It is with great sadness that we share the news that Jim Gaines passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of November 9, 2024, surrounded by family and friends after battling a prolonged illness.
From a mail boy at a radio jingles’ studio to one of popular music’s most celebrated producers and engineers, Jim Gaines’ life story reads like an Horatio Alger tale: an adventure that extols the virtues of hard work and determination. Anyone who knows the Grammy winner will tell you, Jim Gaines has earned his reputation as one of the most humble and generous men in a notoriously ruthless industry. These attributes served him well through five decades in the music business, where he has left an indelible mark on the music of artists such as Huey Lewis and the News, Carlos Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Steve Miller, and countless others. His love of blues music earned him a Keeping The Blues Alive award in 2003.
Jim Gaines was born on October 2, 1941, in the small town of Parkin, Arkansas, before relocating thirty miles southeast to Memphis in the early 1950s. Following his high school graduation, Gaines began working at Pepper Tanner, one of the world’s largest producers of commercial jingles. After a year of working as a “gofer,” where he largely helped around the mailroom, Gaines approached the chief engineer and offered to take over the role of making tape copies. “I created a role in the company for myself that hadn’t existed, and that was my start,” he remembered. For the next eight years, Gaines continued to climb the ladder within the company, moving from mixing to tracking, to eventually supervising satellite studios around the region.
George Thorogood had this to say about Jim, “Mr. Gaines’ expertise as a top-of-the-line producer was surpassed by his classy personality.”
Back in the day Carlos Santana shared “Jim Gaines is a masterful craftsman. He understands capturing the sounds of eternity and infinity. I am forever grateful to Jim for sharing his knowledge, wisdom, and heart with me."
Bob Trenchard of Catfood Records, a long-time friend and colleague, remembers him “as a true gentleman, always so down to earth and respectful. He was one of the best men I have ever known. Our loss is heavens gain.”
In 2022 Jim was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, at which he said, “I'm a lucky guy. I'm just a hard-working hillbilly from Arkansas, and I've been very lucky throughout my career to be involved with all these great artists. That's the way I look at it.”
Jim is survived by his wife, singer/songwriter Sandy Carroll, who collaborated with her husband on many projects.
A celebration of life is planned for January 2025 in Memphis.
A complete list of Jim’s projects can be found here - https://www.allmusic.com/
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