John Brim

John Brim (b. Hopkinsville, Kentucky, April 10, 1922 – d. Gary, October 1, 2003) – Singer, Guitarist, harmonica player, and songwriter. Kentucky-born John Brim grew up under the influence of Tampa Red and Big Bill Broonzy and put those influences to work during the WWII years, which he spent in Indianapolis. During his Indy years, he sharpened his guitar skills through performing with the likes of Scrapper Blackwell, while he also learned the dry cleaning business. His next home was Chicago, where he spent seven years before moving to nearby Gary. While living in the Chicago area, he mingled with a host of fellow post-war bluesmen, and he started performing with his wife Grace (singer, drummer, and harmonica player) in 1947 and made his first recording with her on the Detroit-based label Fortune Records in 1950. Throughout the 1950s, he made several recordings on J.O.B. Records, Parrot, and Chess although some of his sides were shelved by Chess. With Chess, he accompanied solo artists such as Big Maceo Merriwether, and he was also featured on many recordings. Among the artists who played behind Brim for those Chess sessions were bassist Willie Dixon, guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr., and harpist Little Walter. Although Brim captured the popular Chicago sound on such sides as “Tough Times” (Parrot, 1953), he failed to earn a living from his royalties until well-known rock bands in the 1970s covered his songs. More specifically, the success of Van Halen’s version of Brim’s “Ice Cream Man” (1978) and J. Geils Band’s cover of “Be Careful (what you do)” (1975) afforded him a more comfortable life style and prompted him to open Chicago’s House of Blues Broadway Nite Club. A regular at the Chicago Blues Festival, Brim resurrected his recording career in 1989, when he recorded four songs on the German Wolf label, and five years later he released his first ever full-length album on Tone Records. The result was Ice Cream Man, which was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. In the last several years of his life, he made occasional appearances at blues festival around the world and remained active in the Chicago scene. He died at age eight-one while still living in Gary.