James Ingram ‘Thought It Was A Joke’ When Quincy Jones Called Him
James Ingram visits Pat & Kim
Very few artists can say they were given their big break by being discovered and called up by a legendary producer like Quincy Jones, but singer James Ingram owes his entire career to a cheap $50 demo that caught the attention of Jones.
At the time he recorded his demo of “Just Once” for a publishing company, James didn’t think anything would come of it, but then one day he got the call from Quincy and the rest is history. Now James is singing his classics around the world and filling up hotspots like his upcoming concert Hollywood Bowl with none other than Gladys Knight.
James stopped in this morning to share stories from his humble beginnings to becoming a full-fledged icon that still continues to memorize with his hits to this day.
” James Ingram
James Ingram is gearing up to play one of L.A.’s biggest and most beloved venues in the city at the Hollywood Bowl next Wednesday, July 27th and will share the stage with the “Empress of Soul” Gladys Knight.
But his start in the music industry wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t record a simple $50 demo of what would become one of his biggest hits. He submitted his demo of “Just Once” to the publishing house he was part of, and it was passed on to the right man in the business, Mr. Quincy Jones.
James recalled the moment he got the life changing phone call from Quincy himself, which he thought was a joke at the time. After his wife answered the unexpected phone call from Quincy and passed it on to James, he was asked if he wanted to sing on Quincy’s new album.
“He said ‘I wanna know if you would come sing it on my album,’ I said ‘ are you serious?’ I thought it was a joke,” recalls James.
After that history-making phone call, James went on to incredible music career that continues to be as strong and lively since the beginning. As a seasoned vet in the business, there’s not much James hasn’t accomplished in his career, but he’s still just as ambitious to make records that are close to his heart.
When asked what he wants to cross off his bucket list, James answered “just want to be able to make records, so when you leave, you have a part of whatever your whole mind, your body and your soul is about. And so I love recording, but I would not put something out that wasn’t done to match up to what Quincy started me with.”
You can catch James with Gladys Knight on their shared performance night at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday, July 28th. For more information and tickets to the show, click here. Listen below to the entire fascinating interview with James Ingram on Pat & Kim!
R.G.
July 24, 2011 5:17 pm
Yes and speaking as a relative, as a young boy I remember traveling on the highway on a long trip going to see my grandparents in the south. My mom was soooo excited to hear cousin James on the radio. Her excitement of being overjoyed woke me up. The song was “Find 100 Ways”! I was wondering why she was excited. She explained to me that the man singing the song was our cousin. She was so proud and could not believe “who” she was hearing and that James had finally “so called” made it into the music industry. He had always told her that he was going to make it in the music business. I was excited to know that somebody I was kinned to was on the radio. I mean not to take anything from my dad who has been on the radio as a disc jockey and spinned records at the club…but to know that you had a relative who had a hit on his hand. Number one at that! Anyways after hearing this song for about the 20th time I became very agitated and asked my mom, “Find the quickest way” to get to granny’s house! lol Congratulations James! ~Roy
Linda Mansfield
August 14, 2011 2:58 pm
I love your story – made me smile! I’ve been a fan of your cousin for close on 30 years – lucky you having such a soulful cousin ! Please tell him we’d like to see him in France or England soon!