b. John Colbert, 20th November 1946, Greenville, Mississippi, U.S.A.
d. 30th November 2011, The Methodist Hospital, Germantown, Tennessee, U.S.A.
Born John Colbert in Greenville, Mississippi, John's family moved to Bluff City when he was 2 years old and he earned his nickname during his childhood days, when he would walk the Memphis sidewalks barefoot.
John, at times, had dealings with the authorities.
When he was 18 he served time at the Tennessee State Penitentiary in Nashville for car theft.
It was in prison that he happened to share a cell with Johnny Bragg, the founder of the Prisonaires, a '50s-era singing group that had a hit for Sun Records.
John recorded an early single under his own name, John Colbert, his career took off at Stax Records, auditioning for songwriter/producer David Porter in the late '60s.
He was, for a short time, lead singer with a new line-up of The Barkays (after original members were killed with Otis Redding in a plane crash).
norman west, j. blackfoot (john colbert), anita lewis and shelbra bennett with comedian richard pryor
Initially, David and Isaac Hayes, had recorded John as a solo artist, but decided to hook him up with Norman West, Anita Lewis and Shelbra Bennett, to form the Soul Children, the Memphis-based group that scored 15 R & B hits between 1968 and 1978.
After Stax folded in 1976, the band recorded a pair of albums for the Epic label before going their seperate ways.
city slicker - 1983 / physical attraction - 1984 / u-turn - 1987 / loveaholic - 1991
He launched a solo career as J. Blackfoot with the single 'Taxi,' which climbed into the R & B Top Ten in 1983.
The song instigated a response record by the artist Anne LeSear, called 'Take Him Back (Taxi)' from her 1984 album 'Tasty'.
'U-Turn' was later released by the Edge label (1986), which contained the popular track 'Tearjerker'.
room service - 1993 / this christmas - 1997 / same time, same place - 2001 / it ain't over, til it's over - 2006
J. Blackfoot continued to record on the Basix label throughout the nineties and released 'Same Time, Same Place' in 2001.
still standing - soul children - 2008 / woof woof meow - 2009
The Soul Children reformed for the 2008 album 'Still Standing', and more recently, John appeared as part of David Porter's musical revue in 2010.
John passed away on Wednesday the 30th of November 2011 at the Methodist Hospital in Germantown, Tennessee, at the age of 65.
He was suffering from cancer.
Albums:
City Slicker (Sound Town Records 1983)
U-Turn (Edge Records 1987)
Loveaholic (Basix Records 1991)
Room Service (Basix Records 1993)
Reality (Basix Records 1995)
Platinum Blue Christmas (Pltb Records 1995)
Stealing Love (Basix Records 1997)
This Christmas (Basix Records 1997)
Having An Affair (Basix Records 1999)
At His Best (Basix Records 1999)
Same Time, Same Place (Basix Music Records 2001)
It Ain't Over Till It's Over (Jea/Right Now Records 2006)
Woof Woof Meow (Jea/Right Now Records 2009)
