One of heavy metal's most unsung heroes has been presented with a lifetime achievement award in recognition of his outstanding service to the industry.
Jim Simpson is the music man who discovered a fledgling band that was originally called Earth, cleverly name-changing them to Black Sabbath in 1968 and becoming their first manager for the release of hit albums Black Sabbath and Paranoid.
After this, Black Sabbath quickly went their own way, but Jim went on to operate Big Bear Records and to organize the annual Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival, which he still does today in his mid-80s from his offices in Quayside Tower on Broad Street, in the city's Westside Business Improvement District (BID).
Jim’s astonishingly long career was what prompted The Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Birmingham Awards, held on Saturday, November 9. The coveted award acknowledged Jim’s “decades-long influence” in the music industry, and said his work with Big Bear records, artist agency Big Bear Music and the jazz festival had been “instrumental in shaping Birmingham’s cultural landscape."
The festival celebrated its 40th birthday this year with 239 performances, 230 of them free admission, in 120 venues throughout the region, including on Westside.
As well as his lifetime achievement award, Jim was a finalist in the Entrepreneur of the Year category, while his jazz festival was a finalist in the Arts & Culture Award category.
Jim was also recognized for publishing the nationally distributed Jazz Rag magazine, and for creating the regular Henry’s Blueshouse gigs which now take place at Snobs nightclub in Broad Street every Tuesday.
He said: “It’s great that jazz and blues get recognised in the mainstream and I am very pleased and flattered that they have decided to choose me for this award.”
Brian Hughes, chairman of Westside BID, said: “This is a hugely deserved award for someone who has been so influential in music, from helping Black Sabbath launch in the late 1960s and early 1970s to running Henry's Blueshouse in 2024. What a life and what a career!"
The citation for Jim’s award said his involvement in music began aged 14 when he formed a jazz record club at school.
After discovering Black Sabbath, he went on to bring over important, yet neglected, American bluesmen on extended tours of the UK and Europe, recording them for Big Bear Records.
The award is the latest that Jim has picked up in 2024, a year that also saw him awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music by the University of Birmingham.
With his brother Ron, he has written three books: Don’t Worry ‘Bout The Bear, Dirty Stop Outs Guide To 1970s Birmingham, and Dirty Stop Outs Guide To 1980s Birmingham, which will be launched at Snobs at 6:45 PM on Tuesday, November 19.
