Jimmy Dawkins

by Bill DahlChicago guitarist Jimmy Dawkins would just as soon leave his longtime nickname Fast Fingers behind. It was always something of a stylistic misnomer anyway; Dawkinss West Side-styled guitar slashes and surges, but seldom burns with incendiary speed. Dawkinss blues are generally of the brooding, introspective variety — he doesnt engage in flashy pyrotechnics or outrageous showmanship. It took a long time for Dawkins to progress from West Side fixture to nationally known recording artist. He rode a Greyhound bus out of Mississippi in 1955, dressed warm to ward off the Windy Citys infamous chill factor. Only trouble was, he arrived on a sweltering July day! Harpist Billy Boy Arnold offered the newcomer encouragement, and he eventually carved out a niche on the competitive West Side scene (his peers included Magic Sam and Luther Allison). Sam introduced Dawkins to Delmark Records boss Bob Koester. Fast Fingers, Dawkinss 1969 debut LP for Delmark—still his best album to date—was a taut, uncompromising piece of work that won the Grand Prix du Disque de Jazz from the Hot Club of France in 1971 as the years top album. Andrew Big Voice Odom shared the singing and Otis Rush the second guitar duties on Dawkinss 1971 encore All for Business. But after his Delmark LP Blisterstring, Dawkinss subsequent recordings lacked intensity until 1991s oddly titled Kant Sheck Dees Bluze for Chicagos Earwig Records. After that, Dawkins waxed discs for Ichiban and Fedora, and continued to tour extensively.