Jackie Payne - Day In The Life (of a Bluesman) (1997)

Born on Sept. 26 1945, Payne first sang professionally at age 13 with the Allen Swing Band out of Atlanta and then an R & B group called The Serenaders. In 1963 he headed to Port Arthur, Texas where he waxed his first side, "The Ballad Of JFK" as Little Jackie Payne. He served as a warm up act for Sam Cooke, Jerry Butler, Chuck Jackson, Albert Collins to name a few. He also sang with Collins' group. In 1965 Willard BBurton, aka "Piano Slim" took Payne to Huey Meanx of Jet Stream Records to cut 8 sides including the regional hit "Go Go Train".

After a stint in the army in 1968 Payne headed to California and worked with Pee Wee Crayton and gigged with his own bad for several years. During this time he also sang with the The Johnny Otis Show. Payne continued to play and pay his dues and finally got some more studio time. He contributed vocals to three songs on a Kenny "Blue" Ray disc called "In All My Life" and finally cut his first disc for JSP Records.