Little Milton, North Atlantic Blues Festival, Rockland, Maine, 2005
Little Milton was born 87 years ago today.
An electric blues, rhythm and blues, soul singer and guitarist, Milton is best known for his hit records "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "We're Gonna Make It."
Born as James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi Delta town of Inverness, Milton was raised in Greenville by a farmer and local blues musician. By 12, he had learned the guitar and was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker and his blues and rock and roll contemporaries.
In 1952, while still a teenager playing in local bars, he caught the attention of Ike Turner, who was at that time a talent scout for Sam Phillips' Sun Records. He signed a contract with Sun and recorded a number of singles. None of them broke through onto radio or sold well at record stores, however, and Milton left the Sun label by 1955.
After trying several labels without notable success, including Trumpet Records, Milton set up the St. Louis based, Bobbin Records, which ultimately scored a distribution deal with Leonard Chess' Chess Records. As a record producer, Milton helped bring artists such as Albert King and Fontella Bass to fame, while experiencing his own success for the first time.
After a number of small format and regional hits, his 1962 single, "So Mean to Me," broke onto the Billboard R&B chart — eventually peaking at #14. Following a short break to tour, managing other acts and spending time recording new material, he returned to music in 1965 with a more polished sound, similar to that of B.B. King.
After the ill-received, "Blind Man," he released back-to-back hit singles. The first, "We're Gonna Make It," a blues-infused soul song, topped the R&B chart and broke through onto Top 40 radio, a format then dominated largely by white artists.
He followed the song with #4 R&B hit "Who's Cheating Who?" All three songs were featured on his album, We're Gonna Make It, released that summer.
In 1988, Little Milton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and won a W.C. Handy Award. His final album, Think of Me, was released in May, 2005 on Telarc, and included writing and guitar on three songs by Peter Shoulder of the UK-based blues-rock trio, Winterville.
Milton died on August 4, 2005 from complications following a stroke.