Skip James 1920s and 1930s What did James accomplish in the 20s and 30s? In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Did he get the part he was auditioning for? His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician. How many people followed his way of doing blues? As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music - blues, spirituals, cover versions and original compositions - frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. How was this received by audiences? "). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Did he receive any awards? I don't know. Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result,
Did the sales eventually pick up?
Did Skip James' record sales eventually pick up?
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.  As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music - blues, spirituals, cover versions and original compositions - frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.  The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown. CANNOTANSWER
he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church.
Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.

His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during  the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity.

After a long absence from the public eye, James was rediscovered in 1964 by blues enthusiasts including John Fahey, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country, and recorded several albums for various record labels. His songs have influenced generations of musicians and have been adapted by numerous artists.  He has been hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues."

Biography

Early years
James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a preacher. As a youth, James heard local musicians, such as Henry Stuckey, from whom he learned to play the guitar, and the brothers Charlie and Jesse Sims. James began playing the organ in his teens. He worked on road construction and levee-building crews in Mississippi in the early 1920s and wrote what is perhaps his earliest song, "Illinois Blues", about his experiences as a laborer. He began playing the guitar in open D-minor tuning.

1920s and 1930s
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.

As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music – blues, spirituals, cover versions, and original compositions – frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.

The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown.

Rediscovery and legacy 
For the next thirty years, James made no known recordings and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to the general public until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964, James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. James subsequently recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death from cancer in 1969.

More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians.  However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with $10,000 in royalties, the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups.  James' "22-20" inspired the name of the English group 22-20s. The British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart.  Only 15 copies of James' original shellac 78 recordings are still in existence, and have become extremely sought after by collectors such as John Tefteller.

In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary.  James' song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and included on the soundtrack album.

James was the inspiration for Dion's 2007 blues album, Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4.

James was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bentonia, his hometown.

In 2020, James' song "Devil Got My Woman" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Personality
James was described as aloof and moody. The musicologist Dick Spottswood commented, "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment".

Musical style

James as guitarist
James often played guitar with an open D-minor tuning (D–A–D–F–A–D), resulting in the "deep" sound of the 1931 recordings. He reportedly learned this tuning from his musical mentor, the unrecorded bluesman Henry Stuckey, who in turn was said to have acquired it from Bahamian soldiers during the First World War, despite the fact that his service card shows he did not serve overseas. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James's "Devil Got My Woman." James's classically informed fingerpicking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar, with heavy, hypnotic bass lines. His style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont blues of the East Coast than with the Delta blues of his native Mississippi.

The "Bentonia School"
James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it. In a 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, Stephen Calt maintained that no style of blues originated in Bentonia and that the "Bentonia School" is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provinciality of Mississippi during the early 20th century, when railways linked small towns. Calt asserts these writers failed to see that in the case of Bentonia bluesman Jack Owens, "the 'tradition' he bore primarily consisted of musical scraps from James' table". Owens and other musicians who may have been contemporaries of James were not recorded until the revival of interest in blues music in the 1960s. Whether the work of these musicians constituted a "school", and whether James originated it or was a member of it himself, remain open questions. One of the last living links to the original Bentonia school is Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, the owner of the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. Holmes learned to play in this particular style directly from Henry Stuckey, who reportedly taught James and Owens himself. Accordingly, Duck is called the "last of the Bentonia Bluesmen."

Discography

Paramount 78-RPM records, 1931

Later recordings, 1964–1969
Despite poor health, James recorded several LPs from 1964 to 1969, mostly revisiting his 1931 sides, traditional music, and spirituals, but also including a handful of newly written blues meditating on his illness and convalescence. These five prolific years have not been thoroughly documented: recordings, outtakes, and interviews not released on James's LPs (which have been repeatedly cannibalized and reissued) are scattered among many compilations released by small labels. Previously unreleased performances continue to be found and released but have been left largely unexplained, sometimes hours' worth at a time. Original recordings and reissues are listed below.
Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers (Melodeon, Biograph, 1964)
She Lyin' (Adelphi, 1964; first released by Genes, 1996)
Today! (Vanguard, 1966)
Devil Got My Woman (Vanguard, 1968)
I'm So Glad (Vanguard, 1978)
Live: Boston, 1964 & Philadelphia, 1966 (Document, 1994)
Skip's Piano Blues, 1964 (Genes, 1998)
Blues from the Delta, with two previously unreleased recordings (Vanguard, 1998)
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James – 1930 (Yazoo, 1994)
The Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968 (Document, 1999)
Skip's Guitar Blues, 1964(?), (Genes, 1999)
Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased, 1967 (Vanguard, 2003)
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Biograph, 2003†)
Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Skip James (Shout!, 2003)
Hard Time (Universe, 2003†)
Cypress Grove Blues (2004)
 Hard Time Killin' Floor (Yazoo 2075, 2005)

References

External links
 Interview with Skip James' surviving cousin

1902 births
1969 deaths
People from Bentonia, Mississippi
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Country blues singers
Songwriters from Mississippi
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Blues revival musicians
Country blues musicians
Delta blues musicians
Vanguard Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Paramount Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American pianists
Guitarists from Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail
African-American male songwriters
African-American pianists
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American male singers
The 2020–21 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 51st season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They did not make it to the playoffs for the 3rd time in the row.

