Jimmy McCracklin was born James David Walker on August 23, 1921. An American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter, passed away in San Pablo, California on December 20, 2012. His style, a combination of West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B enabled a musical career that spanned seven decades.
After more than 10 years of McCracklin selling records in the black community on a series of small labels, an appearance on the popular Dick Clark’s American Bandstand put “The Walk” in 1957. McCracklin said he had written almost a thousand songs and had recorded hundreds of them. McCracklin has well over 30 albums to his credit.