User:MizzGabrielleNicole/sandbox/Jime James Hockaday

Jime James Hockaday Musician and Songwriter

Jime James Hockaday began playing music at the age of 7 years old on trash cans as a drummer in the neighborhood of South East Washington, D.C. with the likes of Billy Steward, Chuck Brown, Peaches N Herb and Mark Green of the Moments. While they sang on the street corners in the dark with street lights Jime Hockaday played the trash cans. All though Jime’s father was a guitar player, sax player, bass man Jime was not allowed to play his dad’s instruments. His dad, Joe Hockaday, was one of the biggest musicians in the D.C area playing with big named artists and leading his own band called Joe Hockaday D.C. Band in establishments located in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. When his father would go play at various jobs in the evening Jime would sneak his father’s instruments out from the closet and teach himself to play the guitar, bass, sax, and piano. After his father discovered that Jime could play he had to accompany him and play the bass. This is how Jime began to study how music was played by the book, on stage by ear and reading music scores, charts, progressions, chord movements. At fourteen years of age, Jime played bass with his father and older musicians in military establishments who called him “Little Jime-Joe” because he always seemed to know where the music would go! He played with everybody in Washington, D.C. who was anybody because of his father who was himself an extraordinary guitar player. In 1967 Jime joined the United States Navy where he lived in a ship named “The Destroyer” 714. It was during this time that founded a band of Sailors called the William R. Rush band.

Jime lead the band while they played at every shipping port of call and docking all around the world but mainly in the Caribbean Sea and the Bermuda Triangle. Upon the death of his sister, Peggy, in Washington D.C. Jime received an early release from the Navy. He met Al Johnson on 7th and F Streets in Washington, D.C. and the duo joined up to form the Unifics along with his buddy and music partner, guitar genius Leron Young and wrote and performed “The Court of Love” and “The Beginning of my End”. He was motivated by Joe Hockaday, Junior and Chuck Brown (of “Bustin’ Loose” and “Bump It”) fame, who both coached him musically in Club Music at the Diamond Jim in at 14th and T in Washington, D.C. His vocal coaches were Mark Green Singers, William Hart (Delfonics), Clarence Burke (lead singer of the 5 Stair Steps); Cuba Gooding (The Main Ingredient); his brother, Glen Hockaday and Marvin Gaye (You Gotta Earn It). Later he went on the road playing in top venues such as the Apollo Theater and Madison Square Garden with James Brown, and Tyrone Davis and the Unifics in New York and The Uptown Theater in Philadelphia where he met Peaches & Herb at Cobo Hall in Detroit after their childhood from departure from their employer the Bureau of Engraving in Washington, D.C. He also played with Michael Jackson.

Jime coached Heatwave (Johnny Keith Wilder) inspired them to leave their jazz roots to write “Get Up” and “Boogie Nights” as well as to hone their R&B style. Jime then went on to perform in venues around the world including Italy, Iceland Spain, Rome, Germany, Greece, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, North Africa, Crete Islands as well in the U.S.A. from New York to Hollywood, Atlanta and more. Jime wrote songs and played with Natalie Cole; The Persuaders; Cuba B. Gooding, Senior; The Fuzz (I Love You For All Seasons) with Sheila Young; The Presidents (5-10-15-20 and more); Rufus Thomas N Carla Thomas; Eddie Floyd (Knock On Wood); Denise LaSalle; New Birth (Wyld Fyre); Marvin Gaye (You Gotta Earn It and others) and many other well known artists. Amongst the artists that Jime has worked with are William Hart and Wilbert Hart of the Delfonics; Kool and the Gang; Robert Bell; 5 Stair Steps with Clarence Burke; Junior Walker and the All Stars; The Temptations with Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin as well as Gerald Austin of The Manhattans and Heatwave; Johnny Wilder of Mutiny; George Clinton and Jerome Brailey of Parliament; Bootsy Collins and Philadelphia’s own Billy Paul. In 2014 Jime was designated one of Washington’s Washington D.C.’s best bass players by Legendary Musicians founder and Sandra But;er-Truesdale, Chairperson of the DC Legendary Musicians, Inc.