From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Jan 23, 2002  7:36 pm
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Jimmy Forrest
 
JIMMY FORREST (By Dave Penny)

Born James Robert Forrest Jr, 24 January 1920, St Louis, Missouri
Died 26 August 1980, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Saxophonist/composer/r&b bandleader.
Having served his apprenticeship with Don Albert, Jay McShann, Andy Kirk
and Duke Ellington, tenorman Jimmy Forrest formed his own band and began
recording for Chicago's United Records in late 1951. His first release was
"Night Train", a cheeky theft of Ellington's "Happy-Go-Lucky Local", which
reached #1 on the Billboard r&b chart in 1952 and bestowed a lifelong
nickname. This was followed up with the jaunty #3 hit "Hey Mrs Jones", which
would also be his last. His initial success in the r&b charts was merely a
by-product of his chosen career in modern jazz which was to sustain him
throught his life. The best of his 1950s sides are available on "Night
Train" (Delmark DD-435).