Blues harmonica virtuoso and onetime Muddy Waters sideman James Cotton has died at the age of 81.
Cotton came to prominence in the 1950s when he cut two singles for Sun Records and performed gigs with Waters.
As a child Cotton learned the harmonica from Sonny Boy Williamson and launched his career as a teenager touring with both Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf.
He later recorded a number of tracks for the Vanguard label’s Chicago/The Blues/Today! compilation series and played on Otis Spann’s 1969 album “The Blues Never Die!”
Cotton died yesterday of pneumonia in Austin Texas.