Jimmy Griffin
Encyclopedia
James Arthur Griffin was a singer, guitarist
, and songwriter with the 1970s rock band Bread
.
, but grew up in Memphis, Tennessee
. His musical training began when his parents signed him up for accordion lessons. He attended Kingsbury High School in Memphis and Dorsey
and Johnny Burnette
were his neighbors and role models. After the Burnette brothers moved to Los Angeles, California
to further their music careers, Griffin went there to visit them, and managed to secure a recording contract with Reprise Records
.
In the 1960s, Griffin teamed with fellow songwriter
Michael Z. Gordon to write songs for such diverse singers as Ed Ames
, Gary Lewis
, Bobby Vee
, Brian Hyland
, The Standells
, Leslie Gore, Sandy Nelson
and Cher
. The pair won a BMI
award for "Apologize".
Griffin met Robb Royer
through Maria Yolanda Aguayo (Griffin's future wife). The two hit it off immediately and became life-time collaborators both as performers and writers. Griffin was a staff writer with Viva Publishing and managed to get them to hire Royer as his co-writer in 1967. Viva was resistant to hiring Royer and instead wanted Griffin to write with another staff writer with the company. According to Royer, Griffin convinced Viva to hire Royer by threatening "I will be writing with him. Do you really want to give away half the publishing on all those songs?". James Griffin sang songs that were featured in a few episodes of the TV series 'Ironside' in the late sixties.
to form the band Bread
using session drummer Jimmy Gordon
for their first album and their initial gigs. Mike Botts
soon replaced Gordon as the band's permanent drummer, first appearing on their second album, On the Waters
.
In 1970, Griffin and Royer — under the pseudonyms Arthur James and Robb Wilson — wrote the lyrics for Fred Karlin
's music for the song "For All We Know
," featured in the film Lovers and Other Strangers
. It won the Academy Award for Best Song.This song was later covered by The Carpenters on their third album.
In 1971 Royer left Bread, but continued to provide songs co-written with Griffin for the group, he was replaced by keyboardist/guitarist Larry Knechtel
. They had a number one Billboard Hot 100
hit, with the song "Make It With You". Other hits by Bread included "Baby I'm-a Want You", "If
" and "Everything I Own." Although Griffin was a significant contributor to Bread's albums as a writer and singer, every one of the group's thirteen songs that made the Billboard Hot 100 chart was written and sung by Gates, a situation that created friction between the two.
After the release of Guitar Man in 1972, Bread went on hiatus. Griffin released a solo album, Breakin' Up Is Easy on Polydor Records
in 1974, credited to 'James Griffin & Co'. Neither the album nor the singles, "Breakin' Up Is Easy," "She Knows," and "How Do You Say Goodbye," made the Billboard
charts
. Bread reformed in 1976 for one final album, Lost Without Your Love. Gates, Botts, and Knechtel continued to record together on Gates's solo albums, and initially toured as 'David Gates & Bread', which led to a lawsuit from Griffin. The dispute was not resolved until 1984. Griffin and Gates put aside their past differences for a Bread reunion tour in 1996–1997 with Botts and Knechtel
(formerly of The Hollies) on the album Griffin & Sylvester in 1982 and was a member of Black Tie
with Randy Meisner
and Billy Swan
, which released When The Night Falls in 1985, co-produced by T-Bone Burnett
. Robb Royer was also credited as a musician on the album. The Black Tie single "Learning The Game" peaked at #59 on the Billboard country chart in 1991.
with Richard Mainegra and Rick Yancey. They released their first single that same year, followed by the albums Blue Frontier
(1992) and Aim for the Heart
(1993). Their single, "A Long Time Ago
" went Top 10 on Billboard's country chart in 1992 with "Two-Timin' Me" cracking the Top 20 later that year.
to write songs and perform in local venues. Larry Knechtel also participated in the collaboration and the group called themselves Toast (an obvious reference to Bread). Griffin, Royer and Cerney began this collaboration when they wrote "Kyrie" in 1994. Knechtel also joined songwriting credits on the 1995 song "Slow Train."
The group wrote, recorded and performed together at various Nashville Venues including the Bluebird Cafe
, 3rd & Lindsley, and 12th & Porter. In 1998 they changed the name to "Radio Dixie" in an effort to be more commercially viable. The group disbanded in 1998, although Royer and Cerney continued to collaborate on song-writing.
with Holly Cieri of his Oscar winning song "For All We Know". During that same year, Griffin also collaborated with Michael Z. Gordon and Griffin recorded the song, "Something Else Altogether" which was slated to be the title song for the film, "The Devil and Daniel Webster". However, the film went into bankruptcy and the song was never used in the movie but was recently posted on Youtube and dedicated to Griffin.
