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Tier 2 · legacy legend
Steve James
Person · male · United States · born 1950 · died 2023 · recording since 1993
American folk blues musician
official homepagedatabasedatabasedatabase
Also known as Stephen B. James · Стив Джеймс
Timeline
9 events▣ Album 6◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1† Death 1
1950s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: Two Track Mind
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
2000s
2020s
Biography
English biography308 words · 2 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1351801695
Biography
Steve James (born July 15, 1950 – January 6, 2023) was an American folk blues musician.A multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, James operated in the fields of acoustic and folk blues. Without the benefit of promotion from a major record label, James had secured his fan base from consistent touring.
Biography
James was born on July 15, 1950, in Manhattan, New York City, in the United States.
He played a National steel guitar, mandolin, and the banjo, having become fixated, as an adolescent, on blues music. As a teenager in New York City, James listened to his father's record collection, which included recordings from Lead Belly, Josh White, and Meade "Lux" Lewis. Following relocation to Tennessee, he met both Sam McGee and Furry Lewis. In 1977, he moved to San Antonio, Texas, and played along with various musicians including Bo Diddley, John P. Hammond and Dave Van Ronk.
James' earliest recordings were Two Track Mind (1993), American Primitive (1994), and Art & Grit (1996). Bob Brozman played some slide guitar on Art & Grit, and Danny Barnes has appeared on a number of James' recordings.
In 2000, the Portland, Oregon based, Burnside Records label, issued Boom Chang. Three years later Burnside released, Fast Texas, where James was accompanied by Cindy Cashdollar on steel and dobro guitars; plus Ruthie Foster and Cyd Cassone on vocals. James' own songs appeared on Fast Texas, as well as covers of work from Hop Wilson, Milton Brown, and Little Hat Jones. Cashdollar and Alvin Youngblood Hart had previously guested on Boom Chang.
James' playing also appeared on recordings from James McMurtry and Ana Egge. He has released an instructional video and contributed to Acoustic Guitar. He continued to tour around the world and incorporated teaching sessions on guitar playing techniques.
He died at home in Seattle, Washington, on January 6, 2023, from a brain tumor.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 3 | 16th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 7 | 80.4th |
| Studio albums | 6 | 86.1th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 9 | 85.5th |
| Recording span (years) | 21 | 47.7th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (7 release groups · 6 studio albums)
Albums · 6
1993 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 13 tracks · 37:51
1Milwaukee Blues3:102Rocks and Gravel3:183Guitar Rag3:144Frankie and Albert3:195Huggin' and Chalkin'1:326Amos Johnson Rag2:197Bachelor Blues4:218Railroad Blues2:209Blues in the Bottle2:5010Variations on the Saturday Night Rub2:2511Don't Seem Right3:1812County Line Road3:4113Spanish Fandango2:041994 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 14 tracks · 47:29
1Greasy Greens3:352My Last Good Car3:343Talco Girl3:344Ragged and Dirty3:555Banker's Blues3:336Frankie Jean2:557Hadacol Boogie2:308Midnight Blues2:549Boogie Woogie Dance2:5410All In, Down and Out Blues2:4511Grain Alcohol2:2212The Change6:5613Will and Testament Blues3:1914Guitar Medley (Danny Barnes, Bear Creek Hop)2:431996 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 40:21
1Ooze It to Me, Mama3:032Wet Laundry Blues2:583Hot Time in the Old Town3:414Blues Widow3:315Downbound Train4:546Viola Lee Blues3:197Liberty2:428Monkey Man Swing2:289Farewell the Roses3:1610Juanita Stomp4:0811Lookit Th' Dog3:1612Buddy Bolden's Blues3:052000 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 15 tracks · 48:08
1Galway Station Blues3:492The Gina Reel3:203Way Out on the Desert3:044Stack Lee's Blues4:445Born to Lose3:136Country Fool3:537Squaw Teat Mouintain Breakdown2:578Willie's Place2:149Been All Around This World3:4010Voice Mail0:1611Sonny Payne5:4512Saturday Night in Jail3:4613Saturday Night in Jail…Chorus (reprise)0:3014Seeds4:5915[untitled]1:582003 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 51:39
1Fast Texas5:202Texas Tommy3:283Sukey3:234Jack O' Diamonds5:175Freestone County Blues3:206Where Shall I Be?1:207Day's Lonesome3:358Cocaine Blues3:109Chicken Stuff3:0110Blues Come to Stay3:2911Fisherman's Reel2:49124 or 5 Times2:2713Rain Done Fell on Me3:0714Waiting for a Train2:0915Bye Bye Baby Blues3:1516Rain Done Fell on Me (reprise)2:292004 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 14 tracks · 43:31
1Nadine3:282Baltimore2:573Precious Five3:524Tappin That Thing2:255Truck Driver’s Roll2:566Changette2:267I Love My Guitar2:468Alta Vista Serenade2:259As Long as I Can See You Smile2:3810I’m Sailing3:0711Black Stick2:4212Josie Bush2:4613The Real Guitar Rag5:2614Little Baby3:37
Album · 1
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Camp Streeters LiveSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 11 tracks · 44:451East Texas Boogie3:43 2Traveler's Blues4:49 3Sugar Babe2:53 4Trinity River Blues4:14 5Guitar Rag3:18 6Born to Lose4:07 7Don't You Leave Me Here3:17 8Hideaway4:26 9Jack O' Diamonds (Is a Hard Card to Play)6:43 10Goodbye Darlin'2:43 11Take Me Back4:32 | Live | 2014 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Steve James head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 3 | 16th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 7 | 80.4th |
| Studio albums | 6 | 86.1th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 9 | 85.5th |
| Recording span (years) | 21 | 47.7th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Awards & honours
Line-up
| Name | From | To | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aija Puurtinen & Rytmiraide Allstars(band) | — | present | background vocals |
| Aija Puurtinen & Rytmiraide Allstars(band) | — | present | resonator guitar |
| Aija Puurtinen & Rytmiraide Allstars(band) | — | present | mandolin |
| The Camp Streeters(band) | — | present |
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/7c073832-2ed3-4e27-8dec-60f56df069cadiscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/7c073832-2ed3-4e27-8dec-60f56df069cacore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7612927genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7612927seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_James_%28blues_musician%29biography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_James_%28blues_musician%29
Why this artist is in the database
- List of blues musicians — rank #52
| 1950 | 2023 | New York | Acoustic blues |
Tier rule: genre canon: blues
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q7612927 · MusicBrainz: 7c073832-2ed3-4e27-8dec-60f56df069ca
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