From: Dik de Heer 
Date: Mon Nov 17, 2003 1:28am
Subject: Born To Be With You : Jimmy DeBerry
 
JIMMY DeBERRY

Born 17 November 1911, Gumwood, Arkansas
Died 17 January 1985, Sikeston, Missouri

Blues singer, guitarist.
To be honest : Jimmy DeBerry wouldn't have been included in
this feature if he hadn't recorded for Sun. I hope most members
will agree with me when I say that Sam Phillips's label will always
have a special place in our hearts.
DeBerry was an active if peripheral member of the Memphis blues
community from its heyday during the 1920s until the early 50s.
He grew up in Arkansas and Mississippi before moving to Memphis
to live with his aunt in 1927. Teaching himself to play ukelele and 
then banjo and guitar, he associated with the likes of Will Shade,
Charlie Burse, Jack Kelly, Frank Stokes and a very young Walter
Horton. While in East St. Louis in 1934, he lost the lower part of his
right leg in a train accident. Five years later he recorded for Vocalion
Records with his Memphis Playboys in a style that updated the hokum
music from the earlier part of the decade. Over the next fifteen years
DeBerry spent time in St. Louis and Jackson, Tennessee, returning to
Memphis to make radio appearances with Willie Nix and Walter Horton.
With Horton he recorded the classic instrumental "Easy" (Sun 180), 
an adaptation of "I Almost My Mind". Both sides of this single, recorded
on February 25, 1953, were credited to Jimmy & Walter. DeBerry is the 
singer on "Before Long", his own composition, and at least as powerful 
as "Easy".
A second Sun session, this time without Horton, was held on May 
16, 1953, and resulted in the single "Take A Little Chance"/"Time
Has Made A Change" (Sun 185). The former is archetypal backporch 
music, although DeBerry's acoustic guitar and foot tapping provide a 
surprisingly full sound. The song was lifted note-for-note from a 1941
Robert Jr., Lockwood recording of the same name, but credit on the
label went to DeBerry-Burns, also on "Time Has Made A Change",
where DeBerry is joined by Mose Vinson on piano and Raymond 
Jones on drums. Though it has a more uptown sound, it is also a
bit of a mess, due to DeBerry's problems keeping things within a 12
bar format. A third track recorded during this session, "Party Line
Blues" did not find a release until the 1980s, first on a Charly LP and
then on Sun Box 105.
Sam had great faith in DeBerry and wanted to renew his contract in
January 1954. As an incentive to get Jimmy back in the studio, Sam
added in a letter to him that DeBerry was owed $12,45 in back royalties.
Jimmy obviously asked him to mail a cheque, because he never reappeared.

(Sources: All Music Guide, and Hank Davis and Colin Escott's entries for
DeBerry in the book accompanying "From the Vaults : The Original Sun
Singles, Vol.1, Bear Family BCD 15801).