Jimmy Liggins (October 14, 1922 – July 18, 1983) was an American R&B guitarist and bandleader.
Liggins was born in Newby, Oklahoma, United States. He started out as a professional boxer at age 18 under the name of Kid Zulu, then he quit boxing and took up driving his brother Joe's outfit around on tour. Following the success of his brother, Jimmy Liggins started his own recording career as a singer, guitarist, and leader of the 'Drops of Joy', on Art Rupe's Specialty label in 1947. One of his early releases, "Cadillac Boogie" was a direct forerunner of "Rocket 88", itself often called the first rock and roll record.
Recordings such as "Tear Drop Blues" (1948) and, later, "I Ain't Drunk" (1953), featuring leading saxophone players such as Maxwell Davis, made him one of the most successful bandleaders in the jump blues period of the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Liggins left Specialty in 1954, recording "I Ain't Drunk" (1954), later covered by Albert Collins, at Aladdin, before fading from the scene. His wild stage presence and manic delivery also had a direct and lasting impact on Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley.
Liggins died in July 1983, at the age of 60, in Durham, North Carolina.
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