Från Bob Corritore kommer denna sorgliga nyhet som berör en av de finaste bluessångarna, dock rejält underskattad.

“Jimmy "T-99" Nelson, the last of the real-deal blues shouters, died on Sunday July 29, 2007 of cancer at St. Dominic's Nursing Home in Houston. Born in 1919, Jimmy "T-99" Nelson had a recording career that spanned over 50 years and established Jimmy as one of the true elder statesman of American music.

Nelson got his start singing in church. In 1941, he saw a performance by Big Joe Turner, and realized he wanted to sing the blues. Big Joe taught Jimmy about singing, performance, and the music business. Jimmy, in turn, absorbed the shouting style of his mentor.

From 1951 through 1961, Nelson released eight singles with the Bihari Brothers' Modern/RPM label. The biggest of these was the classic "T-99 Blues" (which refers to old Texas Highway 99), which debuted in June 1951. It stayed on the national R&B charts for twenty-one weeks, and reached #1. In 1952, Nelson had another RPM hit with "Meet Me With Your Black Dress On”.

Nelson began touring and performing with bands led by Joe Liggins and Roy Milton, and playing venues, including the Apollo and Howard Theaters. Nelson cut singles for a number of labels including Kent, Chess, Music City, Paradise, and All Boy.

In 1955, Nelson met and married his Nettie (also deceased) and adopted Houston as his hometown. For the next 20 years, Nelson settled down and took a job working construction, though he continued to write songs and sit in with bands.

In the 1980s, Nelson came to the wider attention of blues fans when Ace issued ten of his sides on an album. Nelson since has resumed touring and has released two albums, including 1999's "Rockin' And Shoutin' The Blues" (Rounder Records) and "Take Your Pick" (Nettie Marie Records/2002). In 2004, Ace recently released "Cry Hard Luck" featuring re-issues of Nelson's Kent & RPM recordings from 1951-1961.

After a long period of dormancy, Nelson launched a successful comeback in 1998. His late-period song "I'm Sure Going to Miss Show Business" was discovered by Elvis Costello, who played a recording of Nelson's version at the close of all his shows on his 2003 world tour.

Nelson was a fantastic singer, the last of his kind, and one of the finest songwriters the blues has ever known."