Artist: Jim Byrnes, Album: Burning, Song: You Don't Know

Jim Byrnes is a blues musician originally from St.Louis, Missouri.  He grew up singing in church choirs, acting in summer theatre and visiting soul clubs at night.  He moved to Canada in 1969 and settled in Vancouver by the early seventies.  He lost both of his legs when a car slammed into his body as he was helping to push a stalled truck.  Jim would eventually find his way back to music following this horrific setback and began touring as well as working in film and television.  In 1981, he released his debut album, Burning, on Polydor Records.  The album was a mix of r&b covers as well as some self-penned originals which garnered him the Juno nomination for Most Promising Male Vocalist.  He lost out that year to singer, Eddie Schwartz (see blog 2/22/11).  However, he just recently won the Juno for Best Blues Album in 2011.  You Don't Know, is the album opener and honestly sounds like a long lost Stax classic.  Coincidentally, the song was written by the late Isaac Hayes and David Porter.  Jim does a great job on this song and you can check it out on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQPhFcI7b74).  Jim would go on to sign with Stony Plain Records and more recently, Black Hen Music.  He has released 8 albums to date, has appeared in numerous film and television roles and has won three Junos.  You can follow him at http://www.jamestbyrnes.com/.  This particular release was remastered and re-released as a two album set during the late eighties by Stony Plain Records and is currently available for download on Itunes.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!