James Walter Castor was an American funk, R&B, and soul musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he is credited with vocals, saxophone and composition. He is best known for songs such as "It's Just Begun", "Bertha Butt Boogie", and the biggest hit single, million-seller "Troglodyte."
Biography
Early life and career
Castor was born on January 23, 1940, Early in his career he was a member of the famous doo-wop group The Teenagers. Later he created Jimmy and the Juniors. In late 1966 he released "Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You". As solo artist and leader of The Jimmy Castor Bunch in the 1970s, Castor released several successful albums and singles. TJCB peaked their commercial success in 1972 upon the release of their album, It's Just Begun, which featured two hit singles: the title track and "Troglodyte ", the latter of which became quite popular in the US, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track stayed on the chart for 14 weeks and on June 30, 1972, received a gold disc award from the RIAA for sales of a million copies. Castor released "It's Just Begun" in 1972. In 1973, he recorded a soprano saxophone instrumental cover of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" written by Gary Brooker, Keith Reid and Matthew Fisher, on a tune inspired by J.S.Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 BWV1068 in his "Air on the G string”. Africa Bambaataa said that "It's Just Begun" was very popular at South Bronxblock parties in the 1970s. Later popular songs included "Bertha Butt Boogie", "Potential", "King Kong" and "A Groove Will Make You Move" in 1975 and 1976. The Jimmy Castor Bunch included keyboardist/trumpeter Gerry Thomas, bassist Doug Gibson, guitarist Harry Jensen, conga player Lenny Fridle, Jr., and drummer Bobby Manigault. Thomas also recorded with the Fatback Band, leaving TJCB in the 1980s to exclusively record with them.
Death
He died from heart failure on January 16, 2012 in Henderson, Nevada, only a week short of his 72nd birthday.
Influence
Many of the group's tunes have been heavily sampled in films and in hip-hop. In particular, the saxophone hook and groove from the title track of It's Just Begun. For example Ice-T sampled the track for the title track of his 1988 album Power. Also, heavy sampled is the spoken word intro and groove from Troglodyte . Industrial hip hop groupTackhead covered the song "Just Begun" for the digital release of their album For the Love of Money.
