Soul Singer J. Blackfoot Dies of Cancer at 65
J. Blackfoot, the soulful R&B artist who helped form the music group The Soul Children, has succumbed to cancer, dying at age 65 last Wednesday.
Blackfoot, whose real name is John Colbert, had a career spanning the R&B circuit over two decades, but his blues-soul style was cut short by a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer.
Colbert, known by many simply as “Jay,” started his career through an unlikely circumstance - prison.
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Locked up in a Nashville penitentiary in 1965, Blackfoot met Johnny Bragg, the inmate who formed the Prisonaires, and was inspired to sing.
Once Colbert was released, he hit the ground running, singing in every street corner band, bar, and small-time gig he could get.
His perseverance paid off when David Porter of Stax Studios heard his voice in 1967. The songwriter knew even then that Colbert had huge potential as a singer.
"When I first heard him, there was naturalness in his phrasing, in his charm, that was unique,” Porter told TheCommercialAppeal.com. “He always stayed true to that."
Porter moved quickly, replacing the late Otis Redding with Blackfoot in the Bar-Kays. Colbert toured with the group, performing some of the band’s material, but never recorded any original music of his own.
Colbert would get his big break when the Bar-Kays left Stax, and he built his own group, The Soul Children, with Anita Lewis, Norman West and Shelbra Bennett. Together, they would record 15 chart hits over seven albums during the late 1960s and 1970s.
By 1979, The Soul Children had broken up, but Colbert would find success on his own as well. Over the next decade, songs like “Taxi” and “Tear Jerker” became hits, helping shape the sound of the generation.
In 2007, Colbert reunited The Soul Children to make new music. The dedicated artist was planning more performances up to his death.
"He was a person who was at home on stage… He was a tremendous talent; he had a signature all his own. When you would hear him, you would know it was him instantly." Porter said.
Colbert got the nickname “J. Blackfoot” from the summer days spent in Memphis walking the tar-covered streets. He is survived by four daughters, two sons and 16 grandchildren.