. He was 61 and had been undergoing treatment for several months. He is survived by his wife Marti, daughters Katy and Alexis, sons Jamey and Jacob, granddaughter Lilli and grandsons Gryffyn and Max.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, and songwriter with the 1970s rock band Bread
Bread (band)
Bread was a rock band from Los Angeles, California. They placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were a prime example of what later was labeled soft rock....
.
Early life
An Academy Award winning songwriter, Griffin was born in Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, but grew up in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. His musical training began when his parents signed him up for accordion lessons. He attended Kingsbury High School in Memphis and Dorsey
Dorsey Burnette
Dorsey Burnette was an early Rockabilly singer. With his younger brother, Johnny Burnette, and a friend named Paul Burlison, he was a founder member of The Rock and Roll Trio.-Background and early career:Dorsey Burnett was born on December 28, 1932 to Willie May and Dorsey Burnett Sr...
and Johnny Burnette
Johnny Burnette
John Joseph "Johnny" Burnette was an American rockabilly musician. Along with his older brother Dorsey Burnette, and also a friend named Paul Burlison, Burnette was a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. He was the father of 1980s rockabilly singer Rocky Burnette.-Early life:Johnny Burnette...
were his neighbors and role models. After the Burnette brothers moved to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to further their music careers, Griffin went there to visit them, and managed to secure a recording contract with Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
.
Solo performing and song writing
His first album, Summer Holiday, was released in 1963. He had small roles in two films, For Those Who Think Young (1964) and None But the Brave (1965).In the 1960s, Griffin teamed with fellow songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
Michael Z. Gordon to write songs for such diverse singers as Ed Ames
Ed Ames
Ed Ames is an American popular singer and actor. He is best known for his pop and adult contemporary hits of the 1960s like "When the Snow is on the Roses" and the perennial "My Cup Runneth Over." He was part of a popular 1950s singing group called The Ames Brothers.-Early life:Born in Malden,...
, Gary Lewis
Gary Lewis (musician)
Gary Lewis is an American musician who was the eponymous leader of Gary Lewis & the Playboys.-Early life:Gary Lewis is the son of comedian and actor Jerry Lewis...
, Bobby Vee
Bobby Vee
Robert Thomas Velline , known as Bobby Vee, is an American pop music singer. According to Billboard magazine, Vee has had 38 Hot 100 chart hits, 10 of which hit the Top 20.-Career:...
, Brian Hyland
Brian Hyland
Brian Hyland is an American pop recording artist who was particularly successful during the early 1960s. He continued recording into the 1970s...
, The Standells
The Standells
The Standells are a garage rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in the 1960s, who have been referred to as the "Godfathers of Punk Rock", and are best known for their 1966 hit "Dirty Water," now the anthem of several Boston sports teams.-The 1960s:...
, Leslie Gore, Sandy Nelson
Sandy Nelson
Sandy Nelson is an American drummer. Nelson, one of the best-known rock drummers of the early 1960s, had several solo instrumental Top 40 hits and was a session drummer on many other well-known hits, and released over 30 albums.-Career:His first recording, with a band called The Renegades Sandy...
and Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
. The pair won a BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
award for "Apologize".
Griffin met Robb Royer
Robb Royer
Robert Wilson "Robb" Royer was the bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, and songwriter with Bread from 1968 to 1971. While he was with the band, they had a #5 UK/#1 US hit single with "Make It With You"...
through Maria Yolanda Aguayo (Griffin's future wife). The two hit it off immediately and became life-time collaborators both as performers and writers. Griffin was a staff writer with Viva Publishing and managed to get them to hire Royer as his co-writer in 1967. Viva was resistant to hiring Royer and instead wanted Griffin to write with another staff writer with the company. According to Royer, Griffin convinced Viva to hire Royer by threatening "I will be writing with him. Do you really want to give away half the publishing on all those songs?". James Griffin sang songs that were featured in a few episodes of the TV series 'Ironside' in the late sixties.
