- Born: May 03, 1914, Indianapolis, IN
- Died: 1998
- Genres: Rock
Biography
James Nyx Jr.'s name is credited on hit songs like "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)," the Originals' "We Can Make It Baby," "Just to Keep You Satisfied," and others. Rappers and punk rockers such as Coolio, DOC, Dead Brain Cells, Mr. Scarface, Trends of Culture, Spice 1, and Ice Cube have adapted many of Nyx's songs.Born May 3, 1914, in Indianapolis, IN, he moved to Detroit as a young man, married his first wife, Marie, and had six kids: Myrna, Melvin, James Jr., Reginald (deceased), Lenny, and Debra. He later remarried a woman named Catherine and had two additional children: Carmen and Carlton.
He got a toehold in music working for Harvey Fuqua and Gwen Gordy-Fuqua at the couple's Tri-Phi/Harvey Records as a janitor/handyman. He always wrote lyrics and bragged to family that he would be a big songwriter one day. The family never saw any improvement in the quality of their lives and soon dismissed his braggadocio as rambling mumbo-jumbo. He ran his lyrics and ideals past Harvey Fuqua, who collaborated with him on "What Can You Do Now," which he recorded with Ann Bogan as Harvey and Ann on Harvey in April 1963. He wrote others with Fuqua during this time, but "What Do You Choose," "Miracle Happened," and "Dear Parents" are still collecting dust in the vault.
When Motown purchased Harvey and Gwen Fuqua's labels in 1963, Nyx came along, working first as a janitor, then as an elevator operator when the company moved to an office building in downtown Detroit. He also signed to Jobete Music as a songwriter. Nyx, who had divorced and remarried, lived close by at a public housing project near downtown Detroit. He continued shopping lyrics and was hell-bent on getting Marvin Gaye to record his material. Gaye did, but most of the early stuff was shelved; the collaborations usually consisted of Nyx, Gaye, Fuqua, and guitarist James White.
Tammi Terrell's death disheartened Gaye; he thus took a three-year hiatus from recording but produced others, namely the Originals. Songs pegged for Gaye came out as the Originals,' including "We Can Make It Baby" (July 1970), a Nyx and Gaye composition. It was the fast-talking songwriter's first hit and the last single Gaye did for the Originals.
Nyx struck gold the following year when Berry Gordy relented and released Gaye's What's Going On album. He wrote "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" with Gaye, which went to number nine on the pop charts, as well as "What's Happening Brother" and "God Is Love" with Marvin and Anna Gaye, and Elgie Stover -- three cuts on a milestone album like What's Going On is akin to winning the lottery.
When Motown booked to Los Angeles, Nyx, who loved Detroit, stayed behind. His "Just to Keep You Satisfied" appeared on Gaye's Let's Get It On album. The song has proven quite resilient, with cuts by Lisa Stansfield, Randy Crawford, and Nancy Wilson. But "Inner City Blues" has been his most lucrative and recorded song.
He didn't write a lot of songs (around 35 published), but gets good mileage from the ones he did. After Motown left, he wrote at least seven songs for a Detroit company named KellGriff Music in collaboration with others. All of these songs except one are credited to his second wife, Catherine, but family members insist that Nyx wrote the songs and simply put her name on them.
In his later years, he became sickly and lived first with his oldest daughter, Myrna, than his youngest, Carmen. The biggest royalty check he ever received came shortly before he expired in the winter of 1998. No obituary was put in the papers, so the ceremony was sparsely attended. Never close to his sons, according to James Nyx III, his will bequeaths all songwriting royalties to his daughters and nothing to his "hard legs," as he called his sons. Both his wives preceded him in death. ~ Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide
