James Montgomery

James Montgomery was born on May 12, 1949 in one of the blues capitals of the world, Detroit, and learned the tricks of his trade from the masters James Cotton, John Lee Hooker and Jr. Wells at the legendary Chessmate Club. His father was a public-relations exec for Chrysler, his brother John went on to work in the music industry and his younger brother Jeffrey became a LGBT activist. Musically, he’s a direct descendant of Sonny Boy Williamson via James Cotton. “James was my mentor and my oldest friend in the music industry,” Montgomery says. “He called me ‘son’ and I called him ‘dad.”

THE COLWELL-WINFIELD BAND, THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND

Montgomery played in his first bands in high school and enrolled at Boston University as an English Literature major after graduation, choosing the city because it was renowned for music. “I enrolled in 1967 largely because of the music scene,” he says. ”I played in two bands in high school and I knew all the clubs and venues in Boston before I got here.” During his junior year, he joined The Colwell-Winfield Band on harmonica, touring with the band as they headlined and opened for Janis Joplin and other major acts.

Though he loved academic life and was offered a $15,000/year job at BU, Montgomery took a $250,000 offer to tour with Colwell-Winfield backing The Allman Brothers Band and the group signed with Georgia-based Capricorn Records (the first non-Southern act to do so) . “We got signed to Capricorn due in large part to the huge numbers we were doing at shows throughout the Northeast,” he says. “[Capricorn co-founder] Phil Walden saw us out on Long Island and loved the band. Atlantic and Warner Brothers were also interested but we liked the small label vibe of Capricorn. We got a huge multi-album deal even by today’s standards. Grew up in Detroit, came out of Boston, but somehow we were called ‘Southern rock.’ Go figure.”

THE JAMES MONTGOMERY BAND

In 1970, Montgomery formed The James Montgomery Band was formed and his harp playing, singing, energy, charisma and showmanship resulted in the group gaining a reputation as one of the hottest bands in New England along with Aerosmith and The J. Geils Band. Their first LP, The James Montgomery Band- First Time Out, treated listeners to “Train,” which was a fan favorite and became the #1 song at WBCN, which played the tune every day at noon for well over a year.

Among the artists who’ve played in the group and used it as a springboard for other musical opportunities are Billy Squier, Wayne Kramer (MC-5), Jeff Golub (Rod Stewart), Jim McCarty (Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels), Nunzio Signore (Bo Diddley), Jeff Pevar (Ray Charles, Crosby, Stills & Nash), Bobby Chouinard (Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, The Billy Squier Band, Robert Gordon), Jeff Levine (Joe Cocker) and Thom Gimbel (Foreigner). In 2017, Montgomery Band recorded Live At The Larcom, which proved that he’s still the most magnificent maestro around even after more than 45 years in the game.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• 2001 – Joins Johnny Winter’s band
• 2002 – Three tracks from his CD Bring It On Homeare featured at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City during the hockey games and broadcast to over two billion people worldwide
• 2007 – Recorded the title song for the film Delta Rising: A Blues Documentary with Morgan Freeman narrating and Willie Nelson, Charlie Musselwhite, Mose Allison and other major Delta blues artists like Super Chickan
• 2010 – Plays an impromptu session with Mick Jagger at NYC studio Trax.
• 2011 – Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) saved the day at a rain soaked festival in Scituate, Massachusetts by joining Montgomery and his band onstage. Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) andJon Butcher joined later
• 2011 – B. King and Montgomery play together at Zeiterion Performing Arts Center in New Bedford
• 2012- RecordsFrom Detroit to the Delta with guests James Cotton and Johnny Winter. Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer of Aerosmith also share their talents along with Uptown Horns members Arno Hecht and Chrispin Cioe on saxes and Larry Etkin on trumpet.
• 2012 – Joins The Allman Brothers Band at the Bank Of America Pavilion in Boston for a rousing rendition of “Statesboro Blues.” Montgomery: “We started touring with The Allman Brothers around 1974; maybe 1973. It wasn’t too long before Gregg and Dickie started asking me to sit in. Being onstage with them was always exciting. They were great guys in every incarnation of the word and they always came to play. It was a musician’s dream.”
• Touring with The Allman Brothers Band, Aerosmith, The J. Geils Band, Bonnie Raitt, The Steve Miller Band, Bruce Springsteen, The Johnny Winter Band, The Blues Brothers (Jim Belushi and Dan Ackroyd)
• Performing with B. King, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Jr. Wells, James Cotton, Charlie Daniels, Gregg Allman, Lavern Baker, Patti La Belle, Jonathan Edwards, J. Geils, Peter Wolf, Magic Dick and D.K. (The J. Geils Band), Huey Lewis, Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds), Elliot Easton (The Cars), Rick Derringer, Barry Goudreau, Fran Sheehan and Sib Hashian (Boston), Ricky Byrd (Joan Jett and The Blackhearts), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Michael Carabello (Santana), Jon Butcher, Bruce Marshall (The Toy Caldwell Band), Dennis Fly Amero (Orleans), Duke Robillard, Jon Pousette-Dart, Kate Taylor, Alex Taylor, Christine Ohlman and The Uptown Horns

 (by A.J. Wachtel)