewis made their bones writing and producing hit songs for Janet Jackson. They produced 7 of her albums, starting with Control (1986) and Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). Their collaboration revived Janet’s career when she was separating from her family, and made her the biggest star of her day. Rhythm Nation alone produced 4 of the 9 Billboard Hot 100 #1s Janet has had with Jimmy Jam and Terry. Over the past three decades, Jimmy Jam and Terry have also worked with Herb Alpert, TLC, Sounds of Blackness, Yolanda Adams, Jordan Knight, Michael Jackson, Boyz II Men, Usher, Johnny Gill, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Prince, Spice Girls, Vanessa Williams, George Michael, Melanie B, Rod Stewart, Kelly Price, Gwen Stefani, New Edition, Eric Benet, Pia Zadora, SOLO, and The Human League.

Nominated for 28 Grammys, Jimmy Jam and Lewis have won 5. They’ve written and/or produced over 100 Billboard top ten songs in the US and the UK, including 26 #1 R&B hits and 16 #1 Hot 100 hits. Jimmy Jam is a former Chairman of the Board of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), and former member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

Happy Birthday to Jimmy Jam!

 

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