Jimmy Castor

Jimmy Castor

Castor in 1972.
Background information
Birth name James Walter Castor
Born (1940-01-23)January 23, 1940[n1]
Manhattan, New York
Died January 16, 2012(2012-01-16) (aged 71)
Henderson, Nevada
Genres Soul, R&B, funk
Instruments Saxophone, Percussion
Associated acts The Teenagers
The Jimmy Castor Bunch
Notable instruments
Saxophone, Percussion

James Walter "Jimmy" Castor (June 23, 1940 – January 16, 2012) was an American pop and funk musician. He is best known as a fun disco/funk saxophonist, with his biggest hit single being 1972's million seller, "Troglodyte (Cave Man)".[1]

Biography

As leader of The Jimmy Castor Bunch in the 1970s, and also as a solo artist, he released several successful albums and singles. The group reached the peak of their commercial success in 1972 with the release of their album, It's Just Begun, which featured two hit singles: the title track and "Troglodyte (Cave Man)," which was a large hit in the US, peaking at #6 in the Billboard Hot 100. The track stayed in the chart for 14 weeks and was a million seller by June 30, 1972, and received a gold disc award from the RIAA[1]

The Castor band included keyboardist/trumpeter Gerry Thomas, bassist Doug Gibson, guitarist Harry Jensen, conga player Lenny Fridle, Jr., and drummer Bobby Manigault.[1] Thomas, who simultaneously recorded with the Fatback Band, left in the 1980s to exclusively record with them.

Many of the group's tunes have been heavily sampled in films and in hip-hop. In particular, the saxophone hook and groove from "It's Just Begun" and the spoken word intro and groove from "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" (namely, "What we're gonna do right here is go back...") have been sampled extensively. Industrial hip hop group Tackhead covered the song "Just Begun" for the digital release of their album For the Love of Money.[2]

He died on January 16, 2012 from heart failure,[3] aged 71.

Discography

Albums

Chart singles

Note: All credited to The Jimmy Castor Bunch unless otherwise stated.

Year Single Chart Positions
US Pop[4] US
R&B[5]
1966 "Hey, Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You"
Jimmy Castor		 31 16
1972 "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" 6 4
"Luther the Anthropoid (Ape Man)" 105 –
1975 "Soul Serenade" – 72
"The Bertha Butt Boogie (pt.1)" 16 22
"Potential" – 25
"King Kong – Part 1" 69 23
1976 "Supersound" – 42
"Bom Bom" – 97
"Everything Is Beautiful To Me" – 67
1977 "Space Age" – 28
1978 "Maximum Stimulation" – 82
1979 "Don't Do That!" – 50
1980 "Can't Help Falling in Love With You"
Jimmy Castor		 – 93
1984 "Amazon"
Jimmy Castor		 – 84
1985 "It Gets To Me"
Jimmy Castor		 – 81
1988 "Love Makes A Woman"
Joyce Sims feat. Jimmy Castor		 – 29

Notes

  • ^[n1] Note: Some other sources give different years of birth, between 1943 and 1947, though an obituary from The New York Times states "James Walter Castor was born on Jan. 23, 1940, in Manhattan. (His son said that for years he had let others assume he was far younger than he was, by as much as seven years.)"[6][7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 309. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  2. ↑ "Discography: For the Love of Money". tackhead.com. 2004. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  3. ↑ Tim Cashmere. "Music News – Funk Icon Jimmy Castor Dies at 64 | News | Music News". Noise11. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  4. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955–2002 (1st ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 115. ISBN 0-89820-155-1.
  5. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995. Record Research. p. 69.
  6. ↑ "Jimmy Castor, musician who mastered many genres dies at 71". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
  7. ↑ Terence McArdle (January 19, 2012). "Jimmy Castor dead at 71; '70s songs became popular among sampling hip-hop artists". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-04-01.

External links

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