Bread
In 1968, Griffin and Royer teamed with David GatesDavid Gates
David Gates is an American singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the group Bread, which reached the tops of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame...
to form the band Bread
Bread (band)
Bread was a rock band from Los Angeles, California. They placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were a prime example of what later was labeled soft rock....
using session drummer Jimmy Gordon
Jim Gordon (musician)
James Beck "Jim" Gordon is an American recording artist, musician and songwriter. The Grammy Award winner was one of the most requested session drummers in the late 1960s and 1970s, recording albums with many well-known musicians of the time, and was the drummer in the blues-rock supergroup Derek...
for their first album and their initial gigs. Mike Botts
Mike Botts
Michael G. Botts was the drummer of 1970s soft rock band Bread and a studio musician.Born in Oakland, California, Botts grew up in nearby Antioch before moving to Sacramento. While in college, he began playing with a band called The Travellers Three and working as a studio musician...
soon replaced Gordon as the band's permanent drummer, first appearing on their second album, On the Waters
On the Waters
On the Waters is the second album released by Bread in 1970. This album was released in July 1970.-Track listing:#"Why Do You Keep Me Waiting" – 2:32 #"Make It with You" – 3:18...
.
In 1970, Griffin and Royer — under the pseudonyms Arthur James and Robb Wilson — wrote the lyrics for Fred Karlin
Fred Karlin
Fred Karlin was an American composer of more than one hundred scores for feature films and television movies. He also was an accomplished trumpeter adept at playing jazz, blues, classical, rock, and medieval music....
's music for the song "For All We Know
For All We Know (1970 song)
"For All We Know" is a popular song written for the 1970 film, Lovers and Other Strangers, by Fred Karlin, Robb Wilson and Arthur James . It was originally performed by Larry Meredith....
," featured in the film Lovers and Other Strangers
Lovers and Other Strangers
Lovers and Other Strangers is a 1970 comedy film based on the play by Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna. The film features an ensemble cast including Richard Castellano, Gig Young, Cloris Leachman, Anne Jackson, Beatrice Arthur, Bonnie Bedelia, Michael Brandon, Harry Guardino, Anne Meara, Bob Dishy,...
. It won the Academy Award for Best Song.This song was later covered by The Carpenters on their third album.
In 1971 Royer left Bread, but continued to provide songs co-written with Griffin for the group, he was replaced by keyboardist/guitarist Larry Knechtel
Larry Knechtel
Lawrence William "Larry" Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist, best known for his work as a session musician with such artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Partridge Family, The Doors, and Elvis Presley, and as a member of the 1970s...
. They had a number one Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
hit, with the song "Make It With You". Other hits by Bread included "Baby I'm-a Want You", "If
If (Bread song)
"If" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates in 1971. Originally popularized by his group Bread, the song charted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single in 1971. The song also spent three weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart...
" and "Everything I Own." Although Griffin was a significant contributor to Bread's albums as a writer and singer, every one of the group's thirteen songs that made the Billboard Hot 100 chart was written and sung by Gates, a situation that created friction between the two.
After the release of Guitar Man in 1972, Bread went on hiatus. Griffin released a solo album, Breakin' Up Is Easy on Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
in 1974, credited to 'James Griffin & Co'. Neither the album nor the singles, "Breakin' Up Is Easy," "She Knows," and "How Do You Say Goodbye," made the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
. Bread reformed in 1976 for one final album, Lost Without Your Love. Gates, Botts, and Knechtel continued to record together on Gates's solo albums, and initially toured as 'David Gates & Bread', which led to a lawsuit from Griffin. The dispute was not resolved until 1984. Griffin and Gates put aside their past differences for a Bread reunion tour in 1996–1997 with Botts and Knechtel
Black Tie
In 1977, Griffin released a third solo album, James Griffin, also on Polydor, with tracks recorded in 1974 and 1975. He teamed with Terry SylvesterTerry Sylvester
Terry Sylvester , was the guitarist/singer with The Escorts, The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Hollies...
(formerly of The Hollies) on the album Griffin & Sylvester in 1982 and was a member of Black Tie
Black Tie (band)
Black Tie was an American country rock supergroup composed of Jimmy Griffin, Randy Meisner and Billy Swan. The group's first album, When the Night Falls, was released in December 1990 by Bench Records...
with Randy Meisner
Randy Meisner
Randy Herman Meisner is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles...
and Billy Swan
Billy Swan
Billy Lance Swan is an American songwriter and singer, best known for his 1974 single, "I Can Help".-Life:Swan was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. As a child, he learned drums, piano and guitar, and began writing songs...