Draft

Before the start of the 2020 NBA draft period, the Cavaliers' selection was originally held as the #3 selection due to them finishing their previous season with the third worst record in the NBA (only ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors) before the NBA suspended their season on March 12 and eventually cancelled Cleveland's season on June 5. Like Minnesota and Golden State, Cleveland held the best odds to jump up to the #1 pick in the 2020 NBA draft lottery, though the Cavaliers could have fallen as low as the #6 pick. However, unlike Minnesota and Golden State, Cleveland did not stay in the top 3; their first-round pick instead dropped down to the fifth selection of the draft. The Cavaliers didn't have a second round selection.

Trades
On January 13, 2021, the Cavaliers were part of a blockbuster four team trade.  As part of the deal which was headlined by James Harden going to the Brooklyn Nets, the Cavs received center Jarrett Allen and forward Taurean Prince from Brooklyn, while sending guard Dante Exum and a 2022 first round draft pick to the Houston Rockets.

On January 22, 2021, the Cavaliers traded disgruntled small forward Kevin Porter Jr. to the Rockets for a highly-protected future second-round pick.

Roster

Standings

Division

Conference

Notes
 z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
 c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
 y – Clinched division title
 x – Clinched playoff spot
 pb – Clinched play-in spot
 o – Eliminated from playoff contention
 * – Division leader

Transactions

Trades

Free agency

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions

Notes

References

Cleveland Cavaliers seasons
Cleveland
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers Hebei Zhongxing Automobile Co Ltd, branded as ZX Auto, is a Chinese producer of SUVs and pick-up trucks. Co-owned by Tianye Automobile Group Co Ltd and Taiwan Unite Leading Co, it was established in 1999 and exports to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. The company claims a per year production capacity of 110,000 units – a figure that could conflate engines and whole vehicles.

History
In the latter half of the 2000s, the company sought access to the US market with the help of US company Capital Corp, and it participated in the 2007 National Automobile Dealers Association convention. While US sales were touted as late as 2008, the company has yet to sell its models in developed countries. Products are available in some EU member states, however.

During the Libyan civil war, only 6 ZX Auto Grand Tiger pick-up trucks found their way into rebel hands and were turned into technicals replete with mounted guns. As the conflict progressed, pro-Qaddafi forces also began using pick-ups after NATO aerial bombing raids disabled their armoured vehicles. Some of the ZX Auto Grand Tiger pickups used in this civil war may have been branded as Tayo Auto Grandhiland. When fighting commenced in 2011, there were at least 15,000 ZX Auto pick-ups already in the country.

Some sales are to Chinese state organizations.

, the company removed a reference to co-ownership by Taiwan Unite Leading Co and Hebei Tianye Automobile Group Co Ltd from its website. Website modifications also included changing the year of the company's formation from 1999 to 1949 although 1999 remained referenced as the year ZX Auto was "transformed into a joint venture company."

Production bases and facilities

ZX Auto has two vehicle factories and a R&D center. While one factory and the R&D center are likely located in Baoding, Hebei, where the company is based, the second factory may be in Changchun as ZX Auto has part-ownership of a production base in this city with Changling Group Co Ltd. In late 2010, it started construction of a new plant in Yichang, Hubei, that will build SUVs and sedans. As of late 2014, the company does reference a Baoding production base on its website claiming a production capacity of 50,000 units.

Some of its products are assembled in small, overseas factories from knock-down kits, and ZX Auto states that the majority of its exports are in the form of these kits. The companies that own these factories and do the final assembly are not necessarily affiliated with ZX Auto. Such assembly has commenced in Egypt, Iran, and Jordan, where a 5,000 unit/year factory was under construction as of 2008. As of 2011, the company hopes new knock-down factories will spring up in Mexico and Malaysia. In Poland, a pick-up, the Grand Tiger, is produced and sold by Polish company POL-MOT Warfama. Probably assembled from knock-down kits, Polish models sport an engine that complies with EU regulations.

Models

ZX Admiral SUV and pick-up
ZX Chanling () pick-up (discontinued)
ZX Grand Tiger () pick-up
ZX Weihu () pick-up
ZX Terralord () pick-up 
ZX G9 pick-up
ZX C3 Urban Ark CUV/ ZX Cross Van
ZX Landmark SUV

See also
List of automobile manufacturers of China

References

External links

Official website
Polish producer page
Malaysian reseller website

Car manufacturers of China
Companies based in Baoding
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1999
Chinese brands
Truck manufacturers of China
Chinese companies established in 1999