Jerry "Boogie" McCain

about

Jerry "Boogie" McCain (born Jerry B. McCain on 18 June 1930; died 28 March 2012) was an American electric blues musician best known as a harmonica player. One of the funniest songwriters working the genre over more than four decades, as anyone who's dug his out-of-control 1950s Excello rockers "My Next Door Neighbor" and "Trying to Please" would gladly testify, McCain was born in Gadsden, AL. As a youngster, Little Walter was McCain's main man on harp, an instrument McCain began playing at age five. Walter passed through Gadsden one fateful night in 1953 with his Aces, offering encouragement and a chance to jam at a local nightspot. That same year, "Boogie" McCain made his vinyl debut for Lillian McMurray's Trumpet label in Jackson, MS, with "East of the Sun"/"Wine-O-Wine" and his brother, Walter McCain, playing drums on the sides. McCain's 1954 Trumpet encore, "Stay Out of Automobiles"/"Love to Make Up," was solid Southern blues, but barely hinted at the galvanic energy of his subsequent output. McCain signed with Ernie Young's Nashville-based Excello logo in 1955, cutting "That's What They Want" with his usual sidekick Christopher Collins on guitar. "Run, Uncle John! Run," "Trying to Please," the torrid "My Next Door Neighbor" (a prior homemade demo version of the track that surfaced much later was even crazier), and "The Jig's Up" ranked with McCain's best 1955-1957 Excello efforts. The harpist is probably best-known for his two-sided 1960 gem for Rex Records, "She's To

top songs

albums

▥

Better Late Than Never

▥

Abolutely the Best: The Complete Jewel Singles 1965-1972

▥

10 Days Out (Blues from the Backroads) Disc 1

This Stuff Just Kills Me

▥

Blues Masters, Vol. 4: Harmonica Classics

Boogie Is My Name

▥

10 Days Out (Blues from the Backroads)

▥

Blues Masters, Vol. 04: Harmonica Classics

▥

We Are the Music Makers!

Crimson Tide Tribute

▥

We Are the Music Makers!: Preserving the Soul of America's Music

The Jig's Up

similar artists