Cornbread Harris
Encyclopedia
James Samuel "Cornbread" Harris, Sr. (born April 23, 1927) is an American
musician. He is a singer and pianist who performs in Minneapolis, Minnesota
. He was a performer on Minnesota's first rock 'n' roll record, and is the father of record producer Jimmy "Jam" Harris.
. He has been married four times. One of his daughters died. He is the father of Jimmy Jam
(James Harris III) who produced records for Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and Usher.
Country music was an early influence, and Hank Williams and Gene Autry are among his early favorites.
Harris was in the U.S. military and later worked for about 25 years for American Hoist & Derrick.
His repertoire includes blues
and jazz
and in his eighties, Harris still plays Minneapolis nightclubs including the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown, Clubhouse Jäger in the North Loop
and Palmer's and the Nomad World Pub on the West Bank
.
Harris is a mentor to Cadillac Kolstad and City Pages
calls them the "must-see dueling-piano act in town".
, Harris explains how he got his nickname: he loved and ate cornbread
everywhere he grew up, his grandparents and foster families cooked it, and with his drummer, Harris wrote a song about it. The song got longer and longer as they added the people who love cornbread ("truck drivers like cornbread"). Eventually, people began to call Harris "Cornbread" because of the popularity of his song and food that he likes.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician. He is a singer and pianist who performs in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. He was a performer on Minnesota's first rock 'n' roll record, and is the father of record producer Jimmy "Jam" Harris.
Family and early years
When his father was shot while gambling and his mother died of grieving, Harris was orphaned at age 3. He lived with foster families until he was 11 or 12 when he and his sister went to live with his grandparents in Saint Paul, MinnesotaSaint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
. He has been married four times. One of his daughters died. He is the father of Jimmy Jam
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
(James Harris III) who produced records for Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and Usher.
Country music was an early influence, and Hank Williams and Gene Autry are among his early favorites.
Later career
Harris helped invent Augie Garcia's "Hi Yo Silver," a 1955 song that was Minnesota's first rock 'n' roll recording. He performed on the record, which he called a one-hit wonder (although Garcia is remembered as the godfather of Minnesota rock 'n' roll).Harris was in the U.S. military and later worked for about 25 years for American Hoist & Derrick.
His repertoire includes blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and in his eighties, Harris still plays Minneapolis nightclubs including the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown, Clubhouse Jäger in the North Loop
North Loop, Minneapolis
The North Loop is a neighborhood of the Central community of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The neighborhood is commonly known as the Warehouse District from the city's shipping hub years. It includes the Minneapolis Warehouse Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places...
and Palmer's and the Nomad World Pub on the West Bank
Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis
The Cedar-Riverside, also referred to as the West Bank, is a neighborhood within Minneapolis, Minnesota. The boundaries of the neighborhood are the Mississippi River to the north and east, Interstate 94 to the south, and Hiawatha Avenue and Interstate 35W to the west...
.
Harris is a mentor to Cadillac Kolstad and City Pages
City Pages
City Pages is an alternative weekly newspaper serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It features news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews, and music criticism. It is printed in a tabloid format, and is available free every Wednesday...
calls them the "must-see dueling-piano act in town".
Cornbread
Thomas Zocher, a Twin Cities film-maker, has begun a documentary on the life of Cornbread Harris, which he expects to complete in 2011. In one segment that is available on VimeoVimeo
Vimeo is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. It was founded by Zach Klein and Jake Lodwick in November 2004...
, Harris explains how he got his nickname: he loved and ate cornbread
Cornbread
Cornbread is a generic name for any number of quick breads containing cornmeal and leavened by baking powder.-History:Native Americans were using ground corn for food thousands of years before European explorers arrived in the New World...
everywhere he grew up, his grandparents and foster families cooked it, and with his drummer, Harris wrote a song about it. The song got longer and longer as they added the people who love cornbread ("truck drivers like cornbread"). Eventually, people began to call Harris "Cornbread" because of the popularity of his song and food that he likes.