The singer Jimmy James first arrived in London in 1964 as frontman of the Vagabonds, a Jamaican dance band booked to perform at West Indian clubs across Britain for six months. However, the band’s dynamic performances – they mixed ska and calypso with R&B and big band standards – quickly gained them a sizeable British fanbase, a residency at the Marquee Club in Soho, a recording contract, and support slots with the Who and the Rolling Stones. James, who has died aged 83, remained in the UK for the rest of his life, a popular singer and entertainer who would enjoy chart success and continue performing across the country until 2022, when ill health forced him to retire.
James had had two solo hits in Jamaica before coming to the UK. He had approached the producer Lyndon Pottinger with his own composition, Bewildered and Blue (1961), in the hope of finding someone to record the song. Instead, he was asked to sing it. “The next thing I know, I hear it play on the radio,” said James.
