Steve Richmond

Robert McElhiney James (born December 25, 1939), known professionally as Bob James, is an American jazz keyboardist, arranger, and record producer. He founded the band Fourplay and wrote "Angela", the theme song for the TV show Taxi…

An entry within Metro Doubles series, One, Two, Three & BJ4: The Legendary Albums is a two-CD set containing Bob James' first four albums, presented in chronological order. The set is a good way to pick up these four James' discs – not only is it a convenient, concise way to get the records, but they're presented well with good liner notes, including track-by-track commentary by Chris Ingham.

Although she spent eight years in Akron, Ohio as a child, Janis Martin Martin always said that Virginia was her home. She was born Janis Martin Darlene Martin in Sutherlin, Virginia on March 27, 1940. When you consider that Ringo Starr, who epitomized a later generation, was born just four months later, you realize how young she was when she started. "I had a mother who was a show business/stage type mother," she told Bob Allen. "Both my father and my uncle were amateur musicians, and I can't remember a time when I didn't play or sing." In February 1951, bluegrass star Jim Eanes settled near the Martins, and Janis Martin joined him on the radio. Too young to play bars, she became a supporting act and local added attraction when the big names came to town. By age fourteen, Janis Martin had graduated to WRVA's 'Old Dominion Barndance' in Richmond when the show was a big deal in the country music world. When Janis Martin joined in 1953, she performed alongside Hawkshaw Hawkins, Jean Shepard, the Carter Sisters, Sonny James, and Martha Carson.