Few musicians can claim a career as rich and diverse as Jamie James. From fronting the high-energy rockabilly trio The Kingbees to his longtime collaborations with Hollywood legends Harry Dean Stanton and Dennis Quaid, James has left an indelible mark on rock, rockabilly, and Americana music. With his latest solo album, Straight Up, he’s returning to his roots while embracing new musical horizons. Blending his signature twang with a fresh “blues-pop” sound, Straight Up is a testament to his evolution as an artist, marking 45 years since The Kingbees’ debut. We sat down with Jamie James to talk about the album, his storied career, and what keeps him inspired after all these years.
JG: Looking back at your journey from The Kingbees to Dennis Quaid & The Sharks and now your solo album Straight Up, has your approach to music changed over time? What inspired the sound of the new album?
Jamie James: It’s the only way I really know how to approach music. Just really straightforward. Simple. The songs start with this creative seed that comes from somewhere in the cosmos, you know, somewhere in the ether. And then I follow through with it. I dedicate myself to nurturing it and developing it maybe on the guitar first, and then maybe I get a melody in my mind. Then, I record it as a voice memo on my phone as I go. The real elbow grease is to sit down and develop them.
Creating the chord structure, the melody, etc. I try to create things that will be a good vehicle for the musicians. Something that I feel like the drummer would have fun playing. Something that I feel like the bass player would have fun playing. I try to put myself in the shoes of the others, especially these three guys, because we’ve all been playing together for twenty-five years.
These are the same guys that were with me backing up Dennis Quaid, so it’s basically the Sharks without Dennis Quaid. When you do something like that for a long time with someone, you become not tighter than a family but akin to the same kind of closeness that you would have with a family.
JG: Yeah. Like the relationships become really tight-knit, like a second skin. It’s not common to have the same people backing you up for so long.
Jamie James: I’ve been told I’m a very uncommon individual.
JG: I wanted to ask you about “Let the Praying Begin.” You know, that song really stood out to me with its themes of love, redemption, and resilience. Can you tell me a bit about the songwriting process and what went into that song?
Jamie James: Something happened to me psychologically in 2020 that kind of slowed everything down and brought a focus on other things than the tangible, other than what we can see, touch, feel, smell. I had to have an emergency open heart surgery, a quadruple bypass. And it saved my life.
When they were wheeling me in for the surgery, and this is God’s honest truth, I said a prayer. And I said, God, if you get me through this, especially for my daughter and my loved ones, I will get back to focusing on songwriting because that was my first love. I started writing songs in 1966 when I got my first electric guitar, and I always knew it was in the stars for me to write songs. I drifted away from that eventually. I backed up different musicians or played with different people and just kind of got away from it.
I got through the surgery, and I started to think maybe prayer works. Whatever that spirit is inside of me, if I consciously try to communicate or understand or even seek to understand, it might have an effect in the real world. In other words, the power of prayer. Can it work? And I found out that in my case, it does work. And I know it sounds kind of cuckoo, but that’s God’s honest truth.
That song came to me as I was thinking about if a person loves another person but other people aren’t happy with it or if you love your country and other people aren’t happy with that, or if you love your career and other people aren’t happy with the career that you loved, if your love is strong enough, you’re not going to change your mind, so they might as well just pray for you. You might as well pray for me because I’m doing it anyway. If it’s a sin in your eyes, too bad because I’m doing it anyway, pray for me. So if loving you is a sin, let the praying begin.
JG: That’s really powerful.
Jamie James: Thank you, Jeromme. That’s the God’s honest truth.
JG: Wow. Shifting gears a bit, I wanted to ask you. What was it like working with Harry Dean Stanton?
Jamie James: Well, I fell in love with Harry. He was like a father to me, and I hope I was like a son to him. It was just one of the most beautiful gifts I’ve ever had in my entire life. We did music together for about ten years and it was very eclectic and interesting. I learned so much. He was twenty-seven years older than me. And, in fact, I still have the guitar he gave me, it’s an old Martin that he used in the movie Cool Hand Luke.
I miss him every day. And in fact, on “Let The Praying Begin,” I’m playing one of his old harmonicas. It was just wonderful playing with him. Now, mind you, it was a lot of work because he was born in the 1920s, and he wanted to do songs from that era. I wasn’t versed in that kind of music, but it opened me up to learning a lot of new stuff. It was educational; I suppose you’d say in a word. Educational, loving, and interesting. And just always a very funny man. I miss him every day.
JG: You played with Dennis Quaid as well. Is there something about these Hollywood actors doing music that sort of clicked with you? Or that made you gel with them really well?
Jamie James: That’s a very good question. The truth is they’re known to the world as actors, but they’re musicians first. Both Dennis and Harry played music before acting became their day job, but their dream was music. At least, that was my interpretation.
I know that Harry loved to sing. Before he became an actor, he toured the country singing with a choir. Dennis and I met through Harry. I wasn’t familiar with Harry as an actor then. In fact, I thought he was homeless when I first met him because I met him at my girlfriend’s father’s July 4th barbecue. I thought, have mercy on this poor guy and let’s feed him. And Harry just thought that was a real hoot. We picked up guitars and started playing a bit, and I liked his voice. And I said, my gosh, I didn’t know that the buses run on July 4th in Los Angeles. Because I figured that’s how he must have gotten out there to Brentwood.
With Dennis, we started talking at one of our gigs with Harry. He showed up and I invited him up on stage to sit in with us and we hit it off. We just had a lot in common. It turned out we got our first guitars in the same year and learned some of the same first songs on guitar. Right away, we bonded. So it’s not so much that I related to them as actors. I related to them as music nuts like me. You know? Just really passionate about music.
JG: After decades in the music industry, what keeps you excited about writing, recording, and performing?
Jamie James: Meeting people like you, Jeromme. Seriously. Writing songs is a lonely business, so I’m very much a recluse. And it’s through music that I get to meet people. I get to meet people and talk to people because I wouldn’t be able to go down to Whole Foods and have a conversation with a clerk like this. Music has always opened me up to the possibility of meeting people. When I’m not playing music, I’m either dreaming about it or thinking about it and I certainly do love talking about it.
JG: That’s great. Music brings people together.
Jamie James: It’s very true. When we do shows and concerts and things and you look out and you see people, I think to myself, those look like a lot of people that would never even have a coffee together in Starbucks, and here they are all together. You know?
JG: I get that. Lastly, what do you hope listeners take away from Straight Up?
Jamie James: Four ounces of joy. I hope it turns them on. It’s a very honest record. We went in and recorded the 10 songs in one afternoon, like doing a concert. I said I just gotta keep it raw and honest, keep it real, keep it authentic. Then I went back in the next day and added a couple of little vocal harmonies and redid a couple of harmonica parts. I worked on this with wonderful musicians. There’s Tom Walsh on drums. Ken Stange on keyboards. And Tom Mancillas on bass. They were all in Dennis Quaid and the Sharks.
When I was writing songs before, I’d call up my mother and play them on the phone for her. She was my sounding board, but we lost her back in 2018, so now I use my teenage daughter, and she’s very gracious to let me run the songs by her. And if they fly by her, then I know I’m on to something. So when I first approached the guys, they weren’t that interested. But after they heard some of the material, they were. We rehearsed a couple of times at the drummer’s house, then we went into the studio and laid it down. I knew it was a magical afternoon. I could feel it. We had certain shows that were just magical. And I hope that’s what translates when people sit and listen, that they feel that same joy that I had making it.
You can stream Straight Up here: https://lnk.to/StraightUp
