Born into a family of Mississippi sharecroppers, Primer grew up imbued with a strong work ethic from his forebears and in a farming community that was deeply involved in the blues tradition, singing work songs in the field during the week and spirituals in church on Sundays. Living on the Mansell Plantation in rural Madison County, he lived in a shack with no running water and a leaking roof with his large, extended family. He shared a bed with cousins, and lost his father at age 22 after a truck accident when he was four years old.[4]
He fell in love with the blues in infancy when his father and an elder cousin played guitar and sang at night after a hard day in the fields. His mother subsequently moved to Chicago in order to secure a job and support her family. She promised to bring John and his sister to the big city when they reached age 18, leaving them with family. Depressed and lonely, young Primer frequently went into the neighboring woods, where he cried his troubles away and began singing the blues in solitude. He eventually built himself a diddley bow on the side of his grandmother's house out of broom wire, two nails and a brick and began accompanying himself as he sang, eventually playing for dimes and quarters in his schoolyard. After listening Jimmy Reed, Little Milton, B.B. King, Albert King and Muddy Waters on his grandmother's record player, his biggest dream was to play alongside Muddy Waters one day.[4][5]
Early years in Chicago
Setting his sights on his dream and with a Harmony guitar in hand, Primer relocated to Chicago in 1963 when he reached 18, just as his mother had promised. He eventually started learning his trade by playing for tips at the legendary Maxwell Street market alongside blues superstars and raw beginners like himself.[6] He eventually landed his first regular gig, joining with Pat Rushing—one of the most iconic performers in the neighborhood—to form The Maintainers and play on Sundays. The band eventually started booking gigs in small bars and clubs on the city's West Side, most prominently The Bow Tie, Lover's Lounge and The Place. In 1968, he left Rushing to join the soul/R&B group, The Brotherhood Band, where he served as front man and began developing the unique singing style he is known for today.[4][7]
Sideman with the greats
In 1974, he started playing seven nights a week as a member of the house band at Theresa's, the South Side club, learning how to play slide guitar from bandmate and former Muddy sidemanSammy Lawhorn and backing harmonica player Junior Wells, who regularly fronted the unit when off the road, as well as Magic Sam, James Cotton, Magic Slim and others. After seeing him in action at Theresa's, Willie Dixon invited Primer to join his Chicago Blues All-Stars in 1979, touring with him internationally for a year, during which he honed his skills as a slide guitarist, vocalist and songwriter.[4]
Primer's childhood dream came true in 1980, when Muddy Waters formed a new band after the departure of his old unit, which rebranded themselves as the Legendary Blues Band. In addition to serving as Waters' guitarist, he immediately assumed responsibilities as Muddy's bandleader and opening act. Primer held the position until Waters' passing in 1983, during which he received additional training on the six-string and Muddy instilled in him the importance of maintaining the old-school blues tradition.[8] His lengthy recording career as a sideman began as a member of the Waters band in 1980 with Blues Deluxe, a compilation recorded live by radio station WXRT-FM at Navy Pier.[9] He recorded with Muddy and the Rolling Stones at Buddy Guy's Checkerboard Lounge in 1981, a concert that was eventually released as an award-winning DVD.[10] He began sitting in at jams at the Checkerboard in that era, eventually spent two decades as the band leader for Monday night jams, where he began passing on his skills to a younger group of musicians. He maintained the position until 2001, when the original nightclub closed its doors for the final time.[4]
Following Waters' death, Primer also joined Magic Slim's band, The Teardrops, eventually becoming its band leader and teaming on rhythm guitar with Slim's bassist brother, Nick Holt, to create what became as known as the "lump de lump" cadence pattern that became dominant in the Chicago blues sound. During the 13 years Primer spent at Slim's side, the band won contemporary album of the year honors in the Blues Music Awards on three occasions and received two nominations as band of the year.[4][11]
Solo career
Primer made his recording debut as front man with Poor Man's Blues for Wolf Records, the Austria-based label that was also Magic Slim's longtime home. Stuff You Got to Watch on Earwig Records followed in 1991 with a lineup that included Holt on bass and Mervyn "Harmonica" Hinds on harmonica[12] and The Real Deal on Code Blue/Atlantic four years later with backing from harp player Billy Branch, bassist Johnny B. Gayden and keyboard player David Maxwell, among others.[13] The CD earned him a 1997 W.C. Handy Award nomination for traditional album of the year. He has subsequently enjoyed an enduring relationship with Wolf Records as well as his own Blues House Productions imprint, which was founded in 2008. One of the most honored blues artists of his generation, he is a 2017 inductee into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame, a lifetime achievement award nominee from the Mississippi Valley Blues Society and the Pennsylvania Blues Society. His musicianship and recordings have earned two Grammy Award nominations and dozens of awards and nominations from Blues Music Awards, Blues Blast Music Awards and Living Blues magazine.[4][14][15]
