Colin James

Still no artwork behind her, if you're watching on YouTube.

And we also find ourselves sitting with the most fabulous, very talented, charismatic iconic blues guitarist and what a hell of a fucking singer.

The man has sung on one of my records and played some guitar.

And we're going to talk about that because you might not even remember it.

Colin James is with us today.

Let me tell you a little bit about Colin.

This is what the World Wide Web is saying about you, Colin, that you are a legendary Canadian blues guitarist, singer, songwriter.

You're renowned for soulful music.

Why wait? Ask your doctor, visit botoxchronicmigraine.com, or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more.

Colin James has 21 albums, eight Junos, and the Order of British Columbia.

What he didn't have for a very long time was a plan B.

His new memoir is called Playing the Changes, and here's the thing about it.

It stops before the fame starts.

The last page is August of 1988, the week his debut record goes on sale.

Well, joining us now to talk about, uh, his life and times is Colin James, Canadian rock and roll legend and author of Playing the Changes: A Musician's Memoir.

Colin, thanks so much for your time today.

The title track features Larkin Poe assisting with backing vocals.

And this last one came from Colin James, a truly wonderful version of the Tony Joe White composition As the Crow Flies.

You'll find it on his 2021 release, Open Road.

all of which brings us to Samantha Fish.

letter

So it started with the marvelous Kansas City singer-guitarist Samantha Fish, an extremely talented guitar player, I think, which she demonstrates on the song Don't Say It, taken off her 2025 release Paper Doll.

Then we were back with the Canadian star Colin James, this time on the 2024 album Chasing the Sun, his version of the Lucinda Williams composition Protection, as Lucinda herself assisting with the vocals.

Then a favorite song of mine by Robert Plant.

I was driving home, uh, my mother home, and I just found out from a complete stranger.

I was out doing a speaking tour in the West, and they gave me a handler, and the handler said, "I'm friends with your mother.

Uh, uh, our family and your family used to be friends." And I said, "I hear that a lot." But George Wilson was blinded in the Second World War.

He was a tail gunner in a Lancaster bomber.

He came home with, uh, a plate, metal plate in his head, totally blind, and a morphine monkey on his back that t- trickled down into a dependency on alcohol.

So the house was very dark, Mitch.

It was a very dark house.

Um, so I said, "You know what? Bunny, uh, Bunny and George Wilson, who raised me, they didn't have any friends in Hamilton." She mentioned her grandmother, Mary Brennan, and I remembered her grandmother's name from when I was five years old, Mitch.

I've been eating a lot of steak lately and I'll do Thai food, like just the chicken and some peanut sauce and the sweet Thai chili.

super good i'll do my five eggs a day and then what else i do do my pumpkin seeds it's good for your testosterone and what else just uh and then i get my fruit and that's it i keep i eat pretty simple eat pretty simple and i'm i guess it keeps my 12 body fat or whatever but um uh yeah anyhow you do what you got to do all right well everyone uh let's see adios be well take care thank you colin james Dennis, Patricia, farewell.

All right, I'm signing off.

I'm looking at comments.

written one.

Willie Nelson has And a little closer to home, Colin James.

Those might be good.

In the world of showbiz, you have some of the real kind of like classic Hollywood people like Dustin Hoffman, Michael Douglas, Judi Dench, Kyle MacLachlan.

I mean, I've been very fortunate to play some pretty incredible venues with pretty incredible musicians.

uh honestly uh you know what okay yes one sticks out a couple summers ago uh in 2024 i was touring with colin james and it was colin's 60th birthday and we performed a show with burton cummings in vancouver which is colin's hometown and burton cummings from the guests who's pretty big deal as well in canada and uh I had my wife and daughter with me, and we were playing in a hockey arena called the Pacific Coliseum, and there was about 10,000 people.

It was one of those almost perfect nights where the crowd was so incredible and the band was on fire.

And I had this moment of total awe looking around at this massive crowd in this beautiful arena.

You know him well if you're a regular listener to this show.

His name is Colin James.

His excellent version of Bob Dylan's classic, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.

Originally released by Dylan in '65 for his famous album, Highway 61 Revisited.

And that bluesy set started with the Massachusetts maestro Albert Cummings, his 2020 album Believe, tune called It's All Good.

Glad you're with me on the Chris Pryor Show tonight here on MC 90.3 FM in Plettenberg Bay and Knysna 97.0 FM.

We return to Colin James, this time in blues mode.

[singing] When you squeeze me, babe, you make me holler wo, wo, wo.