Jimmy Castor

• Name — Jimmy Castor • Birth Name — James Walter Castor • Alias — E-MAN, The Everything Man, The Jimmy Castor Bunch • Born — 23 June 1940 • Birthplace — Manhattan, New York, U.S. • Died — 16 January 2012 • Place of death — Henderson, Nevada, U.S. • Genre — * Soul • R&B • funk • Instrument — * Vocals • saxophone • percussion • Associated Acts — The Teenagers The Jimmy Castor Bunch

He was born in Manhattan, New York, United States. He started a group called Jimmy and the Juniors, who in 1956 recorded the original version of "I Promise to Remember", which according to Castor Mercury Records did not want to promote. George Goldner had the famous doo-wop group The Teenagers record it and it became their third hit single. Later, Castor was asked to join the Teenagers. In late 1966, he released "Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You". As a solo artist and leader of The Jimmy Castor Bunch (TJCB) in the 1970s, Castor released several successful albums and singles. TJCB hit their commercial peak in 1972 upon the release of their album It's Just Begun, which featured two hit singles: the title track and "Troglodyte (Cave Man)", the latter of which became quite popular in the US, hitting #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 (from Procol Harum), on a tune inspired by J.S.Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 BWV1068 in his "Air on the G string". Afrika Bambaataa said that "It's Just Begun" was very popular at South Bronx block 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 Douglas Gibson, guitarist Harry Jensen, guitarist / sitarist Jeffrey Grimes, conga and triangle player Lenny Fridie, Jr., and drummers Elwood Henderson, Jr., and Bobby Manigault. Thomas also recorded with the Fatback Band, leaving TJCB in the 1980s to exclusively record with them.

Castor's son, J-Cast, chose his stage name by using letters from Jimmy "J" and Castor "Cast". J-Cast released an album, J-Cast for President, on June 24, 2009, which was popular in Japan. Jimmy had three other children: April, Jimmy Jr., and Sheli, and ten grandchildren.

• Year — Album — Chart positions — Label • US Pop — US R&B — CAN • 1967 — Hey Leroy — – — – — – — Smash • 1972 — It's Just Begun — 27 — 11 — 21 — RCA • Phase 2 — 192 — – — – • 1973 — Dimension 3 — – — 49 — – • 1974 — The Jimmy Castor Bunch featuring the Everything Man — – — – — – — Atlantic • 1975 — Butt of Course... — 74 — 34 — – • Supersound — – — 30 — – • 1976 — E-Man Groovin — 132 — 29 — – • 1977 — Maximum Stimulation — – — – — – • 1978 — Let It Out — – — – — – — Drive/TK Records • 1979 — The Jimmy Castor Bunch — – — – — – — Cotillion/Atlantic • 1980 — C — – — – — – — Long Distance • 1983 — The Return of Leroy — – — – — – — Dream • 1995 — The Everything Man–The Best of the Jimmy Castor Bunch — – — – — – — Rhino • "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Note: All credited to The Jimmy Castor Bunch unless otherwise stated. • Year — Single — Chart positions • US Pop — US R&B — AUS — CAN • | 1966 — "Hey, Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You" Jimmy Castor — 31 — 16 — – — 36 • 1972 — "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" — 6 — 4 — 13 — 1 • "Luther the Anthropoid (Ape Man)" — 105 — – — – — – • | 1973 — "A Whiter Shade of Pale" — – — – — – — – • 1975 — "Soul Serenade" — – — 72 — – — – • "The Bertha Butt Boogie (pt.1)" — 16 — 22 — – — 30 • "Potential" — – — 25 — – — – • "King Kong – Part 1" — 69 — 23 — – — – • 1976 — "Supersound" — – — 42 — – — – • "Bom Bom" — – — 97 — – — – • "Everything Is Beautiful to Me" — – — 67 — – — – • 1977 — "Space Age" — 101 — 28 — – — – • "I Love a Mellow Groove" — 108 — – — – — – • | 1978 — "Maximum Stimulation" — – — 82 — – — – • | 1979 — "Don't Do That!" — – — 50 — – — – • | 1980 — "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" Jimmy Castor — – — 93 — – — – • | 1984 — "Amazon" Jimmy Castor — – — 84 — – — – • | 1985 — "It Gets to Me" Jimmy Castor — – — 81 — – — – • | 1988 — "Love Makes a Woman" Joyce Sims feat. Jimmy Castor — – — 29 — – — – • "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.