JAMISON, JIMI
JIMMY WAYNE JAMISON (ICONOCLASSIC)
Survivor lead singer Jimi Jamison's PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 2007 solo album! / Entirely written and produced by fellow former Survivor member Jim Peterik / All track versions are previously unheard / Liner notes essay by Matt Wardlaw (Ultimate Classic Rock radio DJ and journalist) / Second posthumous release from the Jimi Jamison archives / Previous release in Iconoclassic's Jimi Jamison Archive Series sold out within one year.
- After leading Survivor to the top of the charts in the mid-'80s with hits like "I Can't Hold Back," "High on You," "The Search Is Over," "Burning Heart," and "Is This Love," powerhouse vocalist Jimi Jamison reunited with his former Survivor band-mate, songwriter Jim Peterik ("Eye of the Tiger," "Hold on Loosely," "Vehicle") to cut_a country-rock album? The concept seems perplexing, yet it makes perfect sense.
The singer was born Jimmy Wayne Jamison in smalltown Mississippi. He performed songs by The Marshall Tucker Band in his dues paying club days, cut background vocals for Molly Hatchet, and sang prominent harmonies all over ZZ Top's massive Eliminator album.
Those who knew him best said that you could hear his Southern roots, even when he joined Survivor.
Meanwhile, master songwriter Jim Peterik had written with Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special, and Blackhawk.
"I heard what I called 'the yodel' in his voice,'" he explains. "It's not really Southern, but he's got a catch in his voice that I made sure was in every song." When we think of country music today, the line often blurs between true old school country, pop, and straight up rock & roll.
The same is true with Jimmy Wayne Jamison, which at times, doesn't stray too far from the Jimi Jamison that we all know and love so dearly.
"It's not like he sings this album with a certain twang or anything like that, it's just Jamison," Peterik offers as an expert summary.
"There's really not a huge dividing line, the 'rock Jamison' and what you're hearing on this record.
It's not like he's twang-y or anything like that. Maybe it's a little gentler? But he's still rockin'." Jimi Jamison's Jimmy Wayne Jamison album has never been heard_until now! For fans of Survivor, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special, The Outlaws, ZZ Top, Molly Hatchet, The Marshall Tucker Band.