Business News Book Reviews


Chamberlink previews two new books with strong links to Birmingham. Jim Simpson, of Birmingham Jazz Festival, and John Lamb, editor of Chamberlink, look back at their careers.


Don’t Worry ’Bout The Bear By Jim Simpson with Ron Simpson


Whenever you meet Jim Simpson he always has a story to tell. So we should all be grateful that he has compiled a book to put several of those tales on the record. Don’t Worry ’Bout The Bear is


just out and the reader should not worry either because he explains the title, which might not be obvious to non-jazz buffs. Don’t Worry ’Bout The Bear is a


song written, performed and recorded by Doctor Ross in Jim’s Big Bear album ‘Doctor Ross, the Harmonica Boss’. It’s a bit difficult to pin down the meaning of the title, but who cares? Big Bear is Jim’s Birmingham


record company and is probably the longest established independent record company in the UK. It has been at the forefront of jazz, swing and blues since 1968 with over 100 album releases in that time.


Jim is also the stalwart of the Birmingham, Sandwell and West Side Jazz Festival, which he has run for over 35 years. The book will be treasured by all


music fans, especially those jazz, blues and rock buffs who live in the Midlands. But it is really of global appeal when you consider the characters who feature in it, including Humphrey Lyttelton, Art Blakey, BB King, Kenny Baker, Chris Barber, Count Basie, Georgie Fame, Miles Davis – I could go on and on. Just about every musician worth


his or her salt is here, and of course the book also features the Birmingham music scene and the people who made it great. Jim is the man who took Black


Sabbath from obscurity to chart- topping success. But there is much more to this 352-page tome laced with stories culled from Jim’s


Don’t Worry ’Bout The Bear (ISBN: 978-1-85858-700-4, price £17.95) is published by Brewin Books and is available in bookshops and online


encyclopaedic memory. He has met just about everyone who matters in the music business. The stars who figure in it amount


to a comprehensive record of a global music scene that was privileged to be captured in words


and pictures by Jim Simpson, also a renowned trumpeter. As a musician, bandleader, promoter, record producer, festival director, manager, journalist and photographer, Don’t worry ‘Bout The Bear is fitting record of a Birmingham legend.


32 CHAMBERLINK September 2019


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