, which released When The Night Falls in 1985, co-produced by T-Bone Burnett
T-Bone Burnett
Joseph Henry Burnett , widely known as T-Bone Burnett, is an American musician, songwriter, and soundtrack and record producer.He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band on the Rolling Thunder Revue...
. Robb Royer was also credited as a musician on the album. The Black Tie single "Learning The Game" peaked at #59 on the Billboard country chart in 1991.
The Remingtons
In 1991 Griffin formed The RemingtonsThe Remingtons
The Remingtons was an American country music group founded by Jimmy Griffin, Richard Mainegra, and Rick Yancey, all of whom played guitar and sang. All three members were previously members of soft rock groups: Griffin was previously a member of Bread, while Mainegra and Yancey had previously been...
with Richard Mainegra and Rick Yancey. They released their first single that same year, followed by the albums Blue Frontier
Blue Frontier
Blue Frontier is the debut album from the American country music trio The Remingtons, a vocal group composed of former Bread vocalist Jimmy Griffin, as well as former Cymarron members Richard Mainegra and Rick Yancey...
(1992) and Aim for the Heart
Aim for the Heart
Aim for the Heart is the second and final album from the American country music trio The Remingtons. Released in April 1993 on BNA Entertainment , the album produced two singles on the Billboard country singles charts: "Nobody Loves You When You're Free" at #52 and "Wall Around Her Heart" at #69...
(1993). Their single, "A Long Time Ago
A Long Time Ago
"A Long Time Ago" is the title of a song written by Richard Mainegra and recorded by American country music group The Remingtons. It was released in 1991 as the first single from their debut album, Blue Frontier. The song reached #10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in January...
" went Top 10 on Billboard's country chart in 1992 with "Two-Timin' Me" cracking the Top 20 later that year.
Toast/Radio Dixie
Beginning in 1994 Griffin and Robb Royer collaborated with Grammy-nominated songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Todd CerneyTodd Cerney
Todd Cerney was an American songwriter and musician.He composed "Good Morning Beautiful", a 2002 five-week country number one hit for Steve Holy ; "The Blues Is My Business" , part of Etta James' 2003 Grammy Award winning album "Let's Roll"; and "I'll Still Be Loving You", a 1987...
to write songs and perform in local venues. Larry Knechtel also participated in the collaboration and the group called themselves Toast (an obvious reference to Bread). Griffin, Royer and Cerney began this collaboration when they wrote "Kyrie" in 1994. Knechtel also joined songwriting credits on the 1995 song "Slow Train."
The group wrote, recorded and performed together at various Nashville Venues including the Bluebird Cafe
Bluebird cafe
The Bluebird Cafe is a music club in Nashville, Tennessee that opened in 1982. The club is famous for intimate, acoustic music performed by its composers...
, 3rd & Lindsley, and 12th & Porter. In 1998 they changed the name to "Radio Dixie" in an effort to be more commercially viable. The group disbanded in 1998, although Royer and Cerney continued to collaborate on song-writing.
GYG
In 2003, Griffin, Rick Yancey and Ronnie Guilbeau began writing and performing as GYG, recording a CD of the same name. The CD included new material and well-known tunes like "Who's Gonna Know", a Remingtons tune recorded by Conway Twitty, and "Call It Love" a #1 hit for Poco written by Ronnie Guilbeau. GYG was performing at numerous Nashville venues including the 2004 CRS Conference and making further plans to shop the CD to indie labels and take the act on the road at the time of Griffin's sickness and death. In early 2004, Griffin recorded a duetDuet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
with Holly Cieri of his Oscar winning song "For All We Know". During that same year, Griffin also collaborated with Michael Z. Gordon and Griffin recorded the song, "Something Else Altogether" which was slated to be the title song for the film, "The Devil and Daniel Webster". However, the film went into bankruptcy and the song was never used in the movie but was recently posted on Youtube and dedicated to Griffin.
Death
Griffin died of complications from cancer on January 11, 2005 at his home in Franklin, TennesseeFranklin, Tennessee
Franklin is a city within and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 62,487 as of the 2010 census Franklin is located approximately south of downtown Nashville.-History:...
. He was 61 and had been undergoing treatment for several months. He is survived by his wife Marti, daughters Katy and Alexis, sons Jamey and Jacob, granddaughter Lilli and grandsons Gryffyn and Max.