Jimmy Dotson

James Dent Dotson (October 19, 1933 – March 26, 2017), sometimes known as Jimmy "Louisiana" Dotson, was an American blues singer, guitarist and drummer. His best known track was "I Need Your Love", a song he co-wrote with Jerry West. Over a sixty-year career, Dotson played alongside Silas Hogan, Lightnin' Slim, Slim Harpo, Lazy Lester, Albert King, O. V. Wright, Rufus Thomas, Ivory Joe Hunter, Buddy Guy, Son Seals, and Isaac Hayes. He released three singles on different record labels between 1959 and 1963. Hogan sang and played rhythm guitar with Dotson (drums), Isaiah Chapman (lead guitar), and Sylvester Buckley (harmonica). They stayed together for almost ten years and contributed to the development of the Baton Rouge blues sound. Though Hogan was the group's leader, their first recordings had Dotson on lead vocals, and the tracks were released in his name. Two singles, "I Wanna Know" backed with "Looking for My Baby" and "Oh Baby" backed with "I Need Your Love" were issued in 1959 and 1960, by Zynn and Rocko Records, respectively, which were both owned by J. D. "Jay" Miller. AllMusic noted that they were "both in an upbeat R&B vein, quite different from Hogan's down-home blues sound." which was issued by the small Memphis record company Home of the Blues. By the 1990s, Dotson was living in Houston, Texas, where he started his own band, Antique Funk. They became regular performers in Houston's blues scene, before ill health started to curb his output in the early 2000s. Dotson suffered a heart attack in 1997, and a resulting stroke and complications from diabetes took their toll. In 2014, the Houston Blues Society held a benefit event to help offset his medical bills.

He is not to be confused with the similarly named American soul singer (born James A. Dotson in Baltimore, Maryland, and died in 1991) who recorded for a string of labels, including Mercury, in the 1960s and early 1970s, although some sources have confused the two.

Singles discography Year Title Record label 1959 "I Wanna Know" / "Looking For My Baby" Zynn Records 1960 "Oh Baby" / "I Need Your Love" Rocko Records 1963 "Search No More" / "Feel Alright" Home of the Blues Records