James Cotton (1935.07.01/Tunica, MS - ) is an American blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter who is the bandleader for the James Cotton Blues Band. He was born on July 1, 1935, in Tunica, Mississippi. The youngest of eight brothers and sisters who grew up in the cotton fields working beside their mother, Hattie, and their father, Mose. On Sundays Mose was the preacher in the area's Baptist church. ...show more

James Cotton (1935.07.01/Tunica, MS - ) is an American blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter who is the bandleader for the James Cotton Blues Band. He was born on July 1, 1935, in Tunica, Mississippi. The youngest of eight brothers and sisters who grew up in the cotton fields working beside their mother, Hattie, and their father, Mose. On Sundays Mose was the preacher in the area's Baptist church.

Cotton was listening to King Biscuit Time, a 15-minute radio show, began broadcasting live on KFFA, a station just across the Mississippi River in Helena, Arkansas, starring harmonica legend Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) when his love affair with the harp started. Cotton played for tips on Beale Street in Memphis. He also was a shoeshine. By the age of 9 both of his parents had died.

Cotton was taken to Sonny Boy Williamson by his uncle and when they met in West Helena, Arkansas the young fellow wasted no time - he began playing Sonny Boy's theme song on his treasured harp. "I walked up and played it for him. And I played it note for note. And he looked at that. ...show less