Jimmy Jam And Terry Lewis Research Paper

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PRODUCER
JIMMY JAM & TERRY LEWIS

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Don Morris
Studio Recording

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Jimmy Jam And Terry Lewis: Pioneers of Modern R&B
If "New Jack Swing" , "Soul", or "R&B" had parents, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are shining examples of what make a happy home. For decades the world has been influenced by the creations of these two men. They have not only shaped their artist into stars, they shaped the genre as a whole.
James " Jimmy Jam" Harris and Terry Lewis are both native Minnesotans who met in high school at a college program at the U of M. Shortly after they formed a band called
Flyte Tyme.
In the early 80 's, the band renamed itself The Time after incorporating Morris Day
into the group.
The group 's early albums shaped what we know as R&B and created the
" new jack swing" style of music. The band was created due to a cause in Prince 's contract with Warner Brothers. The clause allow Prince to recruit and produce acts for the label.
In interviews with the duo, they stated that the creation of The Time is when everything started. During this early time with The Time is when they learned to mesh their two worlds of productions and musical styles into what it is today. They both had been very musical growing up so this is also when they honed a lot of their production techniques. A hot producer of the early 80 's was a man by the name of Leon Sylvers, the duo states they received skills and got their production chops by watching him produce tracks. Jimmy Jam said, "Between Leon and Prince-we got great studio tutelage." PRODUCER PAPER

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After working with The Time, the duo went on to produce songs for the SOS Band and Alexander O 'Neal. In 1986 Jam and Lewis started producing, the actress, Janet
Jackson 's first album and won them their first Grammy award. They also had great success on Janet 's second album Rhythm Nation 1814.
Jam and Lewis have accumulated 16 No. 1 pop hits and 25 No.1 R&B hits in their career. They have won 4 Grammies and have had 8 nominations over the past 3 decades. The duo was inducted into the SoulMusic Hall of Fame in 2012 and has 3 consecutive decades of number 1 records produced and hundreds of platinum albums under their belt.
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are pioneers of a genre, creators of the "Minnesota
Sound", and amazing producers. Without their musical influence I believe not only R&B wouldn 't be the same, but hip hop, pop, funk wouldn 't have the same flair.

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Works Cited
Flyte Tyme. Flyte Tyme. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013.

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"Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Production Discography." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, 09 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.

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"Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Interview." Interview. YouTube. YouTube,
25 Apr. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2013. .

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"Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11
Mar. 2013. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

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Philbrook, Erik. "Powerhouse: Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Celebrate 30
Years as ASCAP Members." Www.ascap.com. N.p., 19 Sept. 2013. Web.
08 Nov. 2013.

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